Wave of pension mergers looms as Hunt presses on with reform July 24, 2023 A wave of consolidation is coming in the UK’s pension sector as bigger master trusts guzzle up smaller peers and the government throws its weight behind reform, a top UK pension chief has predicted.
Workers in the UK spend less time in the office than any other country July 20, 2023 | Sponsored A new report shows that workers in the UK spend the least amount of time in the office each week compared to workers from other countries. In fact, we spend significantly less time in the office when compared to the global average, with 34% of Brits spending four days or more in the workplace compared [...]
PensionBee hails momentum as assets surge to £3.7bn July 20, 2023 PensionBee hailed “excellent momentum” in the first six months of the year today as it closes in on profitability for the first time this year. In its first half results today, the London-listed fintech firm said its assets under administration had rocketed 38 per cent to £3.7bn while adjusted losses narrowed to £8m, down from [...]
Buy-now see-you-later? FCA boss slams claims BNPL firms will quit UK due to regulation July 19, 2023 The chief of the City watchdog said he does not “buy the argument” that buy-now pay-later (BNPL) firms will quit the UK today after it emerged ministers may shelve planned rules over fears firms would leave. The government had been pushing ahead with plans to bring BNPL products offered by firms like Klarna and Clearpay [...]
Pay growth stays at three decade high but inflation still stripping away wages July 19, 2023 Pay growth is running at its fastest pace in over three decades and has remained unchanged for the second quarter in a row, in a sign the Bank of England may have to back a bigger interest rate hike again next month. New figures out today from XpertHR reveal wages leapt six per cent in [...]
Smart Pension snaps up £750m peer as government calls for consolidation grow July 17, 2023 Top workplace pension firm Smart Pension has snapped up a peer with some £750m under management as pressure from the government grows for faster consolidation in the sector.
Bank of England interest rate hikes trigger record £2.1 trillion UK wealth collapse, report claims July 17, 2023 The Bank of England has engineered the largest contraction in UK household wealth on record by jacking up interest rates in response to scorching inflation, a new report out today has claimed. Asset values have collapsed by £2.1 trillion since early 2021, mainly driven by a sharp fall in bond prices in response to UK [...]
One Fifth Of UK Workers Are Using AI, Without Telling The Boss July 13, 2023 | Sponsored Generative AI developments are moving faster than most of us can keep up with. Recent data from the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) has found that public awareness of AI has increased over the past year, with 72% of adults now able to give at least a partial explanation of [...]
Mortgage rates climb to 15-year high following surprisingly strong wage growth July 11, 2023 The typical rate available on a two-year fixed mortgage has climbed to a 15-year high, surpassing the levels seen last Autumn in the wake of the disastrous mini-budget. According to Moneyfacts, the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate hit 6.66 per cent, marginally higher than the 6.65 per cent seen last October. This was the [...]
Government’s aid investor: Why only the private sector can lift people out of poverty July 11, 2023 In 1948, the chair of the Colonial Development Corporation Lord Reith described the newly formed state-backed body’s role as to “do good without losing money”. Since then it has been through a number of understandable rebrands and rejigs. It swapped its title for the Commonwealth Development Corporation in 1963, before winning a mandate from government [...]