Popular News
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Number of appointed reps continues to fall
The number of appointed representatives continued to fall in 2024/25, according to the latest data from the Financial Conduct Authority.
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1 in 5 pension savers mistrust financial adviser
One in five pension savers (19%) mistrust their financial adviser, according to a new report.
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17 pension firms sign up to Mansion House Accord
A new Mansion House Accord backed by 17 pension firms aims to help DC pension savers by using private markets to boost potential net returns, while strengthening investment in the UK.
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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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.
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Lisa Webster: Maximising protected tax-free cash
While 2024 ended with a lot of doom and gloom in the pension world following the big announcement on inheritance tax (IHT), there was some good news that may have slipped under the radar of some advisers.
The National Audit Office, the UK’s independent public spending watchdog, is to probe the FCA’s handling of the British Steel Pension Scheme restructuring which resulted in many steelworkers transferring their pensions into SIPPs.
Advised net inflows rose 36% year on year to nearly £4bn at investment platform AJ Bell for the year ended 30 September.
Edinburgh-based SIPP operator Forthplus Pensions has gone into administration after a string of complaints to the Ombudsman about the firm’s due diligence.
Advisers placed almost £2bn with investment platform Transact during the quarter ended 30 September 2021.
Under a third of pensions professionals believe pension dashboards will be of use by 2025.
SIPP provider Dentons Pensions has reported a 55% rise in new SIPPs business pushing its total number of schemes above 7,800.