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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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.
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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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Industry urged to probe pensioner spending habits
Pension providers have been urged to find out more about post-retirement spending as new research suggests homeowners’ and renters’ drawdown habits are very different.
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Single pensioners need £225K more for ‘moderate’ retirement
Single pensioners need £225,000 more in their pension pot than couples to achieve a ‘moderate’ standard of living in retirement.
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 FCA’s latest retirement income market data for 2022/23 published today has revealed that the overall value of money being withdrawn from pension pots is falling, dropping 5% to £43.199m from £45,638m in 2021/22.
New data from actuarial consultancy OAC suggests that pension savers submitting a complaint about pension transfer advice would now receive just £12,000 in compensation, about half the amount they would have received at the beginning of the year and well below the levels of two years ago.
Redditch-based Go IFA Ltd has become the fifth advice firm this week to be declared as failed or under investigation by the FSCS.
Investment platform CMC Invest has launched a flat fee SIPP in partnership with Quai Investment Services.
More than four in ten retirees (42%) surveyed by Standard Life said they regretted failing to seek financial advice.
The FCA is proposing to increase its minimum and flat rate fees, as well as application fees, by an average 8.75% which could mean Financial Planners facing an overall hike in charges of 4.9%.