Category Archive for: ‘UK news’
Defined benefit FCA advisers a shrinking pool – with real consequences
If you want to transfer a UK defined benefit pension the UK regulator (the FCA) has made it really blinking hard. If your pension has a transfer value of over GBP30k, which is not a lot really, you need a UK regulated FCA adviser to give you FCA advice. Once you have the advice they sign-off that they have …
£15bn sexism case puts UK pension transfers on hold
OK so there’s been a big and boring legal stoush going on in the UK… the upshot of which is that UK pension schemes trustees are now in a quandary and stopping lots of pension transfers. That can suck if you, through no fault of your own, are caught in the cross-fire. Basically the case is about a …
Exchange rate spikes and how to take advantage
Brexit, Trump and so much more, it seems that everyday is a rollercoaster on the exchange rate front. With so much uncertainty there is always a temptation to wait things out until calmness prevails, see what things will look like after Brexit or once Trump losses control of the house of representatives. Our years of experience tell us that …
Demystifying FCA advice for final salary pensions
Every final salary pension transfer over £30,000 needs FCA advice ack in 2016 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made it complusory for anyone wishing to transfer a final salary pension scheme where the transfer value was over £30,000 to obtain FCA advice. Over time the FCA have become more and more prescriptive about the form of this advice. The reason …
Siege mentality of UK pension providers making transfers hard
UK pension providers appear to be grinding slowly to a halt on all pension transfers as walls go up and a seige mentality grips them. Emboldened by UK regulators effectively stating “that money in UK pensions should stay in UK pensions”, UK providers are throwing up as many roadblocks as they can for people wanting to legitimately move their pensions. …
UK expats and returning Kiwis advised to transfer personal pensions before Brexit
British expats and Kiwis who’ve left their personal pension back in the UK are being advised to transfer it before Brexit kicks in. The advice is aimed not just at UK expats already living in New Zealand, but also to those planning to emigrate in the near future. It’s being spurred by increasing concern over the viability of …
Advisers scamming NZ and OZ based UK pension holders
For years the New Zealand regulator has been building a strong regulatory regime to protect people from bad advice and worse investments. One of the first principles in this protection is a ban on cold calls selling financial services. A second principle is giving a fair and balanced view in advice. So if you are cold called telling …
Huge pension fund deficits are a global crisis in waiting
Ania Zalewska, University of Bath In the past decade, the banking industry has been a central focus of attention for regulators, academics and the general public. The 2007-08 financial crisis led to new regulations and institutions to keep things in check. In contrast, the issues of the pension industry have tended to be swept deep under the carpet. Much …
Now harder than ever to transfer a UK pension
It’s never been harder to transfer a UK pension to New Zealand. Over the last three years UK government agencies have put up consistent barriers to stop the outflows of UK pensions to overseas schemes (QROPS). Some barriers have been direct, like the shutting down of pension transfers out of public sector schemes like the NHS, teachers, civil service and …
Theresa May’s election shambles save UK final salary pension holders
The Conservative government had sought to address the burden of pension commitments in its election manifesto, with a plan to decouple annual rises in pensions from inflation from 2020. But when the election returned a minority government for May propped up by Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionists, the commitment was abandoned.
