Industry news and views from Panacea and our partners.
Pensions_
BNY Mellon: Is there still a place for bond funds in your pension portfolio?
Insights Tim Rees says that in the post-QE world, investors must consider less conventional methods of generating income as they enter retirement.
Aviva: Limited time only! Equity Release fee down to £5
Clients can now save £595 on our Equity Release fee. Visit Aviva for Advisers to download our client friendly flyer now and share the good news with them!
Aegon launches guaranteed drawdown to meet twin demands of flexibility and income certainty
Secure Retirement Income from Aegon has been designed to meet growing demand for flexibility and income certainty, providing an alternative to an annuity or flexi access drawdown, both of which have limitations.
BlackRock: Pension freedoms: four months on
It is four months since the new pension freedoms came into force. For the time being, many retirees are sitting tight, waiting to see how the new rules will bed down before committing to any wholesale changes in their financial plans.
Aegon analysis of the Summer Budget 2015
Aegon analysis of the Summer Budget 2015. During the webinar Elaine Cruickshank, Tax and Trust Manager, and Martin Haggart, Pensions Technical Manager, covered
Canada Life: Taking a tax efficient retirement income - a guide for paraplanners
With the introduction of the new pension freedoms, the flexibilities that were only afforded to a few are now available to all and where the majority of clients historically went down the annuity route, now many more will be looking to fully explore all the options now available to them.
A&E in a box: Sleepwalking towards a pension nightmare
Latest report is a further 500,000 employers are to stage than expected making it 1.8 million employers to stage over the coming months.
FundsNetwork: Retirement guides for your clients
Pensions have been transformed. New rules give people far more flexibility when they retire, and freedom to spend their pension savings as they wish. To help your clients navigate the changes, determine what choices they need to make and learn how to get the most out of their savings, FundsNetworkTM have put together the following guides for you to share with your clients who are approaching, at, or already in, retirement.
Now Pensions: How can you rate auto enrolment pensions?
This is proving a real challenge for the major industry research and ratings companies such as Defaqto. They have all had a go, but to my mind they arent really hitting the mark.
Royal London: Pension Freedoms so far so good?
Now that we are a few months into a new pensions regime and our new Pensions Minister is officially in office, lets pause for a moment and see how it all has gone so far.
Aviva: Retirement Spotlight
Head of Distribution, Retirement Solutions for Aviva Life UK, Tony Warwick, explains how our new resource for advisers can maximise business opportunities. You'll find loads of helpful support covering everything from client issues to management tips, all with a strong practical slant to help you generate more business.
Prudentials Summer Oracle Quarterly now available
Prudentials latest edition is now available - covering interesting and topical related commentary that could help you to identify new financial opportunities with your clients. Heres a small introduction from John Warburton.
Aviva: Helping your customers get to grips with pension changes
Deciding what to do with pension savings is an important step, and now customers will have more choices to consider once they reach 55.
Royal London: Defaults, targets and one-day cricket
OK, show of hands please. Who has ever thought of cricket and default funds at the same time? If you have, youve probably been tasked with the idea of writing a blog that links the two like me! With all the current focus on Freedom and Choice Ive been thinking a lot about how this impacts default funds and in many ways, its a lot like targeting a moving run chase in a rain-affected cricket match.
The Pension Regulator: AE industry Liaison Manager Press release - July 2015
Press release - more help for employers on choosing a pension scheme on our website We have stepped up our support for the 1.3 million small and micro businesses preparing for automatic enrolment by publishing guidance to help them find a good quality pension scheme.
FundsNetwork: Investment choice for all business models
Whether you pick individual funds, use model portfolios, or outsource to investment solutions, the FundsNetwork Pension supports them all. With no set-up or administration charges for both accumulation and drawdown, the only charges are an annual Service Fee of 0.25% and an annual Investor Fee of £45.
Prudential: Oracle WebEx Live special event 29 & 30 July
Prudential are delighted to invite you to their special Oracle Live WebEx event. Over two days, theyre running a total of sixteen, 30 minute WebEx presentations. These are aimed at helping you identify new financial planning opportunities with your clients at the same time as offering up to 8 hours structured CPD.
Prudential: You may have heard the FCA pension transfer rules have changed...
The Financial Conduct Authority have issued a Policy Statement detailing changes to their transfer rules, which came into effect on the 5th June 2015.
Canada Life: Tax implications of the new pension flexibilities
Sam Newton discusses the options available under the new pension freedoms and the tax implications.
Aviva: Living on your property, not just in it?
When George Osborne stood up in the Commons in March 2014, he set in motion a wave of change that will continue to reverberate around the retirement planning world for some time to come. Unsurprisingly, most of the focus has been on pensions and how best to take benefits. There has been a reported rapid swing away from traditional annuities towards more flexible drawdown arrangements as people seek to access capital, higher income levels and the perceived better value they may deliver.
Fundsnetwork: Personal tax and pensions keeping us on our toes
George Osbornes latest budget announced yet more changes to personal tax and pensions. In case you missed anything, FundsNetworks Head of Tax and Trust Planning, Paul Kennedy, has put together a summary of the main points. Read Pauls views and an overview of the changes.
Royal London: July 2015 Budget Summary
George Osborne delivered his seventh Budget on Wednesday 8 July 2015. As predicted the main change affecting the pensions industry is a reduction in the annual allowance for those with high incomes. However, a potentially greater impact could result from the outcome of the consultation on pensions tax relief. Here's our summary of the changes with links to Treasury or HM Revenue and Customs if you would like more detail.
Royal London: July 2015 Budget Summary
George Osborne delivered his seventh Budget on Wednesday 8 July 2015. As predicted the main change affecting the pensions industry is a reduction in the annual allowance for those with high incomes. However, a potentially greater impact could result from the outcome of the consultation on pensions tax relief. Here's our summary of the changes with links to Treasury or HM Revenue and Customs if you would like more detail
Now Pensions: Auto enrolment for small businesses simple is the key from 2016
2016 and the huge increase in numbers of small firms staging for auto enrolment is now not far away. Will the market remain profitable enough for advisers to continue participating?
Now Pensions: Governance, governance, governance why all the fuss?
There has been a lot of discussion about pension scheme governance recently.
Aegon: Prioritising pensions will help women close the gap on their male colleagues
Last week Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt lit a fire under the gender equality debate and the flames of discussion are still burning across the national medias front pages.
Royal London: A big Thank you
Royal London have been awarded Company of the Year and retained the award for Best Pension Provider at the Money Marketing Awards, held at The Old Billingsgate in London on Thursday 18 June.
The Pension Regulator: AE Industry Liaison Manager update - June 2015
If there are any particular topics you would like to hear about, your feedback would be welcome. Please feel free to circulate this email to appropriate colleagues and any third party contacts and introducers.
Aegon: Securing the right income in retirement will take real thought
Earlier this year the then pensions minister Steve Webb famously said that it would be up to each individual to decide if they wanted to use the new pension freedoms to cash in their pension savings and buy a Lamborghini.
Auto Enrolement - Bunsen burners, Gaps and the Venn diagram of auto enrolment
Whilst I love learning there are a few pieces of knowledge I acquired at school Ive never found any practical use for
Royal London: Safeguarded benefitsWhat are they and when does an individual need to take advice to give them up
The Pension Schemes Act 2015 introduced the concept of safeguarded benefits from 6 April 2015. It also placed a requirement on some individuals to take financial advice before they can give up safeguarded benefits. But what does this all really mean?
A&E in a box: Misconceptions, Superheroes and an important lesson for SMEs
Theres a general assumption in both the employers and accountants we speak to that if you employ between 2 & 50 employees, and especially if youre closer to the former rather than the later, Auto Enrolment is something you can put to the bottom of your in-box file and worry about in 2016 or 2017.
Scottish Widows: Pension Freedoms Month 2
Interest in Pension Freedoms remains unabated in the press with many stories appearing about who is doing what however there is little concrete evidence as to what is actually happening.
A&E in a box: Easter, Peppa Pig and why the time to plan for auto enrolment is truly here
The run up to April every year is usually a pretty busy time in more financial planners and advisers offices for two really clear reasons Firstly were pretty busy ensuring our clients have done everything they need to do prior to the end of the tax year and work hard helping our clients understand the new pension freedoms.
Royal London: How people are spending their pension fund
Jamie Clark tells you about Royal Londons experience so far and enlightens us to what clients are spending their pension pots on
Pension freedoms. Doing something stupid not knowing it is really stupid
I read with some interest and considerable concern the awful story of a unicyclist in Hoe Street, London E17 who collided with and got trapped under a route 210 London Bus. What followed was a fantastic example of people power from some 50 or so people who tried and succeeded to lift the bus of the trapped man allowing him to be taken to hospital, in a very serious condition.
Prudential: Advice opportunity - Managing clients nominations
Pensions Freedom has put pension planning in the spotlight - removing many of the constraints that used to exist for taking pension benefits - and it has liberated the ability to pass on benefits on death.
The Pension regulator: View our video on director exemptions
Find out if your director clients are exempt from the automatic enrolment duties. Click on the link below.
AE in a Box, Rainy Sundays and how frustration creates ideas
About 18 months ago, on a rainy Sunday night, I was sitting at home feeling uneasy. I was trying to read but found myself constantly distracted by a thought which wouldnt go away. The thought was about a particularly annoying challenge I faced within my business which Id been struggling to get my head around for a couple of weeks. You see, at that stage we were helping a number of relatively large employers with the process of auto enrolment.
Why AE in a Box is the result of a personal pension paradox
Now were in the new tax year theres plenty going on in the wonderful world of pensions. Individuals over 55 have more flexibility on what they can do with their accumulated pension pots than ever before. Its now more attractive for individuals to pass on their pensions if they dont use all the money to their dependents (at least before the age of 75)