Clik here to view.
Elaine Turtle: Pensions and divorce – don’t leave it to the lawyers
While I was driving to meet a friend for lunch earlier this month, I was listening to the radio and learnt that the first Monday of January is dubbed Divorce Day. I have to admit, I wasn’t aware of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gareth James: Why default retirement guidance won’t work
I recently had the pleasure of visiting a close relative who happens to have just reached the magic age, at least as far as pensions are concerned, of 55. Within seconds of arriving I was asked a...
View ArticleSIPP providers ‘dragged thorough the dirt’ following FSCS due diligence note
The wording used in a FSCS note suggests SIPP providers are always at fault for investment problems and drags providers “through the dirt,” according to Dentons director of technical services Martin...
View ArticleDC pension savings increased by over one fifth in 2017
Some £5.4bn was put into defined contribution (DC) pension schemes last year – an increase of 21% year on year, according to The Pensions Regulator (TPR). The watchdog’s annual DC Trust report showed a...
View ArticleRos Altmann criticises govt for scrapping auto-guidance measure
Former pensions minister Baroness Ros Altmann has hit out at the government after it removed a measure from the Financial Guidance and Claims bill that would have automatically enrolled people into a...
View ArticleAdrian Boulding: Untangling the net pay anomaly
When it comes to terminology, the pensions industry is often its own worst enemy. Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to explaining the difference between ‘net pay’ and ‘relief at source’...
View ArticleFrank Field takes aim at TPR over handling of Carillion collapse
Frank Field has accused The Pensions Regulator (TPR) of being “tentative and apologetic” in relation to Carillion defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. Work and pensions committee chairman Field...
View ArticleRory Murphy: Pensions power to the people
The story of the UK pensions industry over the past two or three decades is littered with examples of legislative and regulatory interventions that were well-intentioned, even, in some cases, well...
View ArticleThousands of steelworkers to fall into PPF after failing to return paperwork
More than 25,000 steelworkers did not return their ‘options forms’ and as a consequence will remain in the current British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) for now, to move into the Pension Protection Fund...
View ArticleSIPP complaints back on the rise, FOS stats reveal
Complaints about self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) rose for the second time in 2017/18 in Q3 after seeing a small dip in the second quarter of the financial year, according to the Financial...
View Article‘Out of control’ HMRC paid out half a billion in tax refunds since 2015
Figures published this morning by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on tax refunds show the organisation is “out of control” when it comes to over-taxing people and then expecting them to claim refunds,...
View ArticleDentons passes £4bn AUA with Sippchoice acquisition
Dentons Pension Management has acquired the business of London-based Sippchoice for an undisclosed amount in a deal that takes the SIPP provider’s assets under administration (AUA) past £4bn. The...
View ArticleONS: Private pension wealth boosted by £900m
The aggregate total private pension wealth of all households in the UK in July 2014 to June 2016 increased to £5.3trn, according to the Office for National statistics (ONS). Its Wealth and Assets...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FCA to probe providers over private pensions
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to probe private pension providers for data to investigate whether there is effective competition in the private pension marketplace. On Friday, the regulator...
View ArticlePhil Smith: What’s so wrong about promoting pension transfer advice?
There has been extensive media coverage of the British Steel pension situation over recent months, with financial advisers portrayed as vultures and sharks – and worse – for offering to consider the...
View ArticleAdrian Boulding: The pensions digital future has started
On 13 January 2018, ‘open banking’ went live in the UK, underpinned and indeed required by the EU’s second Payment Services Directive – or ‘PSD2′. So what, I hear you ask, is open banking and what...
View ArticleTPR hits ex-BHS owner with £10m bill
Former BHS owner Dominic Chappell has been issued with a £10m bill by The Pensions Regulator (TPR) as it seeks to recover money for the collapsed retailer’s pension scheme. Under TPR rules, the former...
View ArticleClik here to view.
RP case studies: Buying farmland through a SIPP
When talking about holding commercial property within a self-invested personal pension (SIPP), it’s easy just to picture office buildings, shops and industrial units. However, commercial property can...
View ArticleRoyal London to issue wake-up packs five years before retirement
Royal London has updated its wake-up pack strategy for pension clients and will now get in touch a full five years before a saver’s scheduled retirement date. Current rules mean providers must issue a...
View ArticleAnother IFA suspends DB transfers over British Steel
Country Capital Wealth Management, which trades as The Pension Review Service, has voluntarily suspended its defined benefit (DB) transfer permissions after a visit from the Financial Conduct Authority...
View Article