Monthly Archives: March 2017

Maybe Hammond did us all a favour with his QROPS tax

Posted on March 11, 2017 by henry tapper

It wasn’t just the 4m self-employed who faced a tax-hike following the April budget. Expats resident outside Europe now face an uphill struggle to receive their retirement income tax-free via a QROPS. I follow these offshore pension stories with the … Continue reading →

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Con Keating on the PLSA’s case for consolidation

Posted on March 10, 2017 by henry tapper

A discussion of the PLSA DB taskforce paper: “The case for consolidation” As Iain Clacher and I will be addressing the detail of this paper in our response to the DWP DB Green Paper, this note addresses only issues arising … Continue reading →

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Consolidation; just who benefits?

Posted on March 10, 2017 by henry tapper

What strikes you listening to the hour long debate at the PLSA investment conference is the absence of any of the small employers or their trustees or their advisers who the PLSA wish to consolidate. You can watch the video … Continue reading →

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Time to dig this Government out of its hole?

Posted on March 10, 2017 by henry tapper

Tax, national insurance and pensions policy should be put in a vault marked “toxic” and should be handled with extreme caution. This morning I have three toxic issues to prove my point. The fiasco of announcing an increase in national insurance … Continue reading →

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Alan Miller on price clustering among asset managers.

Posted on March 9, 2017 by henry tapper

We recently published new research, backing up the recent FCA Asset Management Study findings regarding price clustering (i.e. cartel like pricing) within the UK fund management industry. SCM Direct analysed the non-index or tracker clean share classes of 683 funds … Continue reading →

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Now! – Can we expect the self-employed to join the pension party?

Posted on March 9, 2017 by henry tapper

As press releases go, this speculative sound bite  from NOW Pensions’ Policy Director Adrian Boulding takes some beating! “The Chancellor’s announcement today has catapulted the self-employed in the spotlight and, with the increase in national insurance, we believe now is also … Continue reading →

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The half completed bridge – pension tax reform.

Posted on March 8, 2017 by henry tapper

      Today is Budget Day, though you wouldn’t know it! It’s a kind of side-issue when mainstream news is dominated by Trump’s latest antics and speculation over BREXIT. There was a time when the Pension world would be … Continue reading →

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Who says hospitality’s dead? Cheltenham 2017 – last call!

Posted on March 8, 2017 by henry tapper

The Pension Play Pen Linked in Group was set up in 2007 to be an alternative to corporate hospitality for those who either couldn’t or wouldn’t accept corporate invites. The ideas was then/ is now, that when people want to … Continue reading →

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Con Keating on integrated risk management-(@PensionPlayPen lunch).

Posted on March 7, 2017 by henry tapper

If you attended the Pension PlayPen lunch on Monday March 6th, you may have wondered where I was- I was on a plane returning from India. I am told it was good fun and Con Keating called it the best … Continue reading →

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Are defaults enough? Or do we need compulsion?

Posted on March 7, 2017 by henry tapper

  Well I’m back from 10 days in India where I saw the very rich and the very poor but not much in the middle. I saw some very fine architecture which showed me what can be done when people … Continue reading →

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