The Liberal Democrats have branded the government’s decision to delay a pot follows member pension system “incompetent”. The Liberal Democrat spokesman for work and pensions Stephen Lloyd MP says the move by pensions minister Guy Opperman shows how “rudderless” the current government is on pensions policy. Last October Opperman suggested the pot follows member initiative […]
The Financial Ombudsman Service has told Kingswood Financial Advisors to compensate a client over a Sipp investment in an unregulated Harlequin property fund. The case concerns Mr B’s complaints about the advice he received regarding two unregulated investments: one into a Harlequin property fund and the other into Green Oil. The ombudsman’s ruling relates to […]
The pensions dashboard could face requests from 15 million consumers when it goes live and must be built accordingly, according to technology provider Origo. The firm has come to this figure through its own research and discussions it has had with providers and banks who operate consumer-facing platforms. The infrastructure underpinning the pensions dashboard must […]
Old Mutual Wealth has decided to halt all transfer value analysis report services as the FCA looks to crack down on unsuitable defined benefit transfers. The decision follows Standard Life, which stopped offering free TVAS reports for IFAs yesterday after the FCA said they could act as inducements. Standard Life and Old Mutual have both […]
The Government must start a national information campaign to highlight the dangers of pension scammers according to MP Stephen Lloyd. The Liberal Democrat spokesman for works and pensions has issued the call on the back of research from Retirement Advantage which found around one in seven people over the age of 50 with a defined contribution […]
The recent enquiry by the work and pensions select committee has reignited the debate about the future of collective defined contribution schemes. Whether these sort of schemes can be incorporated into the current UK pensions landscape is a moot point. Let’s consider some of the arguments for and against CDC. First of all, it is […]
Retirement interest-only mortgages are set to become more popular following the FCA removing hurdles to selling them. The regulator sees RIO mortgages as a possible aid to the waves of maturing interest-only loans with no repayment strategy. However, the FCA also wants RIO mortgages to be sold more widely, for example as an additional option […]
As the pension freedoms approach their third anniversary, advisers are reflecting on how the watershed policy has affected both their businesses and their clients. Clients have benefited from being able to access flexible drawdown and to use their pension to help fund inheritance. They are able to transfer out of defined benefit schemes and are […]
Michael Klimes examines what advisers think the FCA should focus on in its policy paper on defined benefit transfers
National advice firm LEBC is backing an amendment to the Financial Guidance and Claims Bill to give retirees default guidance as MPs vote on the legislation today. In December 2017 the Work and Pensions Select Committee said the Government should ban pension cold calling and introduce default guidance through the bill. On 6 March the […]
Michael Klimes examines if scheme rules hinder the work advisers do on transfers
The nine adviser firms that voluntarily agreed to stop doing pension transfer work related to the British Steel pension scheme are keeping quiet as the FCA continues its action on the matter. Money Marketing has contacted all nine firms but they either declined to comment, were unable to comment at the time of publication or […]