Retirement

More than 50% of small to medium employers are unaware of the proposals for personal accounts and what it will mean for them, claims new research from Barclays Wealth.

PRUDENTIAL is planning to capitalise on A-Day changes which allow annuities to contain protected rights money with a new launch in the first quarter of 2007.

MORE than two-thirds of advisers are predicting increased SIPP sales in the next 12 months, a survey has revealed.

A rolling deregulatory review of pension legislation has received a boost with the appointment of two external reviewers.

Paternoster, one of the newest entrants to the bulk annuity market, has completed its 10th transaction in less than six months of operation.

Members can now protect their entitlement to more than 25% tax free cash, or an early retirement age, if they are assigned a policy after their original scheme winds-up.

Trustees should take independent advice before agreeing to any transaction which could lead to the abandonment of a defined benefit occupational scheme, warns the Pensions Regulator.

The White Paper on personal accounts may be stoking up problems actually delivering sufficient supply of SEE funds at a price in line with government policy commitments to capping costs.

Despite a general welcome for the white paper on personal accounts, several organisations are calling for a stronger focus on the role of advice.

Better regulation. Our own government has adopted this grand European idea to regulate smarter rather than harder.