The Weekly Wrap: September 23 edition

Tax take from lifetime allowance breaches jumps 62%

FTAdviser: Pension savers have paid an extra £126m in tax in the 2015-16 tax year for breaching the lifetime allowance. This represents a dramatic increase on the £78m reported in 2014-15. In the year to April 2016, 449 individuals were taxed 55 per cent on the amount exceeding the £1.25m limit, while 1,009 were charged 25 per cent. The lifetime allowance was cut to £1m from April this year, putting more savers at risk of receiving hefty tax bills.

UK ministers urged to delay further rises in pension contributions

FT: The government has been pressed to defer setting out a second rate rise in pension contributions next year, with opponents saying auto-enrolment should be complete before any more rises are agreed. The Confederation of British Industry said: "There is a case for waiting to see the full rollout of auto-enrolment first — especially the effect on the most affected firms of the full contribution rate, at a time when other business costs have been rising." Minimum contributions for workers automatically enrolled into workplace pensions are set to rise in phases to 8 per cent from 2 per cent by 2019.

Millennials prioritise mortgage over pension by three to one

FTAdviser: Of 1,065 adults surveyed, 25 per cent of those aged under 35 considered saving for a mortgage to be their top priority, compared with 8 per cent who put saving for retirement first, research by Nottingham Building Society found. The survey also revealed that of those cutting back on pension contributions, one in three were saving to buy a property.

Pension schemes shun frontier markets amid liquidity concerns

MandateWire: No emerging market equity mandates were awarded by European institutions in Q2 2016, MandateWire data show, with several asset owners planning to reallocate their investments. Institutional advisers said that European pension funds are being deterred by a lack of liquidity in frontier markets.

Pensions Regulator reboots Project Bloom

FTAdviser: The Pensions Regulator's multi-agency taskforce against pension fraud, Project Bloom, has been restructured. The group is now at the head of the regulator's operations and is also now linked to the Pension Liberation Industry Group. Mike Broomfield, manager at the regulator, said: "What we really want to do this time round - it's been very TPR-based production - is speak with one voice... We will look at different ways to reach the public this time round."

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