Latest Blogs
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James Jones-Tinsley: Guided Retirement Duty could be game changer
During May, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), sponsored by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), concluded that defined contribution (DC) pension savers – including those in SIPPs, as well as in Workplace Pensions - require more guidance when choosing suitable retirement products.
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Lisa Webster: Overcomplicated rules are a threat
It may be more than a year since the Lifetime Allowance was formally abolished but issues are still emerging from the mess made by rushed legislation.
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Lisa Webster: To gift or not to gift?
Since the announcement that pensions are to be included in estates for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes the question of whether those with large pension pots should be giving some funds away has become increasingly common.
Popular News
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Barnett Waddingham appoints new CEO of BW SIPP
Pensions and SIPP consultancy Barnett Waddingham has promoted Nick Cooper to be CEO of BW SIPP, as the business says it enters a new phase focused on market growth.
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SIPP administrator Nucleus poaches new CFO from FNZ
Platform group and SIPP and SSAS administrator Nucleus Financial Platforms has appointed FNZ chief financial & commercial officer Andrew Ring as chief financial officer, subject to regulatory approval.
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Petition demands 10-day pension switch guarantee
Retirement specialist PensionBee has launched a petition demanding the government take action on pension delays as frustration mounts over the slow pace of pension transfer switches.
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State pension gender gap ‘almost eliminated’
The gender pension gap has been almost completely eliminated when it comes to the state pensions of people retiring today, according to new data.
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Pension transfer times fell after tax year end
Simpler pension transfers took an average of just 10.8 days to complete as the industry moved out of the busy tax year end period and into early summer.
Investment platform Interactive Investor has scrapped or paused a number of SIPP fees for clients of its new acquistion The Share Centre.
Last year only two pension fraud cases a month were passed to the police to investigate despite nearly 400 reports to Action Fraud.
One in four workers in the UK have changed their pension plans due to the Coronavirus pandemic, according to new research released for Pensions Awareness Day this week.
Richard Stone, chief executive of The Share Centre, will leave the business on 18 September after 14 years at the firm to “pursue other interests and opportunities.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a fine to CPS Advisory Ltd for making more than 100,000 unauthorised direct marketing calls to people about their pensions.
CPS Advisory, the parent company of Swansea-based The Advisory Network, was fined £130,000 for the breach of new laws on pensions cold calling.
Under the new cold calling laws, companies can only make calls to people about their pensions if they are authorised by the FCA and the recipient has an existing relationship with the caller.
The change to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulation (PECR) which covers marketing calls, phone and texts in January 2019, was introduced to prevent people falling victim to scams, most of which are carried out through nuisance calls, and potentially losing their pensions.
Under PECR, businesses can face a fine of up to £500,000 from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
During its investigation, the ICO found that between 11 January 2019 and 30 April 2019, the company had made 106,987 calls to people without lawful authority.
The ICO found that the company was not a trustee or manager of a pensions scheme, was not authorised by the FCA and the evidence that it provided did not satisfy the ICO that valid consent had been obtained.
The Information Commissioner decided that this represented “a significant intrusion into the privacy of the recipients of such calls.”
Andy Curry, ICO head of investigations, said: “Unwanted pension calls can cause real distress and even significant financial hardship to often vulnerable people, who can end up losing their hard-earned pension pot to scammers.
“This company clearly flouted the law when they should have known better. Businesses making direct marketing calls are responsible for understanding their responsibilities under the legislation, ignorance is no excuse.”
A spokesman for The Pensions Regulator said: “This £130,000 fine should be a strong deterrent to any firm thinking of flouting the law on pension cold calls."
More than 32,000 pension savers have received £135m in compensation from providers who failed to inform them about enhanced annuity options, the FCA has revealed in its Annual Report and Accounts.