The self invested pensions market is an evolving and changing space. We regularly publish our informal thoughts in our blog and welcome any input on the relevant issues. If you would prefer to get in touch with me direct rather than posting a comment please feel free to do so via the contact page on his website.
...Now if you are a global business your brand might be worth lots of money, but if you are a small local tradesman your intellectual property possibly isn’t worth much, and not the amount it has been transferred to the SSAS for. A cynic (who me?) might say this is a convenient way of getting round the loanback rules.... Read the rest of this post…
Family SIPPs, and the Scheme Pensions they aim to provide, have become an endangered species recently, and recent reports indicate they might even be close to extinction. The key component of these products was the Scheme Pension, a fixed rate of pension which a SIPP or SSAS could provide through income drawdown, individually calculated for the client rather than using a standard GAD table. The income could be a lot higher than under normal drawdown, particularly after age 75 under the old ASP restrictions or if the client had a reduced life expectancy.
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Why is this important? Well, all regulated firms have minimum capital adequacy requirements and the FSA have been looking closely at SIPP operators recently. Their concern is that the more complex nature of SIPPs, and the unusual investments in many SIPP books, could mean that SIPP operators will need more capital, should they ever need to run down their operations in an orderly way. Read the rest of this post…
An important subject this one, with increased regulatory interest in the more unusual investments held by SIPPs, the advisers who promote them and the SIPP companies which allow them. Read the rest of this post…
“Eco-investments” have seen a big increase in popularity recently, partly driven by frustration at low returns on traditional investments and partly by the wish to do something good for the planet and earn money at the same time. Whether its forestry, farmland, bio fuels, carbon credits, wind turbines or solar panels, there’s a big choice out there and many SIPPs have bought into the idea. Read the rest of this post…
Anyone who has been drawing the maximum GAD could be seeing a big reduction when the pension next gets reviewed. Estimates vary, but reports that maximum pensions could halve in some cases could turn out to be true. Our experience is that those in income drawdown generally know it’s coming, but it could be worse than they expect. Read the rest of this post…
Since we started trading in July 2009, our business plan has remained well on course and has been strengthened by the acquisition of the Montpelier SIPP and SSAS book in May this year. We are halfway through our current trading year and now is a good time to report on our current position. Our business plan has been to develop relationships with quality financial advisers for the introduction of SIPP and SSAS clients, and to explore potential acquisitions, in order to build up a significant book of clients to deliver sustained long term profitability. We have been highly successful in achieving this.
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There seems to be mixed understanding on Flexible drawdown at the moment given that a number of SIPP providers are reluctant to offer this until later in 2011. An example is the question that I am asked on a regular basis: “when are you launching your Flexible Drawdown SIPP?” There is a slight “Emperor’s New Clothes” feel about simply rebranding and presenting a Flexible Drawdown product so that is not the direction we are going in. The reality is that Flexible Drawdown is an option currently available under the Curtis Banks SIPP, Group SIPP and SSAS.
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On the news front you may have noticed in the financial press that we recently acquired the assets of Montpelier Pension Administration Services Ltd (MPAS). This is good news for us – it bolsters our SIPP and SSAS numbers to approximately 3000 and moves us up into the top 10 full SIPP providers – but more importantly, it strengthens our position to cope with the increasing regulatory responsibilities which SIPP providers now face. Read the rest of this post…
I’ll get the serious message bit out of the way first in case you do a Ken Clarke and fall asleep by the end of this blog. Read the rest of this post…
Part 3 comes hot on the heels of Part 2, with clarification now received from HMRC which means that (in a darkened room with a wet towel wrapped round my head) I can now understand how these new GAD rates will operate. Read the rest of this post…
Regular viewers will remember Part 1 where I speculated about the possibility of a new GAD table coming out as part of all these new changes and, lo and behold, it appeared yesterday. Read the rest of this post…
Calling this Part 1 may well prove dangerous given that there are still a few grey areas in the new drawdown rules (which we’re working hard to get to the bottom of) and a sequel or two may well be necessary on this subject. An interesting rumour which is doing the rounds is whether we are going to get an entirely new GAD table as part of all these changes rather than just a new set for those over the age of 75 as we say goodbye to ASP.
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Wow! First the new contribution rules, now the new income drawdown rules have been published – Christmas has come early! Financial planners are going to be busy over the next couple of years and it’s a great opportunity to help clients get best value from the new rules. The headline rules follow the proposals from a few months ago, normal drawdown and the option of tax free cash beyond age 75, 55% tax on lump sums on vested funds on death and the new option of flexible drawdown subject to maintaining a secure income of £20,000 p.a.
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A long held view of mine is that SSAS clients deserve to be treated in a similar vein to SIPP clients – the products are virtually identical except for the huge amount of PR and product development bestowed on SIPPS over the past 10 years. As part of our commitment to give SSASs the same high standards of treatment as our SIPP clients, we have just launched our online SSAS service.
You and your SSAS clients will be able to log onto our website and view data such as the SSAS asset values, bank account transactions and fund splits, in the same way as you currently can for SIPPs.
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Whilst whiling away the hours waiting for the new income drawdown rules (expected at the end of Autumn for those of you as interested as me in these things) I came across an article suggesting “another nail in the coffin for annuities?” Delving deeper, I found reference to an EU court ruling on equality which, amongst other things, potentially applies to annuity rates. Read the rest of this post…
There are few things in life that transcend both a man's vanity and his willingness to do things at which he has limited or no ability. Well I have found one and as it is at my expense I thought you may like to hear about it... Read the rest of this post…
Well, you all know the news by now, the new Annual Allowance for tax relief on pension contributions will be £50,000. Good news or bad news? Well, I think it’s very good news for 4 big reasons.. Read the rest of this post…
We hear a lot in the press on the growth of the SIPP market. Double digit growth year on year and I recently read a statistic that over 70% of new individual pension business is SIPPS. Wow – pretty impressive right? In fact for as long as I can remember SIPPS have been regarded as the success story in pensions following a myriad of own goals from different areas of financial services.
All rosy in the garden and a super-smashing-lovely place to be? Well yes SIPPs are a huge success but a closer look at the market and its participants throws up some challenging issues...
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One of these days someone will produce a statistic on how much of our lives we spend being on hold in a telephone queue, a bit like those ones telling us how much of our lives we spend brushing our teeth or reading the paper. Judging by my own experiences this week, it’s probably several years. Read the rest of this post…
Increasingly I ‘m being told that the computer often says no at other pension providers, but one area where this is looking like a big problem is the proposed changes to benefits resulting from the government’s plans on the abolition of the age 75 rules. Read the rest of this post…
Defaqto have just published their 2010 guide to SIPPs and it’s well worth a read, with or without the sun lounger and pina colada, over the Bank Holiday weekend. Defaqto are independent and knowledgeable and their analysis of the market is widely used.
Every man (or woman) and his dog will tell you that their SIPP has super service which is why we place a great deal of value on independent verification such as that carried out by Defaqto. Thankfully we tick the right boxes on product features, which is why the nice Defaqto people give us 5 stars and rate us highly, which then helps advisers in being able to recommend us.
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Whisper it but are pensions becoming sexy again? Arguing the toss on what defines sexy is a tricky one but what we can say is the latest consultation document from Westminster reinforces the notion that the Coalition Government are having a positive effect on pensions. These are really big changes, not just removing the age 75 rule but replacing all income drawdown with capped and flexible drawdown options from April 2011. This is by no means a done deal as the consultation period runs up to 10th September but nevertheless this is something to get excited about.
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There’s two parts to this blog, as Sven might have said “first half not so good, second half better”. Both parts relate to the lottery people are facing of different pension rules depending on how old they are – or rather when they were a specific age, be it over 75 or age 50 – 55. Read the rest of this post…
Reasons to be cheerful
After yesterday’s expected tough Budget, only a resounding win in the football this afternoon can possibly cheer us all up (unless you are female or non-English in which case an early exit might be the good news you are looking for). It wasn’t all doom and gloom in the Budget though; the news on pensions should cheer us all up regardless of what happens this afternoon.
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Not sure what was the more depressing over the weekend, Robert Green’s hand to eye coordination or what I read catching up on some pension stuff. The subject of cash deposits in SIPPs reared its ugly head again in an article posing questions of rip-offs, with lots of responses to the article being very negative about SIPPs in general. It’s clear that this issue hasn’t gone away and it is giving SIPPs a bad name.
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Even worse for advisers is that there is a real risk that their own client relationship is in danger of being damaged when service levels fall through no fault of their own - they are being caught in the cross fire and can ill afford to do so. Read the rest of this post…
That’s the headline on the front page of today’s Times, with talk of a rush to sell assets before CGT rates go up. If any of your clients are looking to do this, in specie pension contributions to SIPPs have to be an option worth considering. Read the rest of this post…
First we had the 7 page coalition policy document, now we have the “full” 36 page document. Lots more detail on pensions, then? Well, not quite, the first 9 pages of the new document are glossy words and a picture of the honeymoon couple, so it’s not as big as it looks, but a bit more detail is starting to emerge. Read the rest of this post…
Like most newlyweds, the LibDems and Tories are probably not thinking about pensions on their honeymoon, but already it is possible to pick up on some pointers for how the next 5 years might shape up. Read the rest of this post…
So the election is here- it has been on the telly so it’s official. Trying to decipher the hot air, sorry manifestos, and apply that to our small little world of pensions is no easy task. May be wide of the mark but my initial thoughts are that for our industry we have to ask ourselves if the outcome be it red, blue or yellow (OK Clegg did OK on the telly but this is still a push) how much will this matter? Some initial pre election musings... Read the rest of this post…
This blog is meant to be light hearted comment on the pensions industry, but sometimes it is difficult to see the funny side. For example the Budget news that the government is intending to plough on with the measures for restricting contribution tax relief for high earners rather than simply reducing the annual allowance. This is downright depressing as it ignores the almost unanimous pleas from the industry to deal with the issue much more simply (how often do we all agree on something!), and frankly the new rules are complicated enough already and it looks as if they will get even worse, if that’s possible. Read the rest of this post…
Can anyone remember the football manager that had the nickname the tinker-man? He may well have surfaced at HM Treasury as the goalposts have been shifted again on pension contributions. Read the rest of this post…
Quite early on when deciding what sort of provider we would like to be two things were obvious: 1) Lets take the Roy Walker approach to the SIPP market and “say what we see” and 2) Rather than fritter (other words were used) money away on research why don’t we listen to advisers and planners about what matters to them. Read the rest of this post…
A report just issued by Investor in Customers highlights below-average performance by SIPP operators, compared with their benchmarks. Well, we spent much of 2009 banging on about poor performance, so it’s good to hear independent confirmation of what we have been saying. Read the rest of this post…
The start of a new decade inevitably brings with it a look back over the past 10 years and how life has changed. Amongst all the trends developing over the past decade – the rise of reality TV, texting, blogging and tweeting etc – a more serious trend has been widespread public disillusionment with pensions. Read the rest of this post…
As we power through the end of the year looking forward to a well earned festive break it’s as good a time as any to look at our achievements since we launched the business and the overall SIPP landscape. Read the rest of this post…
Anyone with any exposure to the world of Curtis Banks recently will have heard us banging on about the worries of some firms exploiting loopholes in the pension rules, particularly taking unauthorised payments to accelerate the removal of funds from a scheme. Read the rest of this post…
In my safe domestic existence you would be surprised at the number of different ways of pushing your luck Read the rest of this post…
The recent demise of the Freedom SIPP and the hefty tax charges on its unfortunate clients has generated a lot of column inches. Rightly so, and the comments that the regulatory regime is not fit for purpose when pension investors, through no fault of their own, suffer when their provider gets wound up certainly appear to be justified.
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The realisation as a teenager was hard to take: my future career was not going to be professional sports. At the time I dabbled with football, rugby and American football and was close to making the grade except for a lack of athleticism, skill and fitness plus I’d just discovered girls and pubs which as I have found in later life rarely add to productivity. Read the rest of this post…
Well you can dance if you want to (more running man than rumba myself) but I think as an industry we can come up with a more constructive response to the FSA’s findings on “non-relationship-managed” or small SIPP operators. Read the rest of this post…
We all will have day to day experiences that will test our patience and OK personally some gripes are justified and some just plain and simple lack of tolerance. Read the rest of this post…
Despite being virtually identical to SIPPs, a large proportion of SSASs are overpriced, underserviced and out of date. Read the rest of this post…
Now I have looked this up and hybrid should mean "something made up of a mixture of different aspects or componenets". Well except in our industry where it seems that hybrid means "not quite a ...........such as my friend has a hybrid-attractive girlfriend and I support a hybrid premier league football team". Read the rest of this post…
Unsurprisingly SIPP fees and their transparency interest me and are something that I will talk about on a daily basis - rock and roll lifestyle choice I know. Read the rest of this post…
What’s the biggest problem advisers face on SIPPs? Well, one of our top adviser contacts reckons it’s poor service from SIPP providers. Most advisers with involvement in the SIPP market know that there are providers giving poor service, and when I talk to them the same names keep coming up, it’s a sort of unwritten secret. Read the rest of this post…
