Govt continues to exclude self-employed from pensions, experts warn
The government’s response to the Taylor Review into working practices is a good first step, but has failed to address issues surrounding pensions for the self-employed, experts have warned. The...
View ArticleBus company hit with £60k fine in first auto-enrolment criminal case
A bus company and its managing director have been fined more than £60,000 after admitting trying to avoid providing its employees with a workplace pension. Stotts Tours (Oldham) and managing director...
View ArticleDavid Simpson: Platforms still playing catch up on decumulation
When the pension freedoms became reality in April 2015 there was an expectation that platforms would soon offer the income flexibility that investors would need. Nearly three years on, however, it...
View ArticleNearly 900 customers stuck between Aegon and PensionBee
Some 864 customers are stuck transferring their pension from Aegon to PensionBee, according to a live ‘transfer tracker’ set up by PensionBee. According to the tracker, assets under management caught...
View ArticlePensions Ombudsman investigating 150 British Steel complaints
The Pensions Ombudsman is investigating a group of more than 150 complaints about transfer values from British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) members. A notice posted on the Pensions Ombudsman website on...
View ArticleAegon fires back at PensionBee over transfer time criticism
Aegon has hit back at PensionBee claims that is it slower than its competitors on pension transfer times, saying it completes the “vast majority” of pension transfers electronically within 10 to 12...
View ArticleFCA scrutinises DB transfer advisers with extensive survey
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has sent 45 advice firms a questionnaire containing more than 50 questions designed to probe the firms for information on pension transfers. RP’s sister...
View ArticleAuto-enrolment hits ‘huge milestone’ of 1 million employers
One million UK employers have enrolled staff into a workplace pension, meaning more than nine million employees have now been automatically enrolled since the government policy was rolled out in 2012....
View ArticlePensions dominate sales as platforms attract £55bn in 2017
The platform market saw the majority of its £55bn net sales flow into pension products in 2017, according to Fundscape’s latest report. It said almost two-thirds (63%) of industry net flows went into...
View ArticleGovt refuses to budge on WASPI state pension changes
The government has once again rejected calls to compensate Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) women over state pension age increases, saying the solutions proposed are “unaffordable” and...
View ArticleGovernment revisits cold-calling and guidance legislation
The government has accepted it should revisit its plans on both banning pensions cold-calling and encouraging the take-up of guidance although suggested next steps have been criticised as “light on...
View ArticleBritish Steel adviser Active Wealth enters liquidation
Active Wealth UK, a firm criticised for the advice it gave to British Steelworkers on transferring their pensions, has entered voluntary liquidation. A notice posted on The Gazette on 12 February said...
View ArticleMPs call for contingent charging ban after British Steel scandal
MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee have urged the FCA to ban the use of contingent charging in financial advice in its latest report into the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). The committee has...
View ArticleAdvisers disagree with call for contingent fee ban
Advisers have dismissed calls by MPs to ban contingent charging saying it is not the root problem with pension transfers and would exclude more people from accessing financial advice. The comments...
View ArticleState pension funding: Neil MacGillivray calls for ‘seismic’ action
I loved geography as a subject at school. It was not just for the benefit of getting out of the classroom on field trips either – I found topics such as map-reading, how landscapes formed, plate...
View ArticleRP case studies: Using pension assets to grow a quality business
Quality Accountancy has been growing successfully over the past few years and has expanded with several new members of staff. Having discussed the options with their financial adviser, he confirms the...
View ArticleJessica List: No ‘freedom’ in compulsory advice
This week I found myself reading about psychological reactance. The reactance theory essentially says that humans are hardwired to dislike having their choices restricted or taken away. When it...
View ArticleGovt plans to seize dormant pension assets questioned
Pensions experts have questioned the appropriateness and practicality of government plans to expand its dormant assets scheme to include pensions and insurance assets. The programme currently allows...
View ArticlePolice and TPR investigate schemes with cold-calling links
A man has been arrested on suspicion of fraud after The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the police launched an investigation over concerns savers were lured into poorly-run pension schemes. The probe,...
View ArticlePension dashboard law hindered by Brexit, govt admits
While there is a strong case for enacting new laws enshrining the pensions dashboard initiative the government has admitted Brexit pressures are making the process more difficult. Speaking at a...
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