Everyone approaching retirement will be told what their life expectancy is as part of the radical changes announced in the Budget, according to The Mail.
Pensions minister Steve Webb is asking pension providers to give people an estimate as part of pension providers’ ‘guidance guarantee’ which will be rolled out in April next year.
The guidance is designed to help pensioners plan how much to spend and save. Mr Webb told Sky News retirees need to “gain a sense of how long they might live to help make such financial decisions”, as many people underestimate how long they will live.
An original statement in the Budget speech that retirees would be offered “impartial face-to-face advice” has been criticised after it turned out the guidance would be offered through providers, would ultimately not be free and may not even be face-to-face for most savers.
The guidance is linked to a radical overhaul in pensions access, which Chancellor George Osborne announcing in his Budget speech that “no-one will have to buy an annuity”.
The government has offered £20m to help set up the guidance in time for a planned roll out of the new rules, subject to consultation, next April. The FCA is coordinating efforts with the ABI and others.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it is working with government to develop the “impartial guidance guarantee’ which will be offered to individuals at retirement from April 2015 and “will consult widely about the detail of the standards governing this in the summer”.
Big business frustrates Russia sanctions push
A resolve among European leaders to impose a fresh round of sanctions on Russia over its involvement in the Ukraine crisis could be cracking under a barrage of corporate lobbying by big businesses warning of the potential costs to their governments of any Russian retaliation.
According to the Financial Times, BP is at the forefront of a group of companies which have told ministers in the UK government they are at risk if further penalties are imposed, while German chemical group BASF and Italian energy company Eni are advocating similar caution by their respective governments.
BP has a 20 per cent stake in Rosneft, the Russian state-controlled oil company. British and Cyriot officials are said to be worried about risks to their financial sectors, while Eni has warned over energy sanctions as 30 per cent of European gas is imported from Russian giant Gazprom.
Face of Irish collapse found not guilty
The former chairman of the Anglo Irish Bank has been cleared of making fraudulent loans after one of the longest and most complex corporate trials in the country’s history, the Financial Time reports.
A Dublin jury found Mr Fitzpatrick, 65, not guilty on all 10 counts of making illegal loans in 2008 to a group of wealthy Irish individuals known as the Maple 10.
Along with two other defendants, he had been “accused of breaking Irish company law” by lending to the Maple 10 and the Quinn family to help businessman Sean Quinn unwind a big stake in Anglo Irish that he had accumulated using a complex derivatives instrument.
Hedge funds off to a difficult start
According to the Financial Times, hedge funds have had their worst start to the year since the beginning of the financial crisis, due to political uncertainty, falls in US technology and biotechnology shares and a surprise reversal in the value of the Japanese yen.
The average hedge fund reported a gain of 1.23 per cent in the first quarter, according to data from Preqin, the lowest first quarter return since the start of 2008 when global markets were being shaken by the onset of the credit crunch.
US job market still needs Fed help
Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen has said that the US job market still needs help from the Fed and that the central bank must remain “intent on adjusting its policy to respond to unforeseen challenges”, the Telegraph reports.
In her first major speech on Fed policy, Ms Yellen explained the Fed’s shifting guidance on its interest-rate policy. She said the Fed’s policies “must respond to significant unexpected twist and turns the economy may make”.
She said the Fed’s forecast for moderate growth has changed little since last fall despite the severe winter. Fed officials still see only a gradual return to full employment over the next two to three years, Ms Yellen said.
Property duo set to launch £1.5bn flotation
The Financial Times reports that Nick Leslau and Sir Tom Hunter, are set to return to the stock market “within weeks” with a flotation of £1.5bn of property assets, including Alton Towers and London’s Madame Tussauds.
Mr Leslau’s Prestbury Investments is the landlord of Merlin Entertainments and is backed by Sir Tom and Lloyds Bank. People familiar with the matter told the FT that Prestbury’s management team is planning to float the properties on London’s junior Aim market as a real estate investment trust.
The FT said Mr Leslau declined to comment.
