Steven Cameron

The industry has provided a predominantly negative response to the confirmation today that the lifetime allowance will be frozen at £1,073,100 until April 2026.

Some £20.1bn of defined benefit (DB) pensions were advised to transfer between 2018 and 2020, while £10.2bn were recommended not to transfer, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) data reveals.

Opportunities for defined benefit (DB) schemes to pursue investment approaches that help repair the UK’s economy cannot stand in the way of improving member outcomes, Aegon says.

The £2.3bn withdrawn flexibly from pensions in Q3 represents a 2% year-on-year decrease from monies withdrawn during the same months in 2019, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) figures show.

The number of people turning 55 and becoming eligible to use the pension freedoms will hit a peak of 941,000 this year, according to Aegon.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has postponed its decision on whether to ban contingent charging on defined benefit (DB) transfers by up to six months.

The government has confirmed it has increased the National Insurance (NI) threshold from £8,632 to £9,500 from April.

The Bank of England’s decision to cut the base rate by 50 basis points (bps) will prove challenging for both pension schemes and retirees, the industry warns.

HM Treasury has confirmed that the government will hold its Budget on 11 March.

Private pension wealth has grown to £6.1trn in the last decade up from £3.6trn, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows.