Latest Blogs
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James Jones-Tinsley: Aiming for an advice-guidance sweetspot
As Nikhil Rathi is reappointed as CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for another five years, the FCA has set out its strategic direction for 2025/26, with important implications for financial advisers.
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Lisa Webster: Maximising protected tax-free cash
While 2024 ended with a lot of doom and gloom in the pension world following the big announcement on inheritance tax (IHT), there was some good news that may have slipped under the radar of some advisers.
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Tilley: Is the age 75 trigger date now irrelevant?
Age 75 has been an important milestone in pension rules since A day in 2006. It was the latest age at which a compulsory annuity purchase was required (prior to Pensions Freedoms). It's arguably it’s long been an arbitrary line in the sand, noting that life expectancy has been on the increase for the last 20 years, but this trigger age has remained unchanged.
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Lisa Webster: Overcomplicated rules are a threat
It may be more than a year since the Lifetime Allowance was formally abolished but issues are still emerging from the mess made by rushed legislation.
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James Jones-Tinsley: Guided Retirement Duty could be game changer
During May, the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI), sponsored by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), concluded that defined contribution (DC) pension savers – including those in SIPPs, as well as in Workplace Pensions - require more guidance when choosing suitable retirement products.
Popular News
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Workers in the dark about workplace pensions
Two in five, 43%, UK workers don’t know how much they are contributing to their workplace pension.
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TPT launches DC decumulation product
Workplace pension provider TPT Retirement Solutions has launched a DC decumulation product, which it said has been designed to simplify retirement income planning for savers.
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1.5m workers can't afford to save into a pension
More than 1.5m UK workers say they cannot afford to save into a pension.
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Lisa Webster: To gift or not to gift?
Since the announcement that pensions are to be included in estates for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes the question of whether those with large pension pots should be giving some funds away has become increasingly common.
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Pension transfer times rose during tax year end
Simpler pension transfers took an average of just 11 days to complete in the lead up to the end of the 2024/25 tax year.
Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed today that his next Budget will take place on Monday 29 October.
Unusually, the Budget is being held on a Monday this year. It's is typically on a Tuesday or Wednesday.
The Treasury said the Budget would “set out the government’s plan to build a stronger, more prosperous economy, building on the recent Spring Statement and last year’s Budget.”
The announcement of the Budget date was slow to emerge this year with some commentators believing the Chancellor was waiting for the conclusion of Brexit negotiations with the EU.
As there is little sign these will be concluded quickly it now appears he has decided to press ahead with a relatively early Budget date despite some experts believing it could have been put off until November or even December.
Mr Hammond Tweeted: “I’ll set out how our balanced approach is getting debt falling while supporting our vital public services, and how we are building a stronger, more prosperous economy.”
Mr Hammond moved the date of the Budget from March to the Autumn after taking over as Chancellor to avoid an end of year tax scramble.
Some commentators have predicted Mr Hammond may limit pensions tax relief and introduce other pension changes but the Treasury has not commented on any speculation.
Platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell has called for annual platform charges to be disclosed in pounds and pence.
In its response to the FCA’s Platform Market Study interim report, AJ Bell says that reform of charges disclosure is important to allow greater scrutiny by investors.
The company wants:
- Pounds and pence disclosure of annual platform charges
- Regulatory guidance on bulk platform transfers
- A lifting of the ban on cash rebates
- Improved standards and transparency for model portfolio disclosures
Andy Bell, chief executive at AJ Bell, said: “The platform market has grown to a size and importance that merits greater scrutiny but equally it has delivered significant benefits to consumers in terms of lower charges and greater transparency that shouldn’t be derailed by unnecessary intervention.
“In this respect, the interim report hit the right note in terms of highlighting the aspects of the market that need further debate.”
“The FCA is absolutely right to put value for money front and centre of the platform market study and sharpen the focus on revenue margin, expressed as the amount of revenue each platform makes in a year from each £ of assets under administration (AUA).”
He said that revenue per £ of AUA “cuts through” the complexity created by different platform charging structures.
He wants to see investors given the level of charges each platform levies per £ invested.
This would be disclosed as £s of revenue per £100,000 of investment, rather than a basis points measure.
He said that based on the 2016 numbers from the interim report platform fees per £100,000 would range from £220 per year to £540.
Mr Bell said he would also like to see platforms provide a calculator on their websites that showed customers the annual charges that potential and existing customers will pay, in pounds and pence.
He also wants to see switching between platforms made easier.
In addition, he called for the lifting of the ban on cash rebates among other changes to simplify and streamline how platforms run and the charges they levy and to reduce complexity.