Good morning and welcome to your Morning Briefing for Friday 23 February 2024. To get this in your inbox every morning click here.
TPR to strengthen regulatory grip
The Pension Regulator (TPR) has announced organisational changes to ensure pensions continue to deliver good outcomes for savers while strengthening its regulatory grip.
It said the pensions landscape is rapidly evolving towards a competitive marketplace of fewer, larger schemes. This presents different risks and opportunities for savers and the economy.
Are your clients’ hobbies at risk of HMRC action?
Trustees of unincorporated clubs and associations who own property or other assets may be required to register as trusts on the Trust Registration Service (TRS).
While the deadline for registration of most trusts in existence on 6 October 2020 was 1 September 2022, we would recommend trustees of unregistered trusts requiring registration consider doing so as soon as possible to avoid potential HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) enforcement action.
IFAs still unclear on good customer outcomes
One in seven (16%) independent financial advisers say they are still unclear on Consumer Duty good customer outcomes just over six months since the regulation was introduced.
Almost half (45%) of IFAs feel the new rules have made it harder to give clients advice, with 72% saying they’ve seen an increase in admin and reporting duties, and 61% saying they now have less time to advise clients.
Quote Of The Day
The impact on retirement plans of a relationship ending can be particularly difficult for women who, partly due to career breaks and lower average salaries, typically build up lower pension pots.
–Clare Moffat, pensions and legal expert at Royal London, comments on the latest figures on Divorces in England and Wales
Stat Attack
Data from the office for National Statistics revealed that there were 80,057 divorces granted in England and Wales in 2022 – a 29.5% decrease compared with 2021 (113,505 divorces) and the lowest number of divorces since 1971.
6.7
In 2022, the divorce rate for all couples was 6.7 for men and
6.6
for women per 1,000 of the married population. These are also the lowest rates since 1971.
7,394
There were 7,394 divorces and 54 dissolutions (9.2% of all divorces and 10.3% of all dissolutions) granted under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act.
28.8%
of these new-law divorces, and
61.1%
of new-law dissolutions, were granted under joint application.
Source: ONS
In Other News
Following Nvidia’s positive fourth quarter results, the Association of Investment Companies has published a list of the investment trusts with exposure to the company.
There are 13 investment trusts with holdings in Nvidia, nearly all of which are trading on a discount except for JPMorgan Global Growth & Income which is trading at a premium of 1% and JPMorgan American which is trading at par.
Manchester & London is the investment trust with the largest portfolio weighting in Nvidia (22%). This is followed by Martin Currie Global Portfolio with 9.5% of its portfolio in Nvidia, Polar Capital Technology with 8.4%, Allianz Technology with 7.1% and Canadian General Investments with 6.7%.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, with total assets of £13.8 billion, has 5.1% of its portfolio in Nvidia.
The Global sector dominates the list, with seven of these 13 investment trusts coming from that sector. This is followed by the North American sector with three investment trusts and the Technology & Technology Innovation sector with two investment trusts.
Legal & General Mortgage Services has appointed Jane Simpson as strategic relationship manager. Simpson joins Legal & General with almost 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, including as a national account manager at Paragon Banking Group, and managing director of The Business Mortgage Company.
In her new role, Simpson will help to support a portfolio of lenders in relation to all three strands of Legal & General Mortgage Services; Legal & General Mortgage Club, Legal & General Surveying Services, and the Technology arm.
She will also help evolve relationships with lenders, offering technical expertise and guidance as they drive their businesses forward, and add value to brokers by doing so.
Simpson’s appointment comes as Legal & General Mortgage Services expands its distribution support, having recently added 14 new team members to its dedicated team, including welcoming Greg Cunnington as co-head of Strategic Accounts.
Energy price cap to fall but bills to include ‘temporary’ charge to help tackle record debt (Sky News)
HSBC, NatWest and Virgin Money changing interest rates (BBC)
Goldman Sachs no longer expects US interest rate cut in May (Reuters)
Did You See?
Three reasons to steer clear of cash
Fidelity International’s multi-asset portfolio manager Talib Sheikh looks at the reasons why cash is not a good investment option for the long term.
He writes: “For those of us accustomed to receiving next to nothing for our cash deposits, the promise of 5% naturally looks appealing. However, cash is not as attractive as it may first appear and is rarely the best option for investors over the long term, even when yields are this high, for several reasons.”
Read more here.
