- Finnish earnings-related pension provider, Ilmarinen, has announced that its Christmas donation has gone to the charity Hope – Yjässe & Yhteesti, which helps children and families in need.

Following a vote by Ilmarinen’s customer base, the provider will make a donation of €15,000 to the charity. Ilmarinen director of communications and public relations, Kaisa Ala-Laurila, said: “The challenging economic situation has made everyday life difficult for many families with children. It's great to be supporting the important work that Hope does.”

- The Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) has revealed that in 2022 the median insured monthly earnings of employees were €3,000 euros, more than double that of the self-employed.

For the self-employed and farmers, the median monthly insured incomes were €1,350. ETK statistics planner, Marjo Kaasila, said: “For employees, pensions are based on their earnings; for self-employed persons, they are based on their insured incomes. The gap between these two is considerable, which is later reflected in the received pension amounts. From the point of view of earnings-related pension insurance, the monthly earnings of employees were, on average, more than twice as big as the insured incomes of the self-employed in 2022.”

- The NICEIC Pension Scheme has completed a £66m full buy-in with Just Group, securing the retirement benefits for 237 pensioners and 154 deferred members.

The deal, which was completed in October, is expected to help enhance the security of members' benefits, as well as reduce the level of risk to the scheme's sole employer, Electrical Safety First. Indeed, Electrical Safety First chair of trustees, Sarah Frost, said the deal will allow the charity to concentrate on its core work – reducing deaths and injuries caused by electricity in UK homes.

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