There has been a lot of talk recently about how FNZ is coming to dominate the platform space. Perhaps the following news will make things a little better?
Octopus is to launch a full service platform having bought tech provider Seccl for £10m.
Consultant Graham Bentley argues that SJP’s fees should be judged on fair pricing and value, not on what he contends are oversimplified price comparisons.
He runs the Sunday Times numbers used to challenge the firm, but also suggests that many IFAs may be charging more than SJP too. Mr Bentley is not a fan of ad valorem fees.
One might ask how many twists can one tale have? The Turkish military’s pension fund is in talks to buy British Steel, presumably without the DB pension fund. The new pension arrangements will no doubt be less generous.
A murky tale involving a failed SIPP provider Guernsey Estera Corporate Trustees, which invested in a resort in St Lucia, may see the FSCS succeed in clawing back around £1m as a buyer is found for the assets.
Aegon research among advisers show that they believe that the contingent charges ban will increase the advice gap. Probably not too surprising.
The defined benefit transfer scrutiny continues to increase. New proposals from the FCA will require advisers to justify why they are recommending an advised portfolio if a workplace pension is available to take the cash instead.
Very interesting in terms of managing the run up to retirement and into drawdown. One gets a sense this will all prove a little more difficult when the regulator gets into the detail. It begs questions such as how geared up will the workplace schemes be to take the money and of course will the asset allocation be appropriate? The regulator seems to be fixated on price currently.
This is not going to make the M&G Pru board happy – the High court blocks Prudential’s sale of its £12bn annuity book to Rothesay Life.
