Pension shift opens floodgates - papers 23rd Dec

In a surprise move, the Government is to allow savers who opted out of the state second pension (S2P) - formerly known as Serps - to switch their funds into self-invested personal pensions (Sipps), says the paper. Fidelity and New Star welcomed the about-turn yesterday, as did the Investment Management Association. Life assurance companies manage most of the opted-out "protected rights" plans set up since personal pensions were launched nearly 20 years ago. About 5m people have opted out of S2P and £10bn of National Insurance Contribution rebates were paid into protected rights retire...