Budget 2017: Philip Hammond could raise the pensions Lifetime Allowance to fund social care and end inheritance tax discrimination to improve the nation’s finances March 1, 2017 The weeks leading up to George Osborne’s Budget statements were filled with frenzied speculation. Famed for his tinkering, the former chancellor’s Budgets enshrined a number of eye-catching and popular reforms, including landmark pension freedoms, and some not so popular ones, such as a reduction in the amount an individual can put into their pension and [...]
BHS pension scheme: Sir Philip Green has said he will contribute £363m, but what happens next? February 28, 2017 Sir Philip Green might be paying up £363m to sort out the gap in the BHS pension schemes, but that’s not the end of the saga for the fallen retailer. What options do those with BHS pensions now have? The 19,000 scheme members have three options to mull; transferring to a newly created pension scheme, [...]
£50 banknote isn’t going anywhere says Bank of England chief cashier February 28, 2017 The £50 note will not be withdrawn any time soon, according to the Bank of England’s (BoE) chief cashier. Victoria Cleland also did not rule out the possibility of issuing new polymer £50 notes, in an interview with Bloomberg. She pointed to the lower usage of the distinctive red “bullseye” notes as the reason it [...]
Two ways investors can cope with uncertainty February 28, 2017 | City Talk The lead character in Up may have coped with the randomness of life by travelling the world in a house powered by helium balloons, but investors can make use of a couple of more conventional techniques “Daddy, why is the man crying in the hospital?” “Daddy, where has the lady gone?” “Daddy, why are [...]
It’s official: Easyjet, Capita and Dixons Carphone could be leaving the FTSE 100 February 28, 2017 The London Stock Exchange has published the names of the companies likely to drop out of the FTSE tomorrow. As expected, budget airline Easyjet is hovering on the brink of demotion from the FTSE 100 into the FTSE 250, as well as Capita and Dixons Carphone. Easyjet has lost 40 per cent of its value over one year, [...]
Pensions triple lock: Labour calls for government to preserve payment structure beyond 2020 February 28, 2017 Labour will today demand that the government guarantees the pensions triple lock beyond 2020. In a speech on intergenerational fairness, Debbie Abrahams, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, will say the current commitments by the Conservative government are not enough. The triple lock increases state pension payments annually by either inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5 per cent, whichever is highest. The [...]
Political risk is about more than populist election victories, as UK insurers know February 28, 2017 As the anti-globalisation stone gathers moss, political risk has been weighing on the minds of investors. Many worry that the tide of public opinion in the developed world is flowing towards tougher immigration restrictions and higher tariffs on imported goods, scrambling any chances of energising this feeble and joyless economic recovery. In the last week, [...]
Human Rights Issues and Your Portfolio February 28, 2017 | City Talk We would rather not think about human rights issues when it comes to asset allocation. In the developed world, we often treat human rights violations — modern-day slavery, child labour, etc. — as anachronisms, at least as far they concern us. Or we dismiss them as problems for someone else to deal with, whether activists, [...]
Probate fees set to rise by almost 100 times for big estates February 27, 2017 Probate fees are set to rocket for many homeowners, after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) replaced a flat fee with a rate which will be up to 129 times bigger for some estates. The current fee of £155 for a solicitor to apply for probate will rise to £20,000 for estates larger than £2m. The [...]
The City boss running around for retirees: Clive Bannister on being a Phoenix from the ashes and providing a happy ending for pensioners February 27, 2017 Phoenix Group’s chief executive wasn’t looking forward to his morning commitments on 28 March 2014. “I was due to make a presentation to a rather hostile audience,” says Clive Bannister, the head of the FTSE 250 closed-book life insurer. “They didn’t want to think very kindly about Mr Bannister.” And Bannister’s day was about to [...]