COP26: Standardising climate reporting could slash pension scheme cash burden September 30, 2021 Standardising climate-related reporting could “considerably” slash the cash burden for pension schemes, the Work and Pensions Committee has said. Calling on the UK to up its leadership on fossil fuel-investing pension funds ahead of COP26, the Committee has urged the Government to encourage other countries to make their local pension schemes disclose their climate-related financial [...]
Let’s talk Aviva: Smaller but richer insurance firm is looking to grow again September 29, 2021 It has been an interesting couple of months for insurance firm Aviva. The City giant sacked its fund manager and was dragged into a leasehold agreement affair it had hoped to avoid. Nevertheless, following a year of cutting costs and selling foreign assets, Aviva feels confident about the future. The company is firmly on investors’ [...]
State pension scandal: Human errors led to £1bn in underpayments for 134,000 Brits September 22, 2021 Repeated human errors led to more than £1bn-worth of state pensions being underpaid, the UK spending watchdog said this morning. Around 134,000 pensioners were underpaid, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said, adding it plans to pay an average of £8,900 to people affected, the National Audit Office (NAO) said. Most of those affected [...]
Here’s how much you must put into your child’s JISA to get them on the housing ladder September 6, 2021 Parents and grandparents face putting away more than £3,000 per year typically to help children on to the property ladder in adulthood, and in London it’s more than double that. A child born in 2021 would need average annual deposits of £3,129 into their Junior Isa (Jisa) to afford the average UK first-time buyer deposit [...]
FCA says it cannot supervise crypto exchange Binance effectively August 25, 2021 UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has admitted that it is “not capable” of effectively supervising Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trade volume in a statement published today. In a supervisory note the watchdog today reiterated its concerns over Binance’s products, which allow consumers to take supercharged bets, and added that the crypto exchange [...]
Mastercard faces £10bn class-action lawsuit in UK August 19, 2021 A UK court has approved the UK’s biggest class action lawsuit of over £10bn against global payments processor Mastercard on behalf of 46m consumers, according to reports. The previously rejected lawsuit was formally certified on Wednesday to go to trial by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London. It will be the first mass claim [...]
John Lewis launches investment products as it looks beyond retail for revenue August 19, 2021 John Lewis has today launched investment products for the first time ever, as the retailer ramps up its plans to find revenue streams in other sectors. Entering the investments market is, the company said in a statement, part of its longer term ambition for 40 per cent of the company’s profits to come from outside [...]
Digital banks pull ahead of high street rivals in battle for consumers’ wallets August 17, 2021 Digital banks are pulling ahead of their traditional high street rivals in the battle to deliver strong customer services, according to findings from the competition watchdog. The Competition and Markets Authority found that Monzo, Starling Bank and First Direct are the top banks for customer service in Britain. The CMA conducted a survey of 1,000 [...]
Pandemic stretches gender pension gap to nearly £200,000 August 11, 2021 Women’s retirement prospects and savings have been dragged down by the pandemic much more than men’s, widening the gap between their pensions pots by almost £200,000. On average, the difference between the average pensions of women and men aged over 55 widened to £184,000 in in the last year – up £26,000 on 2020, according [...]
Pensions group Royal London sees managed assets hit a record £153bn high August 5, 2021 Pensions and life insurance firm Royal London’s assets under management have hit a record high at £153bn in the past six months. Climbing higher from £148bn in late December, the group put the growth down to positive market movements and net inflows in the six months to 30 June. The group pulled in profit before [...]