Latest Columns
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Lisa Webster: Take the pension first? Think again
With the impending changes to tax treatment of pensions on death, there has been talk around the order of income in retirement being turned on its head.
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Tilley: Transfer reform welcome but SSAS governance is key
At first glance, DWP’s June 2026 consultation on proposed changes to the 2021 transfer regulations does something the industry has long asked for; it acknowledges that the current regime, while well intended, has created too much friction for some perfectly legitimate pension transfers.
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Lisa Webster: Good news from DWP for SIPPs but not SSAS
The DWP has just released its long-awaited consultation on the SIPP transfer regulations – and it’s largely encouraging news. As an employee of a reputable SIPP provider the changes are positive. SSAS providers may be less enthusiastic about some of the proposals.
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Lisa Webster: Should tax-free cash always be taken?
Since the Lifetime Allowance was abolished and replaced with the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) and lump sum and death benefit allowance (LSDBA), we have seen an increase in SIPP members who want to take drawdown only – foregoing the right to take the associated pension commencement lump sum (PCLS).
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Tilley: Are we asking too much of pension savers?
Working in UK pensions, I’ve always accepted that the system evolves. Fiscal pressures change, demographics shift, and governments recalibrate policy objectives. But even allowing for that, the pace and volume of legislative change in the pensions space over the last few years feels unprecedented, and in my view increasingly problematic.
Popular News
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XPS splashes out £16.3m on insurance consultancy
Pension provider and consultant XPS Group has completed the acquisition of the trade and assets of insurance consultancy Austin Professional Resourcing for a potential £16.3m.
XPS said the deal for the insurance specialist will accelerate its plans to become "a broader financial services firm."
The acquisition, first announced on 26 June, will be for £3.3m, with an additional £3m payable by 31 March 2027.
A further contingent total cash consideration of up to £10m will be payable in the following two years, contingent on achieving certain stretching business performance criteria.
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Austin Professional Resourcing, established in 2006, is a UK-based specialist actuarial consultancy to insurers and financial sector clients. It has worked with more than 45 insurers and financial sector clients in the last three years, including most of the UK's top 10 insurers.
In the year ended 31 March, APR generated revenues of £10.7m. It has more than 70 client facing employees which, combined with the existing XPS insurance consulting team and access to wider XPS actuarial teams, will provide XPS with greater scale and enhanced capabilities to accelerate the group's diversification into the insurance consulting market, it said.
XPS said in a stock market statement: “The acquisition will further accelerate the group's diversification strategy into large tangential addressable markets and its aim of becoming a market leading financial services consulting and administration provider.”
Announcing the acquisition in June, Paul Cuff, co-CEO of XPS Group, said: “We have been admirers of the APR business for some time, with its strong culture, its highly talented people and its deep relationships in the insurance market.
“With this transaction, XPS will have doubled our total addressable market to £6bn+ in the space of less than two years, through strategic acquisitions and senior recruitment. We are very excited about what the future holds as we become a broader financial services firm providing outstanding client service to pension schemes and insurers alike."
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HMRC collects £164m in ‘needless’ pension tax
New figures released by HMRC reveal that the tax authorities collected £164m in pension annual allowance charges last year with one expert warning that high-earners are being "caught out" by the charge.
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Tilley: A bridge too far for trustees?
For much of the last 30 years, the role of pension trustees has been relatively clear: protect members, pay benefits and manage risk.
Annuity rates have increased by 8% for a healthy 65-year old over the last 12 months, according to new data.
There were 7.13m taxpayers of pension age for the 2022/23 tax year, a 6% increase year on year, according to the latest data from HMRC.
There’s overwhelming opposition to the proposed introduction of IHT on unused pensions, according to a new survey conducted by SSAS provider WBR Group.
The aggregate surplus of DB pension schemes fell to £232.7bn at the end of February, according to the latest Pension Protection Fund (PPF) 7800 Index.
The IHT changes announced in the Autumn Budget have triggered a shift in the advice that IFAs are providing to their clients, according to a new study.
Annuity incomes have surged to a 16-year high as the market booms, according to the latest data from Hargreaves Lansdown’s annuity search engine.