Popular News
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Specialist expat SIPP adviser declared in default
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has declared financial adviser AXG Advice Ltd (FRN: 450813) as failed.
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Hundreds face huge tax bill after cashing in pension
Almost 300 people fully encashed a pension of more than £250,000 after tax-free cash between October 2023 and March 2024, paying a minimum £98,700 each in tax in the process, according to new analysis of FCA figures by Standard Life.
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.
Fund manager Marlborough has launched an investment platform for financial advisers and their clients with an annual charge of 0.2%.
The number of complaints about life and pension and investment companies fell by 8% during 2022, according to the latest data from the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Plans to bring forward a rise in the state pension age which were expected to be announced in May have been put on hold, according to newspaper reports
The Pensions Scams Industry Group (PSIG), the voluntary body set up to support trustees, providers and administrators in combating pension scams, has launched an ‘Interim Practitioner Guide’ which details the key due diligence steps to undertake when assessing a pension transfer.
XPS Pension Group’s Transfer Value Index fell by 4% in February to £168,000, the lowest month-end value since the Index was first published in June 2016.
SIPP provider DAC Pensions - which had more than 600 clients and nearly £27m in assets under administration - has been declared in default by the FSCS, opening the door to compensation claims.