End of tax year update

The end of another tax year looms and there are many issues for advisers and clients to think about with all the Pension Reforms about to come into effect. We have taken this opportunity to make some changes of our own, read on to find out more.

The end of non-advised business

Over recent years we have steered away from taking non-advised business direct from clients but we have decided that now is the time to cease entirely. From the 6th April 2015 and in line with our strong support for the Adviser community, we will only take business where advice has been given by FCA regulated financial advisers. This includes all transfers and in-specie contributions, we will however continue to accept contributions direct from existing clients.

The pensions landscape is complex and we believe that clients will experience the best outcomes where they are suitably advised by the right people, FCA regulated advisers.

Tax year end deadlines

We understand that the tax year end can be a very challenging time of year with clients asking the impossible of you at times. We will do everything we can do to help you achieve their goals. We will be accepting contributions and capped drawdown applications right up until 5pm on the 2nd April 2015 for this tax year.

If you have submitted any paperwork that we are not expecting please contact us if we have not confirmed receipt. Where possible, contributions should be paid by bank transfer into the member bank account and details of the contribution supplied to us under separate cover.

With the changes to retirement options we will be launching all new application forms for use in 2015/16 to ensure we capture all the correct information so if you have any existing forms on file please destroy them now, new forms are available from our website now for use after the end of the tax year.

Pension reforms

From the 7th April we will be ready to start processing the new retirement options. We are offering Flexi-Access Drawdown, Uncrystallised Funds Pension Lump Sums and retaining Capped Drawdown for those who are still eligible for this option. We have simplified our forms so there is now only one form which covers all the available options, which is available now on our website or by request.

Retirement benefits not facilitated by an FCA regulated adviser will now have to go through the “second line of defence” process which will delay the payment of benefits, so if you are advising your clients on their options please ensure your details are fully completed to save any delays.

Inaugural SIPP and SSAS seminars

We are hosting four seminars in the East and South East in April discussing the pension market and the pension reforms. We also have a guest speaker, Julia Kirkland, Managing Partner of FSTP who will be talking about staying compliant when advising on the new options. If you are interested then please visit our website to find our more and register here.

In addition, we are also co-hosting a seminar with Investec in Manchester on the 23rd April; full details can be found here.

If you are interested in us holding a seminar in your region or would like us to come to your office to run through the issues then please e-mail us and we will see what we can do to help.