New delay for contingent charging ban decision
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has postponed its decision on whether to ban contingent charging on defined benefit (DB) transfers by up to six months. The watchdog quietly updated the timeline...
View ArticleWhy coronavirus will change the advice profession forever
As more and more people and businesses across the country are impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) many of us will be wondering what the world will look like when we are through this and out the...
View ArticleFiona Hanrahan: Seven common pension tax year-end mistakes
In the run-up to tax year-end, your clients will likely be looking to make use of their 2019/20 allowances and reliefs if they haven’t already. If they are looking to pay the maximum into their pension...
View ArticleElaine Turtle: Quirky scheme pension death benefit rules explained
A scheme pension is the only way a defined benefits arrangement may provide its members with a pension benefit. It is also possible for a money purchase arrangement to provide a scheme pension. Scheme...
View ArticleAlternatives and ESG floundering in DC investment
Defined contribution (DC) schemes are mostly content with the current asset classes available despite the industry’s push into proving members can benefit from diversified investments underpinned by...
View ArticleCoronavirus job retention scheme will cover AE contributions
Furloughed workers will continue to receive pension contributions under the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has confirmed. Employers who would otherwise...
View ArticleJoshua Croft: The (un)certainty of death benefits
Pension funds for most people will be one of their biggest assets and the death benefits associated with these funds can provide comfort to a client that should they die, these funds can be passed on...
View ArticleMore than 1,000 firms varied pension transfer permissions in 2018 and 2019
More than 1,000 firms have altered or cancelled their defined benefit (DB) pension transfer permissions in the last two years, a freedom of information (FOI) request submitted by Professional Adviser...
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Advisers should reach out to more clients during pandemic – the lang cat
Advisers have contacted a perhaps surprisingly low number of clients to provide reassurance during the coronavirus pandemic, the lang cat’s Mark Locke has revealed. Locke, communications director at...
View ArticleFSCS opens £158m floodgates to hundreds of Berkeley Burke claims
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has opened its door to claims against failed self-invested personal pension (SIPP) provider Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration (BBSA). In an update on...
View ArticleJessica List: Lateral thinking on charity death benefit lump sums
When discussing categories of potential pension death beneficiaries, we often talk about individuals, trusts, and charities. The last of these is, anecdotally at least, by far the least discussed, and...
View ArticleMajority of industry back extension of auto-enrolment age
Four in five of Society of Pension Professionals (SPP) members say the minimum age criterion for auto-enrolment (AE) should be dropped while two thirds also want it expanded to age 75. Findings from...
View ArticleCoronavirus-driven capacity crunch to leave DB members flailing
Retirees looking to access additional income from their defined benefit (DB) scheme during the Covid-19 crisis will be victims of a “capacity crunch” as suitable financial advisers flee the market,...
View ArticleRachel Vahey: Five ways GMP equalisation could affect scheme members
One of the first things I wrote about, on joining the pensions industry, was the Barber Vs GRE 1990 case, and the possible implications for pension schemes. Nearly 30 years later this particular saga...
View ArticleFCA cites pension freedoms as a driver of consumer harm
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has cited the 2015 pension freedoms as one example of a driver of consumer harm. In its latest business plan, the regulator outlined its key priorities for the...
View ArticleAmyr Rocha-Lima on the psychology of retirement part 1: The six stages of...
Creating a financial plan for our clients is fundamental in helping them achieve the lifestyle they dream of during retirement. And just as important as the financial products we recommend is our...
View ArticleChris Read: Business innovation in the midst of lockdown
In times to come, we will reflect on the birth of a brave new world in which we collaborated and changed our ways of working to keep the wheels of the economy spinning through lockdown. Will history...
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Sam Liddle: Why research pays off in absolute return retirement strategies
When it comes to retirement, the needs of Britain’s savers are defined by factors such as goals, wealth, and personal circumstances. However, for the most part, these investors require financial...
View ArticleTributes paid to SIPP and SSAS pioneer Geoffrey Pointon who died after...
Geoffrey Pointon, self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and small self administered scheme (SSAS) pioneer and founder of Pointon York, has died after contracting coronavirus. According to local...
View ArticleTim Jablonski: Non-advised decumulation investment pathways ‘a herculean task’
Risk. An innocuous enough four-letter word. Not likely to offend in the way others do, yet nonetheless loaded with connotation likely to elicit visceral reactions in many. Successfully helping people...
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