Adrian Boulding discusses ensuring clients’ pension savings translate to comfortable retirements & climate benefit under new UK anti-greenwashing rules

Our most recent generational study at Dunstan Thomas focused on the retirement behaviours and prospects of the baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1963.

October saw the UK host a major investment summit aimed at attracting more money into the many investment opportunities our country offers.

Imagine we’re living in the not-too-distant future. We no longer talk about the issues surrounding pension transfers as we’ve solved that problem.

Listening to the Labour party's Autumn Budget, which I thought was delivered with a commendable blend of conviction and ambition, I was struck by one over-riding thought. This is a Budget for inflation.

Arguably, the most significant thing that George Osborne did for pensions during his lengthy tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer was his declaration in the 2014 Budget speech: “Let me be clear: no one will have to buy an annuity”.

It is by enticing us to place more of our pension investments in Britain, and more of them in growing companies and infrastructure, that we will get this hoped for growth.

You could give the best advice in the world, but it's likely to count for very little in the eye of the regulator if you can't evidence how when asked.

I have recently noticed that, in small firms, pensions affordability can be a real issue – especially for the directors and most senior staff.

Andrew Martin considers how retirement income tools can be implemented to help clients to answer the question 'how long will my pension last?

Andrew Martin discusses how AI can help to create better customer outcomes through hyper-personalised financial advice

Paul Muir discusses potential pension changes under the new Labour government and Keir Starmer

Adrian Boulding and Ihab El-Saie discuss the ABCD of trust for advisor/client interactions, and how they can lead to a client choosing a financial adviser

Adrian Boulding discusses the key features of collective defined contribution schemes, compared to SIPP key features

Adrian Boulding discusses offering cashback incentives on pension transfers, and how this sits with Consumer Duty obligations

Paul Muir discusses the key COBS rules that go into a key features illustration and how the highly prescriptive nature of these rules may need to be adapted for Consumer Duty outcomes.

Paul Muir discusses how Pensions Dashboards ISP solutions must be able to handle demand for the PDP

Adrian Boulding discusses the three key rules for navigating illiquid investments

The DWP has released it's pensions dashboard connection staging dates - but how can pensions providers and schemes get pensions dashboards ready?

Paul Muir, Products Director at Dunstan Thomas, discusses how Agile IT is required for current pensions technology as regulatory disclosure and pensions tax reforms come faster than ever

Adrian Boulding discusses how buying gilts can offer a useful counterbalance to higher-risk investments within a balanced portfolio.

Adrian Boulding discusses how buying gilts can offer a useful counterbalance to higher-risk investments within a balanced portfolio.

Adrian Boulding discusses how sustainable pensions investment can help AgTech to enable crucial farming changes

Adrian Boulding discusses the two new Lifetime Allowance replacements: the new lump sum allowance and the death benefit allowance

Alex Anderson discusses the benefits and difficulties for Gen Z and their pension savings, from the perspective of a UK Gen Zer.

Adrian Boulding consider the Consumer Duty obligations of advisers and providers, with regards to the Baby Boomer generation.

Paul Muir discusses using stochastic modelling and cloud computing to drive pensions engagement via whole of life financial planning apps.

Adrian Boulding discusses the potential unintended consequences of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's pot for life reform in the Autumn Statement 2023.

Commercial property has suffered after being hit by both higher interest rates and the rise of ‘new normal’ working patterns, which have reduced demand for office space substantially.

Adrian Boulding and Ihab El-Saie look at blockchain for pensions, and explore the potential of distributed ledger technology for the pensions industry

Adrian Boulding and Paul Muir look at how generative AI tools can improve financial literacy and support the consumer duty consumer understanding outcome

Adrian Boulding looks at improving retirement income by helping clients maximising excess pension savings

Meanwhile, the DC market is too short-term focused, with a need for daily pricing of units and high levels of liquidity to cope with the surge of outflows that can follow a change of fashion or a new threat like climate change.

Meanwhile, the DC market is too short-term focused, with a need for daily pricing of units and high levels of liquidity to cope with the surge of outflows that can follow a change of fashion or a new threat like climate change.

Many of us have read about the sophisticated actuarial models that show the expected retirement income from a collective defined contribution scheme is around one-third greater than that generated by a DC scheme and purchasing an annuity at retirement.

We are in the reporting season for insurers to tell us how many of their products advisers sold in the first half of 2023. One of the first to report was Just, which announced individual annuity sales were 54% up at over £470 million.

As the pensions industry unpicks the Mansion House pension reforms, a look at what some of the planned changes may have in store.

The scrapping of the lifetime allowance (LTA) and increasing of the threshold for annual allowance (AA) from £40,000 to £60,000 announced in the Budget leads me to ask: what behaviours are we trying to encourage with tax changes?

Could developments in generative AI herald the beginning of the era of bionic advice: a hybrid of human judgement backed by an all-knowing and intelligent assistant adviser? Ihab El-Saie explores the issues...

Adrian Boulding explores the concept of nudging savers towards building a higher retirement income, including the self-employed section of the workforce...

One of the key reasons companies are migrating their core software applications to cloud is scale. Cloud computing scalability is like a motorway with multiple lanes that can be opened or closed depending on the level of traffic flow.

By 31 July 2023, providers and platforms will need to have systems and processes in place for gathering and analysing a great deal more data about their policyholders with a view to discharging their new Consumer Duty-linked responsibilities efficiently.

There are multiple upsides of buying index linked gilts right now, which may make them worthy of consideration for inclusion in client portfolios.

The new obligations, which the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) details in its July 2022-published Policy Statement (PS22/9) entitled ‘A new Consumer Duty', demand much more of providers and platforms in terms of getting to know their customers and serving them better from 31 July 2023.

One area that has not been widely discussed regarding the implications for the Financial Conduct Authority’s new consumer duty regulation is the additional strain it may place on relations between providers and advisers.

The day one reaction to pension minister Laura Trott’s announcement about the delays for pensions dashboards was understandably one of frustration. But on calmer reflection, it is a decision that will bring us some benefits and had probably become inevitable.

In the face of the current cost of living crisis, and the UK’s economic slowdown, it has never been more important to squeeze every last ounce of retirement income from the modest amounts that employers and their employees can afford to contribute to pension schemes.

Andrew Martin looks at the pensions dashboard project through the lens of data matching and dating apps...

Over the next 25 years to 2047, we are going to see a 24% increase in the number of Brits who are over the age of 65. Today, 12.1 million have reached that milestone and in 2047 there will be 15.1 million of us over 65.

I recently combed through the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) second state pension age review report again, which is due to publish its conclusions this spring.

Six digital tools to help providers meet their Consumer Duty requirements have been outlined in a report from Dunstan Thomas, including a potential value for money assessment tool.

Dunstan Thomas has published a new whitepaper about the threats and opportunities the Financial Conduct Authority’s Consumer Duty poses for adviser platforms. The paper also looks at how product providers within the pensions space will fare under the new rules.

The incoming Consumer Duty requirements from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) give firms an opportunity to take ownership of “data-driven innovation” which must be accelerated to ensure compliance with the rules, according to a Dunstan Thomas white paper.

Life and pension product providers will struggle more than most with the Financial Conduct Authority’s incoming consumer duty, largely because it will require them to manage legacy books of business which have not been touched in years.

A well thought out decumulation plan will have scenario tested what to do when markets move. So, go back to it and follow it as far as is practicable. Almost certainly, some portfolio re-balancing will be needed now.

Approaching half (43%) of ‘baby-boomers’ – currently aged from 58 to 75 – are or will be reliant on defined contribution (DC) pensions for the bulk of their retirement income when they retire.

A quarter (25 per cent) of female savers aged 58-75 year olds viewed communications from their pension provider as “poor”, compared with 16 per cent of men, research from Dunstan Thomas has revealed.

Pension providers are failing to engage baby boomers, especially women, according to research from Dunstan Thomas. The level of engagement with wake up packs was poor for both genders, but is slightly worse among women

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is getting ready for Decumulation CDC. The DWP asked, ‘How could CDCs work in practice in the DC decumulation market?’

Over half a million retired single women are relying upon the state pension alone, with experts warning this could be devastating given the cost of living crisis.

One in every 10 baby boomers left the UK workforce during the pandemic, new research has found. Of the 13.22 million UK boomers, 3% aged 58 to 75 said COVID "forced into earlier than planned retirement by being made redundant or losing contract work and not being able to find new paid work".

One in every 10 baby boomers left the UK workforce during the pandemic, new research has found. Of the 13.22 million UK boomers, 3% aged 58 to 75 said COVID "forced into earlier than planned retirement by being made redundant or losing contract work and not being able to find new paid work".

Older Britons are at risk of a retirement crisis as research has found many are being forced into departing the workforce sooner than they expected, despite reluctance to do so.

Nearly 1.2 million Baby Boomers left the UK workforce during the pandemic, according to a study by retirement technology solutions provider Dunstan Thomas.

State Pension age retirement goals are no longer a reality for many, who have said they will work into their 70s as calls on retirement income have risen. Forced retirement age is no longer a policy, which offers Britons flexibility in when they are going to retire.

The Financial Conduct Authority expects firms to implement the new Consumer Duty within 12 months from 31 July. While the deadline was slightly extended, the new rules will apply to every authorised business. In this article, Money Marketing surveys the pension industry for its take on the new piece of regulation.

Jessica List looks at the tax relief reform conundrum and asks if it will ever be possible to reach an agreement on the best solution...

A new study provides strong evidence that demand for regulated advice in the run up to retirement is only going to grow in the coming years.

A new survey warns that many Baby Boomers (those aged 58-75) are being forced into early retirement and would prefer to retire later - past 70 in many cases. Many say they would like to work later to boost retirement income and help their families.

Aged from 58 to 75, baby boomers account for about 20 per cent of the UK population yet control nearly 80 per cent of the private wealth. For at least the next 10 years boomers will hold a high percentage of all current pension assets in accumulation and decumulation.

Nearly a third (31 per cent) of 58-75 year olds want to work beyond the state pension age of 66, a Dunstan Thomas report has revealed. Of those still working, 71 per cent plan to continue to do so beyond state pension age, a 15 per cent increase since Dunstan Thomas' previous survey in 2017.

We’ve all seen the highly publicised and contentious increase in energy costs and are aware of the challenges that many households will be facing following the energy price cap change in April this year.

One of the most significant impacts of Pension Freedoms was the rapid fall in the number of annuities being purchased at the start of people’s retirements. Up until April 2015 over 90% of those accessing their DC assets at retirement did so via an annuity purchase

Baby boomer savers with defined benefit (DB) pensions were able to derive more from their pension towards their retirement income than those with defined contribution (DC) pensions, according to a new report by Dunstan Thomas.

Retirement technology solutions provider Dunstan Thomas published its latest multimedia report bringing together its findings from a major nationwide study of UK Baby Boomers aged 58 to 75. The report includes market research, video interviews and analysis of findings from its nine month study of UK Baby Boomers' experiences leading up to and into full retirement.

Britons are hungry for advice in the lead-up to their retirement, but their needs are not being met by the industry due to the cost of the advice model, research has shown.

On 17 June the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data relating to retirement savings in Great Britain, taken from the latest Wealth and Assets Survey covering the period from April 2018 to March 2020.

Will Self: "It’s impossible to talk about changes in the SIPP market without talking about how decumulation options have changed. The environment has completely transformed from the days when most people bought annuities, and even drawdown came with fixed income limits."

An informational animation created by Dunstan Thomas, featuring the state of the UK pensions & investments climate. In some regions of the UK, the gap between the value of pensions of men and women is almost 50%

An informational animation created by Dunstan Thomas, featuring the state of the UK pensions & investments climate.

HMRC recently released a range of statistics relating to personal and stakeholder pensions. Below Jessica List summarises the highlights and what they may mean for advisers' clients...

38% of Baby Boomers want to continue working into their 70s but HR departments are still pushing too many out in their early 60s.

There is a surprising amount of flexibility when it comes to succession planning with commercial property investments, making it an important part of the journey to consider for both clients and their beneficiaries. Jessica List explores commercial property in her latest PA article, in which she discusses two ways of passing on a commercial property pension investment...

Tax Year 2021/22 is set to be a record year - the highest ever recorded for investing in Venture Capital Trusts (VCT). Total capital raised for investing in shares or securities, including loans of at least five years duration, in unquoted companies and those whose shares are traded on AIM is on target to reach £900m before the end of the current tax year.

The major benefit of potting is by setting aside perhaps 20% of your portfolio in cash you can avoid selling down assets during periods when there is a lack of knowledge-based pricing and wait for a ‘new normal’ to appear.

Intergenerational fairness isn’t meant to pit generations against each other but draw attention to how economic or societal developments affect generations differently. It’s also the perfect opportunity to talk with clients about involving their families in their succession planning.

It's a complex world. On one hand, I worry about who has access to my personal data and how they are using it. On the other, I get incredibly frustrated when I can't immediately resolve the latest annoying failure of my ageing memory (normally music trivia).

An informational animation created by Dunstan Thomas, featuring the state of the UK pensions & investments climate. 2.1 million pensioners are living in poverty after housing costs

Two-fifths (40 per cent) of Baby Boomers aged 58 and over with defined contribution (DC) pensions do not remember receiving a wake up pack, while a further 30 per cent believe they never received a wake-up pack, according to research from Dunstan Thomas.

Traditionally, state pension age was 60 for women and 65 for men, but it then underwent a process of equalisation. Now, both sexes are entitled to retire at the same age - but whether people choose to or not is a different matter entirely.

According to the Dunstan Thomas’ nationwide study, the average length of time that this group plans to work beyond their 66th birthday is 4.3 years when they will be over 70 years old. The current average retirement age of this generation is rising steadily and now stands at 63.4 years, the study found.

Nearly 40% of Baby Boomers are likely to work beyond state pension age according to research from Dunstan Thomas. In fact, 38% of Boomers aged 58 to 75 are set to retire later than the current state pension age of 66. The average length of time that this group plan to work on beyond their 66th birthday is 4.3 years. It means they look to retire beyond the age of 70.

A quarter (25 per cent) of Baby Boomers plan to or have already used regulated financial advice to gain more knowledge about pensions before they fully retire. A further 15 per cent plan to use, or have already used, guidance services from the likes of Citizens Advice Bureau, MoneyHelper and Pension Wise services.

There is some speculation that on Spring Budget Day on Wednesday 23rd March, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce plans to phase out or even scrap tax-free cash as he searches for ways to recoup HM Treasury losses incurred during the pandemic and pay for anticipated new costs associated with placing stringent economic sanctions on Russia as it continues to prosecute its war on Ukraine.

Research by technology solutions provider Dunstan Thomas finds there is a burgeoning demand for financial advice among unretired Baby Boomers. Over a third of them have not yet calculated how much retirement income they will be able to take from accessing all their pension and investment savings at retirement. That represents 49% of all the people between 58 and 75 years old in the UK.

Research from Dunstan Thomas showed 43 per cent of Britain’s baby boomers, those aged between 58 and 75, have accessed their 25 per cent tax free cash at least in part. Of those, a quarter (24 per cent) had put the cash straight into their bank account, where it is being threatened by rising inflation.

Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of people aged between 58 and 75 have already taken out all of their tax-free pension lump sum, a survey by Dunstan Thomas has found. According to the research, a further 19 per cent had taken out some of their 25 per cent tax-free pension allowance, meaning that 43 per cent of Baby Boomers had accessed their tax-free allowance. Of those who had taken some or all of their pension tax-free cash, 24 per cent had put the cash straight into the bank.

43%: Of Baby Boomers have already taken their tax-free cash. 13% Used it to pay down unsecured debt including credit card debts. 10% Used it to pay for home improvements

One of the reasons why those incredibly thirsty Formula One racing cars still attract a huge following is the transferable technology benefits to road cars. Despite only managing around six miles per gallon around the track, top name sponsors still queue up to be involved with them because they have so much to offer that could reduce wear and tear for us regular car users down the road.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched investment pathways last year, to help non-advised customers as they approach the transition from accumulation to decumulation.The theory was to increase engagement in the range of options open to policyholders in the wake of pension freedoms and at the same time address growing numbers who had taken their tax-free cash and left the other three-quarters of the pot held in cash.

Lifetime allowance (LTA) protection is still one of the most popular topics we receive technical queries about at Curtis Banks. It's easy to understand why: with eight different forms available (counting all the enhancement factors as a single type), all with different rules and requirements, it's not easy remembering exactly how each works.

This recommendation was one of several made in the Work and Pensions Committee’s recent report into the risks that have arisen from pension freedoms. I’m not sure how decoupling on its own would help savers achieve better outcomes.

Adrian Boulding looks at ESG investing in the pensions space and shares how clients can invest to save the planet while protecting their retirement income. The growing awareness of the climate emergency and a greater focus on creating a fairer, more inclusive, and equitable society accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic has led to widespread governmental and regulatory changes.

A new client's pension contribution history can be patchy, writes Jessica List, who outlines five easily forgotten points about carry forward rules for advisers. When looking into a new client's pension savings, you might discover that their contribution history is patchy at best.

Understanding the advantages collective defined contribution pension schemes can offer clients
The DWP recently launched its consultation on draft collective defined contribution pensions scheme regulations, which is due to close on 31 August. Once these regulations are firmed up, by the end of this year in all probability, single or connected employers will be able to open collective defined contribution schemes for their employees.

For many people, defined contribution pensions are now a significant consideration when it comes to intergenerational planning. We often hear from advisers that, where clients have other potential sources of retirement income, they will try to leave a DC pension intact due to the death benefits planning opportunities.

It’s a busy time indeed for headhunters and recruitment agents alike. Demand is outstripping the supply of talent, and I’m not just talking about the scarcity of HGV drivers now. As the hybrid workplace takes hold, there is an increasing strain on HR departments to develop new working policies, while simultaneously responding to rapid salary inflation.

Jessica List looks at an ill-health retirement case study where a SIPP comes in handy... Julia is 51. She has suffered from osteoarthritis since her early 40s, which has gradually been making it harder for her to continue running her boutique clothing store. Julia has been maximising her pension contributions to her SIPP over the last few years, intending to retire at 55 when she reaches the current normal minimum pension age.

Consolidation – there’s a lot of it about at the moment. I attended a speech by pensions minister Guy Opperman (yes, a real one in the flesh) in which he lauded his forthcoming legislation that will use the cloak of value for money to force sub-£100m occupational pension schemes to consolidate. And who can argue with improved member outcomes?

In one of my recent lockdown thought pieces which Retirement Planner kindly gives space to each month, I alluded to the perils of failing to prepare for long-term care (LTC) provision. I mentioned the heartache that this is causing families up and down the land as the children of more and more parents face the prospect of finding the considerable amounts to pay for it.

In one of my recent lockdown thought pieces which Retirement Planner kindly gives space to each month, I alluded to the perils of failing to prepare for long-term care (LTC) provision. I mentioned the heartache that this is causing families up and down the land as the children of more and more parents face the prospect of finding the considerable amounts to pay for it.

The DWP recently launched its consultation on draft collective defined contribution pensions scheme regulations, which is due to close on 31 August. Once these regulations are firmed up, by the end of this year in all probability, single or connected employers will be able to open collective defined contribution schemes for their employees.

We are all revolutionaries now. We are participants and actors in the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). This revolution is a global event, and its intensity is picking up as time goes on. The 4IR as a term was first coined by Klaus Schwab the founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Curtis Banks Group CEO Will Self explores the fundamentals of what a SIPP is and tackles the most commonly asked SIPP questions in the East Anglian Daily Times. Read the full article here.

Much has been written on intergenerational transfer of wealth. It is a key focus for financial advice and consequently a key opportunity for present and future value across the industry. The Resolution Foundation in 2017 wrote extensively on the intergenerational contract: the principle that different generations provide support to each other across the different stages of their lives.

We’re getting older and sicker. While the government twiddles its thumbs on the solution, there is plenty you can do to set clients up for a good care outcome.

Andrew Martin looks at the personal data economy, asks if consumers have enough protection and explores the implications for advice and wealth management.

Prince Buster was a Jamaican Ska singer-songwriter. If you like Madness or the Specials, you’ll know where their influences came from. In any event, as the summer staycation rain fell last weekend, I popped into my local independent record store and spent an hour or so flipping through the records. I came across a Prince Buster album with a great album cover and just had to buy it.

The regulator’s plan to introduce a stronger nudge to pension guidance could lead to more people seeking advice, industry experts have claimed. Pensions commentators have dismissed concerns that a push towards guidance could undermine advisers, saying the advice process can provide much better support for clients.

You may recall back in the early spring the national media were crowing about the speed and effectiveness of the UK vaccination programme. Some were keen to compare it against the sluggish start by the EU. It was as if the UK vaccination roll-out here was somehow a vindication of Brexit.

Small self-administered schemes (SSAS) had been around for 17 years before its younger brother self-invested personal pensions (SIPP) got here in 1990, offering many of the investment freedoms SSAS members had been enjoying but without the need for a sponsoring employer.

It's nearly two years since the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its seminal‘Guidance Consultation 19-03' on the treatment of vulnerable customers and three months since the regulator concluded its final guidance entitled: ‘FG21/1 Guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers'...

My mother is 92 and requires full-time care. Like many of her generation, as we pass the D-Day anniversary she vividly recalls her days as teenager in the war, in her case, in Malta. She could differentiate a German bomber from an Italian bomber no less, by the tone of its engines as they flew overhead to bomb the harbours around Valletta.

This evening I had my second jab, the AZ flavour. I hope I’ll be okay tomorrow. Last time around, after the first jab I had a bout of shivers and sweats the following day. As of today, over 60 million vaccinations have been administered in the UK, with over 22.6 million people having received two jabs.

It’s well known that when it comes to commercial property investments, pensions can only purchase the bricks and mortar: anything moveable such as fixtures and fittings aren’t allowed. But what about cases where there isn’t even a building?

It’s well known that when it comes to commercial property investments, pensions can only purchase the bricks and mortar: anything moveable such as fixtures and fittings aren’t allowed. But what about cases where there isn’t even a building?

The middle of May is fast approaching and there’s a great deal of expectancy associated with further easing of lockdown flowing through the country. I write this article in flight. Above the deep blue Mediterranean, tufts of distant clouds seem to anticipate my arrival in Malta – the land of my birth.