Popular News
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FCA reassures Hartley clients after ‘concerning’ letter
The Financial Conduct Authority has reassured Hartley Pensions clients following a letter sent by the joint administrators over the unauthorised movement of monies from their SIPPs by Hartley.
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TPR expects DB schemes to switch to ‘endgame planning’
The Pensions Regulator (TPR) said it expects DB schemes to switch their focus to ‘endgame planning’ from deficit recovery.
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FCA delays SDR for portfolio managers
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has delayed its plans to apply sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) to portfolio managers.
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Annuity misconceptions remain despite rise in sales
Almost half, 48%, of over-50s are unfamiliar with what lifetime annuities are and how they compare to other annuity products.
Latest Blog
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James Jones-Tinsley: Aiming for an advice-guidance sweetspot
As Nikhil Rathi is reappointed as CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for another five years, the FCA has set out its strategic direction for 2025/26, with important implications for financial advisers.
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Martin Tilley: FCA must grapple growth v regulation question
In late December, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer tasked 10 regulators with removing ‘barriers to growth’ in order to attach the jump leads to the UK economy. On 16 January, the FCA wrote a letter to the Government to outline their plans to support the growth agenda.
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Lisa Webster: Over-taxation of pensions remains an issue
HMRC’s January pension schemes newsletter announced changes to tax codes for pensions, and a few headlines followed proclaiming HMRC had finally fixed the over-taxation issue. It would be fantastic if that was the case, but despite nearly 10 years of getting it wrong, the problem isn’t resolved yet.
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Lisa Webster: Divorce impact on lump sums raises question
The lifetime allowance may have been consigned to the annals of history but the various forms of protection are still relevant in the new world, especially when it comes to the amount of pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) that can be taken.
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Martin Tilley: How education can tackle pension scams
The dark reality of pension scams is that we don’t really know how common they are. Fraud is a crime which tends to have low reporting events and with pension scams, it’s no different. The emotional toll can be as large as the financial, with some people being too embarrassed to report that they have been the victim of a scam.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the safety net scheme for consumers, paid out £423m in compensation to customers during its 2023/24 year, £20m higher than the previous year.
Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, has claimed that Consumer Duty has been a great success in a speech at an event celebrating the Duty’s anniversary.
Pension scam warning ‘flags’ have climbed to their highest level in nine months, according to a warning from pensions consulting and administration business XPS.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), the industry-funded safety net for consumers, has warned it is seeing a rise in more complex SIPP claims after it paid out a total of £423m in compensation in its 2023/24 year.
Three financial advisers who pocketed almost £6m in ‘marketing fees’ relating to an SIPP which included inappropriate high-risk bonds, have been penalised almost £4m by the FCA and prohibited from any regulated activity.
The number of teachers opting out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme has climbed 14% to 13,112 during the past 12 months, data collected by the Department for Education has revealed.