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Latest Columns

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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

Latest News
Platform and SIPP provider AJ Bell has today announced a profits surge of 24% in its interim half-year results, its most profitable ever it says.

The firm reported “strong growth” for the six months ended 31 March, which, as well as increasing profits to record levels, included a 12% rise in customer numbers from 164,557 to 183,482 and a 5% increase in assets under management from £39.8bn to £41.8bn .


Elsewhere in the report highlights included:
·       New business growth with net platform inflows of £3.5bn, up 17% (H1 2017: £3.0bn)
·       Customer retention of 95%
·       Revenue increased 16% to £42.9m (H1 2017: £37.0m)
·       An interim dividend payment of 14p per share, a 10% increase compared to the interim dividend last year (H1 2017: 12.75p)

In the period the company launched two new income-focused multi-asset portfolios within its Managed Portfolio Service (MPS) for financial advisers, as well as a new Lifetime ISA.

Preparations for a listing on the London Stock Exchange “later in 2018 or early 2019” were said to be “progressing well.”

Andy Bell, chief executive of AJ Bell, said: “These are the most profitable interim results in our history and are a great endorsement of our strategy and market position. 

“The UK retail investment and savings market continues to display strong growth and investment platforms are central to this.”

“We are well placed to continue our growth trajectory and are progressing well with our plans for a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange later this year or early 2019.”
Xafinity Punter Southall has unveiled a new identity and will now operate under the XPS Pensions Group name.

Seven Investment Management (7IM) has launched its own Self Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) with no annual fee on accounts above £75,000.

An expert has expressed scepticism over whether a planned rise in auto-enrolment contributions will actually take place in April 2019.

The Personal Finance Society wants the Government to impose a ‘seven basis points’ levy on funds under management per year as a solution to FSCS funding problems. 

Gifting is continuing to drive expansion in the equity release market with one in four pensioners using property wealth to help family members, new analysis has shown.

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