Standard Life

I don't know if it's just me but the segmentation of the wrap market seems to have taken a further turn in the last few days.

One in five people may be paying into critical illness insurance policies which are effectively invalid, says the Ombudsman.

Advisory firm Beckett Financial Services is launching its wrap wealth management service next month in an attempt to "up its game" and meet clients' "exacting" financial planning requirements.

Enhancements to pension transfer values is a practice which has been warned against by the industry for a while, but have recent decisions by government bodies and departments to crack down on the practice actually killed it off?

The Financial Services Authority's proposal to split the ICOB regime into two categories has been broadly welcomed by the industry, but questions remain over whether the line between ‘protection' products and ‘other general insurance' products has been...

HM Revenue & Customs has provided written confirmation that gifts put into absolute or bare trusts for minors will avoid tax charges by being classified as Potentially Exempt Transfers rather than Chargeable Lifetime Transfers.

Standard Life is to combine its life and pensions, healthcare and banking businesses into a new UK Retail Division to be headed up by Trevor Matthews, currently the chief executive of UK life and pensions.

Xafinity Paymaster believes it is possible to administer personal accounts at a cost of around £10 per saver, despite many in the pensions industry claiming such low charges are impossible.

TREASURY OFFICIALS are engaged in urgent talks with tax experts ahead of tomorrow's Budget to tighten new regulations aimed at ending tax avoidance schemes used by up to 250,000 contract employees, says the Daily Telegraph.

Considerable doubts linger over whether the Treasury will allow pension term assurance with tax relief to exist after the Budget next week, but advisers and providers are nonetheless hopeful some form of the product will remain.