Just Group leads FTSE fallers after revealing £400m fundraising plans March 14, 2019 Retirement services firm Just Group has seen shares fall 11 per cent today after revealing plans to raise almost £400m to comply with new capital requirement rules as it unveiled a heavy loss before tax in 2018. The firm said it plans a debt offering of £300m and will raise a further £80m from an equity [...]
Spring Statement 2019: How investors can profit March 14, 2019 | City Talk By Jemma Jackson from interactive investor. There were no bunnies in the chancellor’s hat, but here are the ways investors can benefit this spring. As predicted, Brexit uncertainty torpedoed any chance of good news for the UK’s savers and investors in Chancellor Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement. We hear there’s a ‘deal dividend’ of £26.6 billion, [...]
Enrolling with the times: How the workplace pension hike could affect you March 13, 2019 Since the government began phasing in auto-enrolment almost seven years ago, 10m people have now joined their workplace pension scheme. By encouraging Brits of all ages to save for retirement, the auto-enrolment system was designed to stop the UK from hurtling head-first into a pensions crisis. So far, it’s been a success. Even more people are [...]
MPs investigate Debenhams’ pension schemes as retailer struggles to stay afloat March 8, 2019 MPs are scrutinising the Pensions Regulator’s possible involvement in Debenhams’ refinancing discussions after the retailer issued a second profit warning earlier this week. Read more: Debenhams shares jump on Mike Ashley power grab Work and pensions committee chair Frank Field wrote to the regulator’s chief executive, Lesley Titcomb, to probe its involvement with the struggling [...]
Pensions Regulator tells companies to prioritise pensions payments over shareholder dividends March 5, 2019 The Pensions Regulator has said employers who are unable to fill funding gaps in their pensions schemes should stop paying dividends to shareholders, amid concerned companies are prioritising shareholders at the expense of pension payments. The regulator said on Tuesday it was “concerned about the disparity between dividend growth and stable deficit repair contributions (DRC)”. [...]
London can strengthen its relations with Scotland March 4, 2019 On a brisk evening in January, I had the honour of hosting a Burns Supper at the Mansion House with the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. The night was complete with bagpipes, haggis, and of course a “wee dram” of whisky. The event brought together leading business figures from both sides of the border, [...]
New solutions needed for defined benefit pension schemes March 1, 2019 | City Talk The Cass Pensions Institute says new solutions are needed in stressed defined benefit pension schemes to prevent intergenerational inequities. The Institute has responded to the Department of Work and Pensions Green Paper, Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes. The Greatest Good 2 paper follows up and reconfirms the findings of an 2015 Pensions [...]
How to build an investment income generating machine February 28, 2019 | City Talk By Jemma Jackson from interactive investor. As we celebrate 20 years of ISAs, we reveal how patient investors can construct a lucrative portfolio. The launch of ISAs in 1999 did not get off to an auspicious start, being swiftly followed by the dotcom bust between March 2000 and March 2003. Indeed, the last two decades [...]
Accountant pleads guilty to stealing £280,000 from pension scheme he administered February 27, 2019 An accountant who acted as an administrator and a trustee to pension schemes has admitted to embezzling £280,000 from a pension fund he oversaw. Roger William Bessent, 66, took the money from Focusplay Retirement Benefit Scheme by converting the transfers into loans and making official minutes listing other trustees as present at meetings they did not attend. He [...]
The EIS has cost the government £3bn in tax relief, so why has it become more generous? February 27, 2019 The enterprise investment scheme (EIS) celebrates its silver jubilee this year. Announced by the then chancellor Ken Clarke in the Autumn Budget in 1993, the scheme was launched at the beginning of 1994. The benefits of the EIS have remained generous – in fact, they’ve become more generous. Until April 2011, the up-front tax relief [...]