Its share price might be on a downward slope, but here are six reasons this Old Mutual spinoff might just work March 11, 2016 Shares in FTSE 100 insurance group Old Mutual have fallen after it unveiled plans this morning to split into four separate companies – suggesting investors are less than impressed at its plans Fear not, though. There could be good reason to be optimistic about this conscious uncoupling, if past precedent is anything to go by. “The [...]
George Osborne scraps pension reforms package including tax relief plans March 5, 2016 Chancellor George Osborne will scrap plans to introduce a package of reforms on pensions including cutting tax relief for higher earners. It was feared that the radical reforms, which would have made pension pot withdrawals tax-free but eliminated relief on contributions, could have triggered a run on savings and backlash from high-earning voters. A product of an [...]
Abbey Life, Countrywide, Old Mutual, Police Mutual, Prudential and Scottish Widows face further investigation into life insurance exit charges by Financial Conduct Authority March 3, 2016 Six insurance firms face investigation from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into what impact exit charges are having on their customers. The announcement follows today's publication of a review by the watchdog into 11 firms on fair treatment of long-standing life insurance customers. Six of the 11 companies – Abbey Life, Countrywide Assured, Old Mutual, Police Mutual, Prudential [...]
Admiral’s share price hits record highs and leads the FTSE 100 higher after strong results March 3, 2016 Insurance group Admiral has posted a six per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £377m which sending its shares to a record high and leading the FTSE 100 to fresh highs for the year. Higher car insurance rates were one of the biggest drivers of profit for the company, as Admiral pulled in more customers but lowing its prices to [...]
Financial Conduct Authority to publish scorecards for general insurance products March 1, 2016 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to start publishing “scorecards” rating a small number of general insurance products. The watchdog said it will collect data from companies and present it in “an easily accessible format” on its website. “We believe that publishing a range of information will help to boost competition between firms, encouraging them [...]
Budget 2016 UK pension changes explained: What pension reforms might chancellor George Osborne have up his sleeve on 16 March? Will Waspi have any state pension joy? February 25, 2016 It's the question on everybody's lips (well, everybody at City A.M. anyway): what will pensions in the UK look like post-Budget 2016? Several suggestions have been bandied around, but which ones might you want to start banking on and which can you probably afford to ignore? Relief rates slashed for higher earners Bad news if you pay [...]
Small business representatives tell the Work and Pensions Committee of their auto-enrolment worries, including clash between adopting system and National Living Wage February 24, 2016 Smaller employers need to act now to understand what is required of them under the pensions auto-enrolment rules, small business representatives have cautioned. Speaking in front of the Work and Pensions Committee this morning, Mike Cherry, policy director at Federation of Small Businesses, pointed out that research by his organisation indicated that that many small businesses [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
ABI warns chancellor George Osborne against further hikes to Insurance Premium Tax in Budget 2016 February 16, 2016 Any further rise in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) would “hit millions of people doing the right thing”, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said. IPT affects 50m car, home, pet and private medical insurance policies. The insurance body has said the tax rise from six per cent to 9.5 per cent announced in the chancellor’s 2015 Summer Budget has [...]
Pension Isa could see savings slashed by a sixth, says Association of British Insurers, which favours the flat rate of tax relief instead February 15, 2016 Introducing a pension Isa could lower contributions by around a sixth, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned today. Using research prepared by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), the ABI has calculated that a pension Isa system, where pensions contributions are taxed but withdrawals are exempt, would influence people to cut [...]