Latest Columns
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Tilley: Rebooting the FOS makes sense
I’ve written before about the lack of coherence in the UK’s pension complaints landscape and it remains a source of real frustration for those of us working in the sector.
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Lisa Webster: Pension age uncertainty lingers on
We’ve known for many years that normal minimum pension age, NMPA it's known, is going up.
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Tilley: Are we asking too much of pension savers?
Working in UK pensions, I’ve always accepted that the system evolves. Fiscal pressures change, demographics shift, and governments recalibrate policy objectives. But even allowing for that, the pace and volume of legislative change in the pensions space over the last few years feels unprecedented, and in my view increasingly problematic.
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Lisa Webster: Beware IHT and pensions double taxation
One of the most disliked aspects of bringing pensions into the estate for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes from 6 April 2027 is the double taxation that will occur when the member dies on or after their 75th birthday.
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Lisa Webster: Should tax-free cash always be taken?
Since the Lifetime Allowance was abolished and replaced with the Lump Sum Allowance (LSA) and lump sum and death benefit allowance (LSDBA), we have seen an increase in SIPP members who want to take drawdown only – foregoing the right to take the associated pension commencement lump sum (PCLS).
Popular News
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Government to increase SSAS scam protections
The Government has issued draft regulations to address concerns about scam risks for members of small self-administered schemes (SSAS).
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Transact adds new trust to help with IHT pension tax
Transact has unveiled the new Flexible Reversionary Trust (FRT) which it says will help advisers prepare for the April 2027 IHT changes when unused pension funds will be subject to IHT.
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James Jones-Tinsley: The pension challenges ahead
On 19 May, the Pensions Commission published its Interim Report on the state of retirement saving in the UK.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has reported a sharp rise in SIPP complaints with 821 new complaints about SIPPs between July and September compared to 636 in the previous quarter.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has declared 45 firms in default between May and October including two signifcant SIPP providers and dozens of financial advice firms.
STM Group, the financial services and SIPP provider, has added £5m to its takeover war chest to fund further acquisitions.
The Competition and Markets Authority has ordered platform engine provider FNZ to sell rival and takeover target GBST over fears that millions of UK pension savers and investors could face worse service and higher prices.
In its final report, published today, the CMA found that the deal raises “significant competition concerns” in the supply of retail platform solutions to investment platforms in the UK.
FNZ and GBST are two of the leading suppliers in the sector, powering the majority of UK investment platforms.
The CMA found that if it went ahead the merged business would be by far the largest supplier in the platform ‘engine’ market, holding almost half of the UK market.
Martin Coleman, chair of the CMA inquiry group carrying out the investigation, said: “We have found that FNZ and GBST are two of the leading suppliers of retail investment platform solutions, and that they compete with each other closely and face few other suppliers of similar standing. The merger has substantially reduced competition in this sector.
“This matters to the millions of UK consumers who hold pensions or other investments. This is because competition plays a key role in driving price and quality. Without healthy competition, costs could go up and service quality could get worse.
“FNZ chose to complete its acquisition of GBST without first seeking merger clearance in the UK, which it is perfectly entitled to do. This came with the risk that the CMA could call the case in for investigation and that, if competition concerns were found, FNZ could be required to sell off all of the business it had just acquired.”
Following an in-depth investigation, a group of independent CMA panel members concluded that the loss of competition brought about by the deal could lead to investment platforms, and therefore UK consumers who rely on these platforms to administer their pensions and other investments, facing higher costs and lower quality services.
The CMA’s findings are based on the companies’ own tender data and internal documents, as well as information from customers, competitors and other stakeholders.
While the competition regulator found differences in the firms’ business models - with FNZ providing an integrated software and servicing solution and GBST a software-only provider - the CMA found that they compete closely and face few other significant suppliers at present.
The CMA found no basis to suggest that entry or expansion by other suppliers would mitigate the harm caused by the merger.
The CMA considered a number of remedies, including options put forward by FNZ but found that requiring FNZ to sell the entire GBST business was the only solution that will “properly address” the loss of competition resulting from the merger.
A spokesperson for FNZ said: "We note that the CMA has published its final views on FNZ's 2019 acquisition of Australian software company, GBST. We have no further comment at this stage."
Adviser platform Wealthtime says it may make it own acquisitions following the completion of its takeover by European private equity firm AnaCap Financial Partners.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has responded to a bid from former Pensions Minister Stephen Timms MP to make pension guidance appointments automatic.