Let’s get ethical: Abundance’s Bruce Davis on what crowdfunding is offering investors with a conscience March 18, 2015 Are we becoming more ethically aware when making investments? According to recent research conducted for Triodos Bank, more than one in 10 Brits say that they plan to remove any investments they hold involving fossil fuels over the next 12 months. And among 18 to 34-year olds, the proportion rises to 40 per cent. But [...]
Was George Osborne’s last Budget before the General Election a winner for British savers? March 18, 2015 Iain McCluskey, tax director at PwC, says Yes This was a Budget for those who choose to, in George speak, fix their roof. With returns on savings sitting at miserable lows for most people, the chancellor had to innovate to try and encourage the country to save. He did this by using the Budget to [...]
Budget 2015: What to watch out for today March 17, 2015 WHO: GEORGE OSBORNE WHEN: 12.30PM TODAY WHERE: HOUSE OF COMMONS WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW A further shake up of pensions Over 55-year-olds who had previously been forced to buy an annuity will be able to sell it for a lump cash sum to use as they wish, instead of receiving the regular payouts, building on reforms from [...]
Multi-asset: Why the case for these funds is growing – Investment Comment March 17, 2015 With pension freedoms arriving next month, today’s retirees have serious and complex decisions to make about their financial futures, over which they now have unprecedented control. Investors who may once have bought an annuity will now need to carefully manage risk to prevent against the potential loss of future wealth, while accessing competitive returns to [...]
Pension Insurance Corporation sees benefits of bond issue as profits rise March 16, 2015 Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has posted pre-tax profit of £170m for the year to 31 December 2014, up from £114m in 2013. The specialist insurer also reported new pension business premiums of £2.6bn across 19 transactions, with clients, including French oil group Total and management consultancy firm Aon Hewitt. PIC raised £300m through a bond issuance [...]
Budget 2015: New pensions changes to allow savers to cash in annuities March 16, 2015 George Osborne’s crunch pre-election Budget will give savers who already own an annuity the power to cash it out. This new loosening of pensions rules builds on changes in last year’s Budget, and was confirmed by the Treasury yesterday. The Treasury says that it will give greater flexibility to five million pensioners who already own [...]
ITV in countdown to legal scrap over pension plans for Charles Allen execs March 16, 2015 ITV is preparing for a legal battle to take back almost £40m from a pension scheme for former chief executive Lord Charles Allen and three of his former colleagues. The broadcaster is seeking to free up assets that were placed in a ring-fenced retirement plan 15 years ago, when Lord Allen was head of Granada, [...]
One in three 2015 retirees have no idea about pension changes March 16, 2015 Almost one third of people due to retire this year have not heard of the pension changes which are due to come into force on 6 April, research from retirement specialist Prudential reveals this morning. According to the company, the retirees who are aware that a broader range of retirement income options will be available [...]
Alternative lending deals rocket 43 per cent amid M&A flurry March 14, 2015 Non-bank lending jumped last year, with 195 deals in the UK and Europe, up 43 per cent from a year earlier. Mergers and acquisitions activity drove around 51 per cent of the deals, overtaking refinancing, when considering deals since the tracker began at end of 2012. "With increased confidence in the markets and wider funding options, we [...]
Pensions shake-up: George Osborne mulls further change to annuity rules March 12, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne is considering including a further shake-up of pensions rules in his crucial pre-election Budget next week, to allow pensioners to sell their existing annuities for cash. From next month those over 55 years old will be able to cash in their pension pot instead of buying an annuity to be paid out [...]