The European Parliament have just passed a directive that as part of offering pensions advice, Financial Advisers will be required to cover and offer schemes available from all over Europe. This is seen as a bonus in the UK, considered a more advanced financial services industry than our euro-cousins, as providers eye-up attracting pension investment funds from Europe.
In addition, extensive lobbying from organisations such as the ABI (Association of British Insurers) has allowed that tax free cash will still be able to be taken at retirement from a pension fund. Many euro-cousins did not want this and preferred a more secure guaranteed pension income approach.
Our view
This is great news for the UK financial services industry, particularly for company pension specialists. The UK is seen as the leader in employee benefits and expertise in this sector can only help our industry develop. It will also give UK residents more choice in the longer term - but changes will take time and we are sure there are still many more hurdles to jump.
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