Sir Philip Green won’t be giving up his yacht any time soon, the work and pensions committee hears November 23, 2016 Assets owned by Sir Philip Green will not be seized by authorities for some time, as the process to force the former BHS owner to plug the retailer's terminal pension deficit is "very much at the earlier stage". The chief exec of The Pensions Regulator (TPR) Lesley Titcomb answered questions on the failure of BHS in front of the [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Philip Hammond shouldn’t base changes to pensions tax relief on older people’s situation today November 22, 2016 According to some reports, tomorrow’s Autumn Statement could be both the first and last for the new chancellor, because Philip Hammond is said to be in favour of sticking to a single annual Budget. We’ve become used to the biannual format, with a fresh set of policies emerging from the chancellor’s red box twice each year. [...]
Pension Insurance Corporation will launch a £250m corporate bond to fund a raft of new business November 17, 2016 A wave of Britain's largest firms are planning to offload huge pension liabilities to a key market player. The Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC), a company that specialises in taking pension headaches away from businesses, will today launch a £250m investment bond to fund a bottleneck of deals in late 2016 and early 2017. Sources close to the [...]
The Financial Conduct Authority puts communication “front and centre” as part of proposals for Lifetime Isa sales November 16, 2016 Britain's financial watchdog has set out its expectations on the rules of engagement for next year's launch of the Lifetime Isa. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today issued a consultation paper that proposed financial advisers must warn investors of the key penalties and opportunity costs of using the savings wrapper. Read more: Property or pensions? Why not both? [...]
LV quits the annuity market: experts say it was inevitable November 16, 2016 LV is the next big insurance name to flee the enhanced annuity market with immediate effect. With annuity rates plummeting as the lower-for-longer interest rate environment persists, the announcement follows the earlier news that the insurer was reviewing its annuity operations. Read more: Binning the government's annuity initiative: Here's what the experts think “The writing was on the wall," [...]
Swathes of pensioners are suffering from buyer’s remorse after cashing in pensions November 15, 2016 Tens of thousands of savers are blissfully unaware of the risks of drawing cash lump sums from retirement savings according to research released today. As part of former chancellor George Osborne's push to give Britain's retirees greater pension freedoms, a tax-free lump sum of up to 25 per cent was introduced in 2015. Read more: Enthusiasm for Osborne's [...]
The FCA confirms final rules on capping early exit pension charges November 15, 2016 The City watchdog has announces its final rules on capping early exit charges for pensions. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said today that from 31 March next year, early exit charges will be capped at one per cent of the value of existing contract-based personal pensions, including workplace personal pensions. Early exit charges that are [...]
Aviva warns that current saving levels are not sufficient November 15, 2016 Britons need to be saving a whopping six times more than the minimum levels introduced by the government, according to the UK’s largest general insurer. Aviva said that the British public should be setting aside 12.5 per cent of their salary to save for old age. This compares with the current minimum requirement of two per cent under [...]
The Pensions Regulator rejects claims it was “too heavy-handed” in dishing out fines November 14, 2016 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has lashed out at claims that nearly all the businesses that challenged auto-enrolment fines had them overturned. A report by payroll platform Paycircle suggested 82 per cent of businesses that pushed back on penalties imposed by TPR had them either "revoked, substituted or varied" during the last quarter. However, TPR condemned the analysis. A spokesperson said: It [...]
What the Donald Trump win means for your pension pot November 9, 2016 Given all the excitement this morning, your retirement funds might be the last thing on your mind, but you might want to take a moment or two to ponder your pension after all. The fallout from Donald Trump's election win might call for some careful thinking about pension pots, industry experts have warned. Trump's somewhat [...]