Financial guidance bodies merge under temporary SFGB name
The Pensions Advisory Service, Pension Wise and the Money Advice Service have now been merged to form the Single Financial Guidance Body (SFBG) after months of preparation. While the organisation...
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Adrian Boulding: CDC schemes are coming to the UK
The likelihood of the new collective defined contribution (CDC) scheme rules being enshrined in new pensions legislation in 2019 are now very high. The idea that gained traction towards the end of Sir...
View ArticleAdrian Boulding: My pension predictions for 2019
In the world of pensions, 2018 will be remembered for master trust authorisation, a mammoth task that we have nicknamed ‘the project that keeps on giving’. The exercise has been rather like standing...
View ArticleThousands of DB transfers carried out by firms that lost permissions
Advice firms that lost their defined benefit (DB) transfer permissions carried out thousands of transfers before regulatory intervention, it has emerged. Since 2015, some 4,659 transfers were arranged...
View ArticleThree more master trusts apply for authorisation; L&G confirms submission
Just six of the remaining 49 defined contribution master trusts have applied for authorisation to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) since its regime came into force last October. According to the...
View ArticleThink tank urges government to cap tax-free lump sums at £40,000
Capping the pension tax-free lump sum at £40,000 would raise £2bn a year for the government, new research by the Resolution Foundation suggests. The think tank said tightening up inheritance tax and...
View ArticleDivorced women the ‘poor relations of pensions wealth’– Royal London
Women who ultimately divorce end up with less than half the property wealth of married couples and less than one-third of their average pension wealth, according to research by Royal London. Published...
View ArticleDWP fixes ‘nonsensical’ no-deal Brexit investment regulations
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has amended draft no-deal Brexit regulations to remove a provision which would have made pension scheme investments illegal. An updated version of the...
View Article£40m DB claim payouts ‘tell us little about advice given now’
FSCS data has revealed DB transfer-related pay-outs have doubled in the last two years although Royal London director of policy Steve Webb has argued this offers limited insight into the quality of...
View ArticleMPs launch inquiry into contingent charging on DB transfer advice
Parliament’s Work and Pensions Committee has launched an inquiry into contingent charging on defined benefit (DB) pension transfer advice. The inquiry has asked respondents whether they believe...
View Article‘British Steel thrust contingent charging into spotlight’– Keith Richards
A few rogue advisers have thrust contingent charging into the spotlight and banning the charging method is not the answer, Personal Finance Society (PFS) CEO Keith Richards has argued. Yesterday (7...
View ArticlePPF: DB universe drops back into red
Defined benefit (DB) schemes fell back into deficit on aggregate over December as gilt yields and asset returns fell, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has said. At the end of 2018, the combined...
View ArticleBanning cold calling is only half the battle – Zurich
The ban on pensions cold calling may finally have come into force today but there is still a way to go before it will be completely effective, Zurich’s Alistair Wilson has said. The long-awaited ban...
View ArticleSSAS schemes risk missing government requirements – Talbot and Muir
Many small self-administered scheme (SSAS) arrangements risk failing to meet the administrative requirements of HM Revenue and Customs and TPR, Talbot and Muir has warned. The SSAS and self-invested...
View ArticleLet clients pay for DB transfer advice with pension – Steve Webb
A potential solution to the contingent charging dilemma would be to allow clients to pay for DB transfer advice from their final salary schemes, Royal London director of policy Steve Webb has argued....
View ArticleMP calls on Amber Rudd to ‘fix broken pensions transfer market’
Independent MP Stephen Lloyd has called on the secretary of state for work and pensions to investigate the pensions transfer market and ban contingent charging. Writing to Amber Rudd, the MP for...
View ArticleDB transfer values see volatile end to 2018
Defined benefit (DB) pension transfer values, as measured by the XPS Pensions Group Transfer Value Index, remained high during 2018 but saw a volatile end to the year. During the last month of 2018,...
View ArticleRP Case Study: Property purchase and developments via SIPPs and SSASs
One of the more interesting aspects of self-invested pensions is the ability to take more direct ownership and control over the business premises that the member’s company operates from. This gives...
View ArticleAccounts manager admits to lying to TPR about meeting AE duties
Bradford-based accounts manager Mansoor Nasir has admitted to lying to The Pensions Regulator (TPR) about auto-enrolling 103 members of staff in a pension scheme. Appearing at Brighton Magistrates’...
View ArticleIntelligent compromise the solution to contingent charging dilemma
Is contingent charging the financial advice sector’s Brexit? Certainly it is a topic that drifted into the spotlight, was talked about for a while and was then, seemingly, put to bed. Out of nowhere,...
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