Royal London in talks with LV= over £500m tie-up September 26, 2020 Royal London is in negotiations with fellow financial services provider LV= regarding a tie-up and could reach an agreement within days. A deal would see the groups merge their pensions, life insurance and asset managements businesses, according to Sky News. The transaction would end LV=’s 177-year status as an independent business and create a “mutual [...]
Q&A: Top tips to consolidate your pensions in a post-Covid world September 11, 2020 Zoe Bailey, a director at financial planning specialist Tilney, goes through the pros and cons of consolidating your pensions Keeping track of multiple pension pots can be challenging – especially in times of economic uncertainty. As a result, simplifying your retirement funds and transferring them into one place can be an attractive proposition. However, there [...]
Rishi Sunak can afford to be bold on pension reform in his autumn statement September 8, 2020 Rishi Sunak’s summer economic statement was essentially an exercise in positivity. The update, given by the chancellor two months ago, was mainly focused on helping Britain emerge from the coronavirus pandemic in decent shape. However, as with the various virus-related schemes announced in his spring Budget, his new initiatives to kickstart the economy come at [...]
Regulators target football fans in pension scam awareness campaign August 25, 2020 Regulators are targeting football fans in a new campaign intended to raise awareness of pension scams, with over £30m reportedly lost to scammers since 2017. Reported losses range from under £1,000 to as much as £500,000, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) with the average victim being a man [...]
Royal London swings to £181m loss on drop in sales and asset values August 10, 2020 Pensions provider Royal London today said it swung to a loss in the six months to 30 June which it blamed on falling asset values and slow sales during lockdown. Royal London posted a loss before tax of £181m for the six-month period, down from a profit of £397m at the half-year in 2019. Its [...]
BBC hires 800 agents to quell pensioner revolt over licence fee August 5, 2020 The BBC has hired 800 agents to curb a growing revolt over the end of the over-75s licence fee, as it today prepares to send out millions of letters to affected households. The public service broadcaster last week scrapped the free TV licence for pensioners, arguing that the freebie was costing the BBC £745m a [...]
Without reform, the government’s Ponzi Pension Scheme will bankrupt us all August 5, 2020 For the past decade, financial markets have been dominated by the ongoing distortions set in motion by the last financial crisis in 2008. Regulatory overkill of City dealing, quantitative easing (QE) and zero interest rate policies (ZIRP) have combined to drive financial assets — stocks and shares — to record prices. Now, the consequences are [...]
Scottish Widows becomes first investor in Blackrock climate fund August 5, 2020 Scottish Widows has become the first investor in Blackrock’s newly launched climate fund, which is designed for the transition to a low carbon economy. The pension provider is initially allocating £2bn of its pension portfolios into Blackrock’s Climate Transition World Equity Fund. It marks a shift in strategy for Blackrock, which is using data to [...]
UK pension scheme invests £5.5bn into ‘environmentally friendly strategies’ July 29, 2020 Britain’s largest pension scheme Nest has pledged to tighten its climate change policy with an investment of £5.5bn into environmentally friendly strategies. The government-backed scheme said it would decarbonise its £12bn investment portfolio in a bid to tackle climate change. Nest said it aims to be “net-zero” across its investments by 2050 or earlier, with [...]
FCA puts UK banks on notice on overdrafts but will not open formal inquiry July 1, 2020 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will not open a formal inquiry into overdraft charges by UK banks, but said there would be a full evaluation of lenders’ pricing next year. In January, the financial watchdog gave banks just two weeks to explain changes to their overdraft rates which would leave around eight million consumers worse [...]