Even in mid August, two themes are coming through. The first is that the regulator is trying to tidy up parts of the market that are not functioning well but without huge regulatory interventions. (If anything there is a move to some deregulation.
The second is the mess the Government is in on tax, mainly because it lacks funds but has pledged not to raise the core taxes so everything else is being fiddled with.
The FCA’s multi-firm review into pension transfers has revealed that providers reported receiving nearly 1mn transfer requests over a 12-month period, FTAdviser reports.
Professional Adviser notes that the FCA will be “following up” with life insurance firms that are slower than their peers, something advisers will warmly welcome.
Aviva reports a 16% drop in protection sales for the first half of 2025, despite delivering growth across its other businesses, as Money Marketing reports.
The insurer’s half-year results show insurance, wealth and retirement (IWR) sales rose 9% to £21.5bn, while operating profit jumped 22% to £1.07bn.
Doug Brown, CEO of insurance, wealth and retirement, tells Money Marketing: “There was a period where sales were coming in from both separate entities. Once we joined, we consolidated propositions, so as expected sales came down.
“For example, if we and AIG were both on a panel, it might now be reduced from two to three panel providers. We anticipated this when we acquired AIG, and it’s just a year-on-year blip.”
The Treasury can’t stop worrying away at all things tax and inheritance. As Citywire reports it is looking at levelling unlisted and AIM IHT portfolio relief.
In yet another tax story, farmers say they are 'astonished' by the Government's Inheritance tax impact assessments, as Farmers Guardian reports.
It reports that HMRC says 275 estates have benefitted from a combined total of £777m in tax forgone due to BPR and APR in 2021 and 2022.
Elsewhere, the Guardian reports on the Government mulling plans to cap gifting. In Financial Reporter Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, gets to the heart of why this is so difficult.
She says: “"Introducing a lifetime cap would be a significant departure from current policy. The UK has never had such a limit, and if it were set too low it could affect a large number of middle-class estates, particularly in areas where property wealth alone can easily breach frozen thresholds. Tracking a lifetime cap could prove administratively complex, requiring HMRC to hold long-term records of gifts across decades and potentially leading to disputes where records are incomplete.”
Advisers and experts are also irate about confirmation that even when someone dies below the minimum pension age, the pension will be subject to inheritance tax. Pensions Age reports. All feels rather messy as the Treasury seeks more money without putting up the main rates of taxation.
