Ed Fairey in Money Marketing - Advisers attack 'unfair' exemption for Individual personal pension exit charges
Advisers are hitting out at pension firms’ decision to scrap or cap exit fees for workplace pensions but not individuals.
Last month Money Marketing revealed Standard Life and Prudential’s plans to cap exit fees at 5 per cent.
Other providers also announced fees were to be limited or scrapped entirely.
However, while some firms – including Standard Life – took action for both workplace and individual pension customers, others only acted on corporate schemes.
Scottish Widows and Prudential say they will be looking at individuals’ policies at a later date, Aegon plans to upgrade “the majority” of policies over the next year and Legal & General has no plans to scrap exit penalties for any customers.
Fairey Associates managing director Ed Fairey says: “This is unfair and counter intuitive because generally the corporate is seen to be more protective than the individual.
“Individuals are softer targets and more easily preyed upon. Providers are not undertaking this of their own volition and they are going for the wrong set of pensioners first.”
Last month Money Marketing revealed Standard Life and Prudential’s plans to cap exit fees at 5 per cent.
Other providers also announced fees were to be limited or scrapped entirely.
However, while some firms – including Standard Life – took action for both workplace and individual pension customers, others only acted on corporate schemes.
Scottish Widows and Prudential say they will be looking at individuals’ policies at a later date, Aegon plans to upgrade “the majority” of policies over the next year and Legal & General has no plans to scrap exit penalties for any customers.
Fairey Associates managing director Ed Fairey says: “This is unfair and counter intuitive because generally the corporate is seen to be more protective than the individual.
“Individuals are softer targets and more easily preyed upon. Providers are not undertaking this of their own volition and they are going for the wrong set of pensioners first.”
Ed Fairey on Radio 4's Money Box - Pension Freedoms ride on Freedom road
Radio 4's Money Box programme invited Ed Fairey into the studio to discuss Pension Freedoms.
You can listen again by clicking here.
You can listen again by clicking here.
Ed Fairey in The Sunday Times - Bumpy ride on Freedom road
Following the recent rule changes, ‘Pension
Freedom’ has been a hot topic in the press of late and our Managing Director, Ed Fairey, was quoted recently in The Sunday Times.
The article highlighted how some members of the general public have not quite grasped the concept of the new legislation. Having seen an increase in enquiries, Ed commented “One man wanted to emigrate to Canada and transfer his civil service pension [in exchange for] £160,000 at the age of 56 so he could buy a property there. I said ‘no’ and he hung up on me,” he said.
He added: “The risks of transferring your defined benefit pension are high. Some firms of financial advisers are specialising in doing lots of this business and charging very high fees.”
In contrast some people are taking advantage of these rule changes by putting more money into their pension pots with Ed saying, “The big objections on pensions used to be lack of access and what happened to the pot when you died. Both have now changed and so any client at or near 55 years old is putting significant money into pensions.”
The full article, written by Ruth Emery, was published on 10 May 2015 and subscribers to The Sunday Times online can read it by clicking here
The article highlighted how some members of the general public have not quite grasped the concept of the new legislation. Having seen an increase in enquiries, Ed commented “One man wanted to emigrate to Canada and transfer his civil service pension [in exchange for] £160,000 at the age of 56 so he could buy a property there. I said ‘no’ and he hung up on me,” he said.
He added: “The risks of transferring your defined benefit pension are high. Some firms of financial advisers are specialising in doing lots of this business and charging very high fees.”
In contrast some people are taking advantage of these rule changes by putting more money into their pension pots with Ed saying, “The big objections on pensions used to be lack of access and what happened to the pot when you died. Both have now changed and so any client at or near 55 years old is putting significant money into pensions.”
The full article, written by Ruth Emery, was published on 10 May 2015 and subscribers to The Sunday Times online can read it by clicking here
Ed Fairey in FT Adviser - IFAs being asked to fake advice for pension transfers
With accessibility to pensions pots becoming easier than ever, some individuals are attempting to get to their money by bypassing the normal advice process. In a recent article published by FT Adviser, a number of Financial Advisers outlined recent experiences where they had been asked by a prospective client to sign documents to circumvent new rules.
Ed Fairey of Fairey Associates was featured and explained that he had been approached by prospective 'clients' wishing to pay a nominal fee to get a letter saying they had taken advice. Ed said “We have had clients that have tried to get us to do that because providers aren’t allowed to let clients have their money without advice. The government is saying ‘we trust you’ then the regulator is saying ‘we don’t trust you’.”
The full article, published by Donia O'Loughlin on 30 April 2015, can be read by clicking here
Ed Fairey of Fairey Associates was featured and explained that he had been approached by prospective 'clients' wishing to pay a nominal fee to get a letter saying they had taken advice. Ed said “We have had clients that have tried to get us to do that because providers aren’t allowed to let clients have their money without advice. The government is saying ‘we trust you’ then the regulator is saying ‘we don’t trust you’.”
The full article, published by Donia O'Loughlin on 30 April 2015, can be read by clicking here
