Don’t settle for less than the best annuity
Key Retirement Solutions, the leading over 55s adviser, has warned that pensioners shopping around for annuities could actually be losing £33m in income a year. The surprising shortfall is due to...
View ArticleDrawdown drawbacks
As drawdown clients get older they face increasing risk when it comes to maintaining their income levels, MGM Advantage has suggested. The firm compared income available from a £100,000 pension using a...
View ArticleWhich? calls for 0.5% pension fee cap
Which? has launched a campaign, calling on Pensions Minister Steve Webb to introduce a cap on pension charges of 0.5%. In addition, the organisation wants the cap extended to all schemes, and not just...
View ArticleCouples urged to avoid ‘single life’ mistake
The Pensions Advisory Service has commented on a recent report by the Prudential, which has discovered that few people have ensured their partner will receive a pension income should they die. Of...
View ArticleInflation causes pensioners to cut back
Despite inflation reaching a 13 month low, retirement specialist MGM Advantage has reported that half of people have cut back their spending over the course of the last year in order to make ends meet....
View ArticleConsumers failed by annuities
The latest Adviser Insight Survey from Skandia has revealed that over two-thirds (69%) of the financial advisers surveyed believe that the annuity system is failing consumers. Almost nine out of 10...
View ArticleEU Gender Directive distorted annuity market
The EU Gender Directive is having an unexpected impact on annuity sales, Aviva has reported. Aviva’s At Retirement Managing Director Clive Bolton said in a statement that since the Directive’s...
View ArticleSupport rises for Stewardship Code
The National Association of Pension Funds’ (NAPF) Annual Stewardship Conference saw the release of its latest survey. The ninth annual survey of pension funds’ engagement with investee companies...
View ArticleProposed pensions charges cap gets mixed response
Legal & General has said that the Government’s proposed cap on pension charges of 0.75% is too high. The firm asserted that the cap would prove ineffective at driving down costs and fail to address...
View ArticleStandard and enhanced annuities overlap
There is a huge overlap between standard and enhanced annuities according to Clive Bolton, Aviva’s At Retirement MD. This is affected by factors including health and location, and could mean that a...
View ArticleFSCP annuity report broadly welcomed
Helen Forrest (Head of Policy, NAPF) has responded to the Financial Services Consumer Panel’s (FSCP) report on annuities, stating that the NAPF had long been concerned about the annuities market....
View ArticleBrowse for bargain annuities, Aviva advises
Aviva has warned that action is needed to create an industry-wide approach that enhances consumer confidence and enables consumers to make informed decisions regarding retirement. Currently, two-thirds...
View ArticleAnnuity-switching plan is unsound
The proposal by Pensions Minister Steve Webb for switchable annuities has not received the approval of Fraser Smart, Buck Consultants’ managing director. Smart warned that the whole premise of being...
View ArticleAviva emphasises value of annuities
Aviva has commented on recent discussion about the value for money that annuities offer, particularly when compared with other potential investments (such as yield rates on lower risk investments such...
View ArticleThe value of annuities is unrecognised
The true value of annuities is not being recognised, and as a result they are being undermined, according to Legal & General’s Tim Gosden. Gosden, head of strategy for Individual Annuities, stated...
View ArticleFCA: annuity market not working for consumers
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has released a review into the annuity market, which has found the system is not working for consumers. The FCA has announced plans to launch a Competition Market...
View ArticleThe advantages of fixed term annuities
Retirement specialist LV= has produced a new ‘Fact and Fiction’ report for advisers, which considers how individual and market circumstances change the potential appeal of fixed term annuities....
View ArticleABI announces retirement income reforms
Customers will benefit from more help when they turn their pension savings into retirement income, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has announced. A new minimum standard for customers is to be...
View ArticlePartnership responds to pension reforms
Annuity specialist Partnership has said that, in light of the pension reforms announced in the Budget, annuities remain an important part of retirement planning. The firm asserted that a key objective...
View ArticleAXA welcomes Budget’s direction of travel
Andy Zanelli, head of retirement planning, AXA Wealth, has welcomed the direction of travel revealed in the Budget last week, in which Chancellor George Osborne announced significant reforms for ISAs...
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