Article by Christina
Local independent pension advice for October and September
- The Financial conduct Authority (FCA) have revealed that only 29 firms applied for crypto authorisation in the 12 months to April 24. Almost 190 firms withdrew their applications in the last three years as well. It looks like the FCA’s crypto approval regime is too tough for many firms who are locating elsewhere with less controls.
- It also turns out that 87% of applications to be authorised are rejected by the FCA. These are applications to have their money laundering controls approved.
- The value of claims paid out for protection insurance rose last year to over £7 billion. These are claims on policies covering illness, injury and death. The average payout was close to £10,000.
- The value of equity in UK property has hit a new high of £5.7 trillion. A big part of this will form part of the massive financial planning wealth transfer which is underway.
- Increases to the state pension next year as part of the triple lock will have the unintended consequence of pushing another 350,000 into paying income tax.
- The UK economy grew by 0.1% in July.
- There has been a warning about scam letters claiming to be from the Insolvency Service offering to help people recover investments. Be careful.
- The Vouched for guide to the best financial advisers in the UK appeared in The Times again in September, reaching an audience of 3 million. We are delighted to have featured in the list since its launch back in 2014 for providing local independent pension advice.
- Inflation remained at 2.2% in August.
- Latest government figures to April 2023 (already 18 months out of date) showed that 12.5 million people in the UK held a cash ISA.
- HMRC collected a total of £342 billion in taxes for the five-month period to the end of August this year. That was £9 billion more than the same period 12 months ago. The tax take continues to rise and is now at its highest ever levels.
- The Transparency Task Force organised a rally outside the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Offices calling for improvements in the FCA’s performance.
- According to St James Place themselves, 30% of their funds currently offer “poor value” to their customers. That cover £46 billion in investments. Maybe it’s worth their customers considering local independent pension advice?
- The FCA has fined Starling Bank £29 million for failing to apply adequate procedures when assessing high risk customers. It seems that almost 50,000 accounts may have been opened without adequate screening.
- The Global Payroll Association has revealed that the average salary of civil servants in the UK is nearly 15% higher than the average wage. The average salary is over £33,000. There are over 500,000 civil servants in the UK earning over £18 billion a year.
- The FCA reports that 10% of UK consumer hold some level of crypto investments.
- UK investment managers currently manage over £3.5 trillion in assets!
- The pension Protection Fund has announced that there is currently a £475 billion excess held in final salary pension funds in the UK. That’s very good news for those with a final salary scheme.
- TSB Bank has been fined £10,9 million by the FCA over its treatment of “vulnerable” customers who were in arrears on their loans and mortgages back between 2016 and 2020.
- According to Fidelity,40% of local independent financial advice firms expect to increase their ongoing advice fees in the next three years. That’s despite the FCA introducing the Consumer Duty last year which sets out fair pricing and value requirements on advice firms. The majority of firms said concerns about increased costs and business tax were the main reasons why fees would increase.
- The UK economy grew by 0.2% in August. Not a great start to Labours growth plans is it but give them time!
- Inflation fell to 1.7% in September which is the lowest level for three years.
- The State Pension is set to rise by 4.1% from April 2025 in line with the triple lock. The extra 0.1% was calculated as a result of the latest growth estimate used to calculate the rise. The 0.1% will cost the exchequer an extra £100 million.
- Tax received from Capital gains Tax was 16% higher in September than the same period last year. This may be as a result of people disposing of assets before the upcoming budget on 30th
- Meanwhile Inheritance Tax receipts continue to go up and up. HMRC has now received 10% more in IHT this year.
- We’ve now got the details of over 150 customer testimonials recorded on our website, stretching back to 2016. Thank you to every single client who has taken the time to give us their views. It’s really important to us and helps other people looking for local independent pension advice.
- Did you know that the under 35’s paid over £350 million in Capital Gains Tax last year. Most of it was due to gains from online share trading.
