Suffolk Life has launched a new platform self-invested personal pension (Sipp) .

The SmartSipp is a self-invested wrapper offering flexible investment options with administration. There will be a choice of platforms, with initial partners including Cofunds, Fidelity, Ascentric, Raymond James, and Seven Investment Management.

Suffolk Life will launch a new platform self investment personal pension (Sipp) at the end of the month.

Sipp members in acquired admin company will find themselves paying higher annual fees than those in parent company’s scheme

Montpelier self-invested personal pension (Sipp) members could find themselves paying £175 a year more than members in Curtis Banks, despite the administration being run by the same firm.

The downward pressure on the cost of running self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) is unlikely to continue unchecked, according to PM’s latest Sipp roundtable (see page 40).

Steve Latto, head of pensions at Alliance Trust, said many Sipp providers had suffered high Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) levies and as a result many would not be able to afford to continue to reduce fees.

IFAs should check with individual self-invested personal pension (Sipp) providers before opting for flexible drawdown products, according to Pensions Management research.

A lower-league football club chairman has come under fire over claims he misled fans about increases to his pension fund from the rent his club pays the owners.

Pensions Management has discovered increasing disquiet over the campaign to deliver the open market option (OMO) as the default process for those due to enter retirement as failing to meet ‘treating customers fairly’ guidelines.

A lower league football club chairman has come under fire over claims he misled fans about increases to his pension fund from the rent his club pays the owners.

Direct gold investment

Standard Life has partnered gold provider and holder GoldMoney to offer self-invested personal pension (Sipp) clients direct investment into gold bullion.

Survey findings

The past 12 months was one of bumper growth for the providers of individual wrap platforms.

Mercer launches platform

Mercer has led a spate of new entrants into the employee benefits platform, launching a tie-in deal with three life offices.

Scottish Widows, which operates the mymoneyworks corporate platform, is launching a corporate ISA “imminently”.

Standard Life has partnered gold provider and holder GoldMoney to offer self invested personal pension (Sipp) clients to directly invest in gold bullion.

The new Fair Investment Sipp Service will face stiff competition from existing providers on account of its annual management fee, PM has learned.

Hornbuckle Mitchell has waived all self-invested personal pension (Sipp) transfer-in fees until April after advisers said fees were difficult to justify to cash-strapped clients.

The Sipp provider claims costs currently prevent advisers from transferring more schemes over to Hornbuckle, but peers suggest the waiver has more to do with a competitive market continuing to squeeze sales.

Former Suffolk Life director of marketing John Moret has confirmed he will be launching a consultancy.

Moret, who announced his retirement in December, revealed to Pensions Management he will unveil the new venture within weeks.

Called More To Sipps, the consultancy will aim to assist IFAs, government and businesses in their preparation for members’ retirement.

Standard Life will allow self invested personal pension (Sipp) customers to appoint their own solicitor for commercial property investments, but will charge at least £640 for the privilege.

James Hay is embroiled in a dispute with customers blaming the provider for not securing sufficient income from an investment it administers for them.

Executive pensions arrangements are set to cause more headaches for employers as they prepare for new rules for higher rate tax relief on pensions contributions.

Age 21 is a curious juncture. Unlike in parts of the US, it is not the age at which you can first drink in the UK. Nor, as in some countries, is it the age at which you can first vote. For most, the only significant thing about a 21st birthday is receiving a card from a sentimental relation in the shape of an oversized key.
In fact, the only current legal benefits of reaching what used to be defined as the age of majority are being able to: be elected as a member of parliament, local councillor or mayor; adopt a child; hold an airline transport pilot’s licence for an aeroplane, helicopter and gyroplane; and apply for a provisional licence to drive a large passenger vehicle or heavy goods vehicle.

An FSA investigation into the charging practices of several Sipp providers has highlighted issues around protectionism and fairness to customers

Logica CMG is set to become the first FTSE 250 employer to offer its employees contributions into a pension as well as an ISA.

Several administrative trustees for small self-administered schemes (SSASs) are seeking damages from the Pensions Regulator after they were suspended, then reinstated.

Poor investment advice in the accumulation phase has a far greater impact on retirement income than decumulation decisions, according to research from Aegon.

After months of established pension providers cutting out independent financial advisers (IFAs) to reach customers directly, smaller advisers are now jumping on the bandwagon.

Canada Life has launched a new personal pension combining accumulation and decumulation to supplement existing defined contribution savings.

Mattioli Woods has claimed it would have been “irresponsible from a moral perspective” to leave Freedom Sipp clients abandoned.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has been criticised for making an “unhelpful and unnecessary” change to the rules regarding taxable property and unauthorised payments.

Rockingham Retirement is trialling a new decumulation product for its self-invested personal pension (Sipp).

The number of self-invested personal pension (Sipp) providers is expected to peak this year, followed by a period of market consolidation, according to the latest Defaqto industry report.

Equitable Life will reverse last year’s cut in its policy values and award with-profits holders a 3.5% interim bonus.

Mattioli Woods has claimed it would have been “irresponsible from a moral perspective” to leave Freedom Sipp clients abandoned.

This month’s small self-administered schemes (SSASs) survey has found the product is suffering from misinformation and a lack of awareness.

Several pensions administrators have refused to take Freedom Sipp off the hands of its liquidator, which is desperate to offload the failed business.

Talbot & Muir has hit back at accusations that unauthorised payments from self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) are unlawful.

Chartered financial planning firm Informed Choice has launched a low cost, online self-invested personal pension (Sipp).

Demand for small self-administered schemes (SSASs) is still lagging behind that for self-invested personal pensions (Sipps), according to research.

Default funds in defined contribution (DC) schemes are coming under greater scrutiny, according to a recent study.

The self-invested personal pension (Sipp) market has seen the launch of two new low-cost products.

Annuity provider Just Retirement is set to be bought by private equity firm Permira for around £230m.

Friends Provident has declared that it will launch a corporate wrap platform in 2010.

The will-they-won’t-they talk of Friends Provident getting spliced to Resolution has ended after the life company accepted Clive Cowdery’s offer.

The newest player in the personal pension market has announced its intention to rejuvenate the small self-administered scheme (SSAS) pension by buying up legacy books.

Pensions Management has discovered that the Freedom Sipp faces imminent deregistration and windup.

The ‘will they/won’t they’ talk of Friends Provident getting spliced to Resolution has ended, with the life company accepting Clive Cowdery’s offer late last night.

A product that aids employees of UK companies working abroad to save in a tax-efficient pension scheme has been made available to advisers.

The credit crunch has led to a boom in the set-up of small self-administered schemes (SSASs) among small to medium-sized employers.

Self-invested personal pension (Sipp) providers have responded to criticism of their practice of earning commission on their clients’ cash holdings.

Dunstan Thomas, an administration and software provider, has struck a deal with wrap platform provider Ascentric to combine the firms’ products.

Annuity transfers now take an average of eight calendar days thanks to the Options initiative, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has said.

Axa Winterthur has launched a group self-invested personal pension (Sipp) called Family Suntrust, a group Sipp with a difference, or so the insurer claims.

The rise in implementation of group self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) represents a governance challenge, according to a panel of experts.

In the same year the world was introduced to the Lexus and Bart Simpson, the then chancellor Nigel Lawson also unveiled the self-invested personal pension (Sipp).

Dentons Pensions Management has launched two new self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) as it looks to expand its UK business.

BT has set a minimum annual employer contribution of £1,250 for members of its new group self-invested personal pension.

Providers of self-invested personal pensions (Sipps) face a difficult year, and those who are not sufficiently prepared could go under, according to predictions from Premier Pensions Services.

Analysis by Suffolk Life of its first 1,000 self-invested personal pension (Sipp) customers has revealed a wide variety of performance, with some instances of a 30% divergence between investors’ returns.