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The number of higher rate taxpayers has soared by nearly 2m to 6.14m since the last election and could soar by a further 3m by 2025, according to a former Pensions Minister.

The increase since 2019 - revealed in latest HMRC figures - has been called “stunning” by LCP pensions consultant and former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb who forecasts an even bigger rise to come.

Sir Steve predicts an additional 3m higher rate taxpayers will be created by 2025/26, taking the total to over 7m or

The number of higher rate taxpayers has soared by nearly 2m to 6.14m since the last election and could soar by a further 3m by 2025, according to a former Pensions Minister.

The increase since 2019 - revealed in latest HMRC figures - has been called “stunning” by LCP pensions consultant and former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb who forecasts an even bigger rise to come.

Sir Steve predicts an additional 3m higher rate taxpayers will be created by 2025/26, taking the total to over 7m or well over 20% of the UK workforce of 32.7m.

HMRC figures show that in 2019/20 the number of higher rate taxpayers was 4.25m but by 2022/23 the number had risen to 6.14m, an increase of 1.89 million.  

The figures include those paying the ‘higher’ 40% rate or the ‘additional’ 45% rate.  The number paying at the 45% rate has risen in three years from 421,000 to 629,000.

Rising wages and tax thresholds failing to keep pace with this have been blamed for the increase.

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Sir Steve believes that the number of higher rate taxpayers is set to rise significantly over the remainder of this Parliament due to the Chancellor freezing the starting point for higher rate tax until 2025/26.

Pensions consultancy LCP predicts that the total number of higher rate taxpayers could increase by more than 3m over the whole of this Parliament. This would take the total to over 7m in 2024/25.  

LCP says this equates to 1 in 5 of all taxpayers and would represent an increase of around 70% in the number of higher rate taxpayers over the Parliament.

In 2009/10 there were around 3.2m higher rate taxpayer compared with an estimated 6.1m in 2022/23.

Sir Steve said: “Paying higher rate tax used to be reserved for the very wealthiest, but this has changed very dramatically in recent years. The starting point for higher rate tax has not kept pace with rising incomes, and the current five-year freeze on thresholds has turbo-charged this trend.  

“People who would not think of themselves as being particularly rich can now easily face an income tax rate of 40% and around 1 in 5 of all taxpayers will soon be in the higher rate bracket.”

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National adviser firm Continuum has recruited Chartered Financial Planner Simon Hewitt to help spur its growth plans.

Mr Hewitt has worked in most areas of Financial Planning but specialises in estate planning and tax planning.

He operates from Wimbledon in South West London as well as in North Wales due to family connections in the area. Continuum says in the post-pandemic world, he can deal with clients across the UK using a hybrid working model.  

Before becoming a Chartered Planner,

National adviser firm Continuum has recruited Chartered Financial Planner Simon Hewitt to help spur its growth plans.

Mr Hewitt has worked in most areas of Financial Planning but specialises in estate planning and tax planning.

He operates from Wimbledon in South West London as well as in North Wales due to family connections in the area. Continuum says in the post-pandemic world, he can deal with clients across the UK using a hybrid working model.  

Before becoming a Chartered Planner, he was a commodities trader in the energy industry. He said his career change was prompted by the Retail Distribution Review opening up new opportunities in the profession in 2012.

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Mr Hewitt said Plymouth-based Continuum’s commitment to long-term Financial Planning was a major factor in his decision to join the firm.

He said: “I enjoy meeting people and problem solving to help them achieve their life goals by establishing a financial plan for their whole lifetime and succession. Being able to take a long-term view is vital, and it is one of the reasons I was so keen to join the Continuum team.

“I believe the key point in Financial Planning is mutual trust. Building on that trust to establish an ongoing relationship to track and amend my clients’ plan as their life and circumstances change has aways been a priority for me.”

Continuum has also recently added three new support staff and its first in-house recruiter.

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The industry-backed fintech company Origo is planning to launch a Pensions Dashboard connector tool in the autumn to enable providers to connect more efficiently to the planned Pensions Dashboards.

The Origo Dashboard Connector is due to go live in September and will provide a "cost-effective" way for pensions providers to connect to the government’s Pensions Dashboards which are now in development.

The government-backed Pensions Dashboard tool is designed to give consumers access to all

The industry-backed fintech company Origo is planning to launch a Pensions Dashboard connector tool in the autumn to enable providers to connect more efficiently to the planned Pensions Dashboards.

The Origo Dashboard Connector is due to go live in September and will provide a "cost-effective" way for pensions providers to connect to the government’s Pensions Dashboards which are now in development.

The government-backed Pensions Dashboard tool is designed to give consumers access to all their pensions and retirement plans in one location online. It is due for a phased launch over the next few years but has yet to go live and has been beset by delays.

Origo is an industry-based fintech company which aims to connect providers and make the transfer of investments between providers easier.

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The new Origo Connector will provide pensions providers with an interface connection to the Pensions Dashboards, enabling them to respond quickly to consumers’ pension data requests at any time.

The Origo Dashboard Connector provides three types of service. The first, Connect, links pension providers to the Pensions Dashboard central digital architecture.

The second, Find, responds to a pension saver’s request to know if a company has a plan in their name. Using the Find service means that pension providers do not have to scale up their technology operations to handle potentially millions of policyholder finds and matches, Origo says.

The third element is View which holds pension data needed to fulfil a saver’s request and makes it available to the dashboard and the saver. As with the Find service, the pensions data that underpins the View service is also held and managed securely in Amazon’s AWS, Origo says.

With the full service, when a request comes in, the Origo Dashboard Connector will deal with it in full without any input from the provider.

Anthony Rafferty, CEO Origo, said: “As a complete service, the Origo Dashboard Connector takes away the technology and the resource issues for providers and helps them deliver on their legislative requirements cheaper, faster and with less risk.

“Not surprisingly, the many providers we have spoken to want to connect via an interface connector, as it makes sense from a business perspective, with most opting for the full-service option because of its full functionality, which helps reduce their time and resource costs.”

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The FSCS has joined forces with the FCA and Financial Ombudsman Service to investigate a Telford-based pension transfer adviser with links to a Portuguese expat specialist company.

The FSCS says it is now considering customers’ claims against Nationwide Benefit Consultants Ltd (NBCL).

NBCL is no longer a registered firm but its address is listed on the FCA Register as M54 Space Centre, Telford, Shropshire.

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NBCL was incorporated as a business on 15 December

The FSCS has joined forces with the FCA and Financial Ombudsman Service to investigate a Telford-based pension transfer adviser with links to a Portuguese expat specialist company.

The FSCS says it is now considering customers’ claims against Nationwide Benefit Consultants Ltd (NBCL).

NBCL is no longer a registered firm but its address is listed on the FCA Register as M54 Space Centre, Telford, Shropshire.

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NBCL was incorporated as a business on 15 December 2011 and traded under the name of ‘The Pension Reporter’ from 29 May 2014. The firm’s website is no longer active.

The firm ceased to be registered as an appointed representative with the FCA on 8 April 2016 and the company was dissolved on 14 August 2018, the FSCS said.

NBCL acted as an appointed representative of Joseph Oliver Mediação de Seguros, Lda (FRN 521370), a Portuguese firm regulated by the Instituto de Seguros de Portugal, between Between 29 May 2014 and 8 April 2016.

Joseph Oliver Mediação de Seguros, Lda passported into the UK under the Insurance Distribution Directive allowing it to transact business in the UK. The firm particularly focuses on expats looking to retire to Spain or Portugal.

The FSCS said that NBCL was involved with advising on and/or arranging pension transfers. Money from the transfers was invested in the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund. Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund is now the subject of a Serious Fraud Office investigation.

The FSCS is working alongside the FCA and the Financial Ombudsman Service to investigate NBCL and is now considering whether valid claims can be made by ex-clients of NBCL.

The FSCS is asking ex-customers of NBCL to get in touch if they received bad advice from NBCL or if they believe that NBCL was involved in arranging a transfer of pension benefits into a SIPP or QROPS plan. 

Claims will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

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Derek Stuart, one of the UK’s best known fund managers and a founder of Artemis Investment Management, is to step back from co-managing one of its leading funds to spend more time on charity work. 

He has been a manager of the Artemis UK Special Situations Fund since its launch in 2000.

He will hand over the fund management reins at the end of next year to his co-manager Andy Gray and new joiner Henry Flockhart.

After the end of next year he will be focusing on chairing the Artemis

Derek Stuart, one of the UK’s best known fund managers and a founder of Artemis Investment Management, is to step back from co-managing one of its leading funds to spend more time on charity work. 

He has been a manager of the Artemis UK Special Situations Fund since its launch in 2000.

He will hand over the fund management reins at the end of next year to his co-manager Andy Gray and new joiner Henry Flockhart.

After the end of next year he will be focusing on chairing the Artemis Charitable Foundation.

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Mr Stuart’s co-manager since 2014, Andy Gray, will be joined from 25 July by Henry Flockhart from Aviva Investors. At Aviva Investors Mr Flockhart has - since September 2018 - managed the Aviva Investors UK Equity Unconstrained Fund. Before that, he was at Standard Life and managed the SLI UK Equity High Alpha Fund from January 2013. He has a BSc from the University of Edinburgh and is a CFA charter-holder.

Mr Stuart said: “It was a great privilege to help found Artemis and to have managed the fund for, by the time I stand aside, 23 years. I look forward to continuing to work with Andy for the next 18 months as we welcome Henry to the team. 

“I know that when I do hand over, I will be leaving the fund in Andy’s and Henry’s very capable hands; and I’m sure that their focus will remain on meeting clients’ needs. I’m looking forward to chairing the Artemis Charitable Foundation and helping to ensure that all its good work continues.”

Artemis’ senior partner Mark Murray said: “Derek was one of Artemis’ four co-founders in 1997. When he steps aside from fund management at the end of next year, he will do so with our recognition of his enormous contribution to making Artemis what it is today. He has our enduring thanks and we’re delighted that he’ll remain a partner as he chairs our charitable foundation. 

“The highly respected fund that Derek built up from nothing has in Andy and Henry very able successors. Andy’s and Henry’s approaches are highly compatible; and under their management we fully expect the fund to maintain its record of long-term outperformance for its investors.”

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Financial research and investment management company Morningstar is to rename Praemium as the Morningstar Wealth Platform after its £35m acquisition of the formerly Austrlian-owned platform.

Praemium has sold its operations in the UK, Jersey, Hong Kong and Dubai to Morningstar. 

The deal adds more than 100 new staff to Morningstar who will move across from Praemium’s UK and international operations.

Praemium UK is used by nearly 500 IFA firms and includes Wealthcraft, a full-service,

Financial research and investment management company Morningstar is to rename Praemium as the Morningstar Wealth Platform after its £35m acquisition of the formerly Austrlian-owned platform.

Praemium has sold its operations in the UK, Jersey, Hong Kong and Dubai to Morningstar. 

The deal adds more than 100 new staff to Morningstar who will move across from Praemium’s UK and international operations.

Praemium UK is used by nearly 500 IFA firms and includes Wealthcraft, a full-service, end-to-end adviser practice management support tool which includes digital factoring, engagement and risk profiling.  

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Daniel Needham, president, wealth management solutions, Morningstar, said: “We are excited to welcome more than 100 new colleagues to Morningstar and expand our ability to offer advisers technology-enabled flexibility and choice. 

“The Wealth Platform and Wealthcraft are powerful tools that reduce friction and save time so advisers can serve more investors – and in more extensive ways than they do today.” 

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Morningstar says the new Morningstar Wealth Platform adds to the data, research, portfolio analytics and investment management capabilities offered to advisers by Morningstar.  

Mark Sanderson, Praemium UK and international managing director, said: “We are excited to have found a home with a long-term vision and commitment to our best-in-class platform experience.”

“We are dedicated to a disruption-free customer experience with no plans to re-platform and the work to separate our technology has already been completed without any impact to our clients, which is a testament to that commitment.” 

The deal is worth £35m and will be paid in cash. 

The Praemium UK business has been up for sale for some time. Praemium is one of the smaller UK platform players in an increasingly crowded market and has struggled to achieve scale and growth. Its former Australian owner plans to focus more on the domestic market down under.

Praemium was founded in 2001 in Australia and launched in the UK in 2006 and Jersey in 2012. 

Morningstar provides independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. It also offers investment management through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with nearly £200bn in assets under advice and management. The company has operations in 29 countries.

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AXA UK chair Scott Wheway is to step down immediately to take up the role of chair of Scottish Widows group from 12 September.

Mr Wheway will also become a non-executive director of Scottish Widows' parent Lloyds Banking Group from 1 August, subject to regulatory approval. 

He is currently chair of Centrica plc and AXA UK plc. After stepping down from AXA UK he will remain chair of Centrica plc. He joined AXA UK as chair in 2017.

Mr Wheway

AXA UK chair Scott Wheway is to step down immediately to take up the role of chair of Scottish Widows group from 12 September.

Mr Wheway will also become a non-executive director of Scottish Widows' parent Lloyds Banking Group from 1 August, subject to regulatory approval. 

He is currently chair of Centrica plc and AXA UK plc. After stepping down from AXA UK he will remain chair of Centrica plc. He joined AXA UK as chair in 2017.

Mr Wheway has extensive experience in financial services over the past 15 years. He was chair of Aviva Insurance and served as a non-executive director of Aviva plc between 2007 and 2016.  

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He spent seven years on the board of Santander UK, where he was the senior independent director until September 2020. He has also worked as an executive in the retail sector for over 25 years where he held positions including chief executive of Best Buy Europe, managing director of Boots the Chemist and a number of senior positions at Tesco.

Robin Budenberg, group chair of Lloyds Banking Group, said: "Scott will bring a depth and breadth of knowledge and experience of large-scale banking and insurance to his roles with the group. His track record as a non-executive and executive in customer-centric companies complements the group's strategy and will help us deliver the right outcomes for customers. 

“I look forward to welcoming him to the group. I would also like to thank Sophie O'Connor for taking on the role of interim chair of Scottish Widows Group since Nick Prettejohn stepped down from the role in September last year."

• AXA UK has appointed Mark Pain as its new chair. He was appointed to the board as a non-executive director in December 2018 and is chairman of the Risk Committee and senior independent director. He is a former retail banker and has had roles at Aviva UK, where he chaired the Audit Committee. He is also senior independent director at Close Brothers Group Plc. He is non-executive chair of London Square Ltd and Empiric Student Property Plc.

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One in ten (11%) UK adults had paused or reduced their pension contributions in March, according to a new report.

Almost a quarter (24%) of the over 500 Britons surveyed by YouGov on behalf of Scottish Widows in March had already dipped into their savings.

Over a third (35%) planned to cut back on non-essential leisure and holiday spending, while others were being forced to make harder decisions, such as cutting back on essentials like food and utilities (16%).

Over half (57%) of those

One in ten (11%) UK adults had paused or reduced their pension contributions in March, according to a new report.

Almost a quarter (24%) of the over 500 Britons surveyed by YouGov on behalf of Scottish Widows in March had already dipped into their savings.

Over a third (35%) planned to cut back on non-essential leisure and holiday spending, while others were being forced to make harder decisions, such as cutting back on essentials like food and utilities (16%).

Over half (57%) of those surveyed said they were concerned about their finances in retirement, with a similar number (50%) saying they did not feel they are preparing adequately for retirement.

One in five (18%) said their pension savings are invested in cash or cash-like assets, or low-risk assets such as UK Government bonds, or that they are planning to invest their pension in such assets.

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According to Scottish Widows, the average person between 35 and 54 years old who holds half of their £36,200 pension savings fully in cash could be exposed to losses of over £1,300 in a single year in real terms, and over £2,100 in two years.

Over 15% of those between 50 and 59 held, or desired to hold, the majority of their pension savings in cash. This rose to 29% for those already retired.

One in ten (11%) of respondents in their 50s said they were worried about having to access to their pension savings early to support their short-term financial resilience.

Pete Glancy, head of policy at Scottish Widows, said: “We are facing a myriad of issues and there are no easy solutions. It’s sadly understandable that households are being forced to make some tough choices in their budgets, but it’s important they do so whilst taking a longer-term look at their finances.”

YouGov surveyed 5,025 adults between 8 and 15 March on behalf of Scottish Widows. A further 1,002 adults were surveyed on 30 March to better understand the retirement prospects of minority ethnic groups.

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The FCA has written a ‘Dear CEO’ letter to lifetime mortgage providers to warn them that it will intervene if firms fail to tackle "exploitation" risks to consumers.

The watchdog is concerned about a number of practices in the sector, including concerns that some procuration or introducer fees paid to advisers may be creating a “conflict of interest.”

While the FCA says that overall the sector has coped well with the pandemic challenges, it is concerned that some equity release and

The FCA has written a ‘Dear CEO’ letter to lifetime mortgage providers to warn them that it will intervene if firms fail to tackle "exploitation" risks to consumers.

The watchdog is concerned about a number of practices in the sector, including concerns that some procuration or introducer fees paid to advisers may be creating a “conflict of interest.”

While the FCA says that overall the sector has coped well with the pandemic challenges, it is concerned that some equity release and lifetime mortgage providers are exposing clients to a risk of buying unsuitable products.

It is particularly concerned about vulnerable customers, as many buyers of lifetime mortgages are elderly, but there are also signs of a trend towards lifetime mortgage firms targeting much younger customers who are borrowing more to try to beat the financial crisis.

With the new FCA Consumer Duty rules on the horizon, the FCA has told the sector, part of the equity release market, that it needs to improve in a number of areas.

Lifetime mortgages are a type of equity release plan allowing consumers to take out a new mortgage on their property to raise cash. The loans are a type of mortgage but are rarely paid off. On the death of the borrowers the property usually reverts to the lender.

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In its 9-page letter to lifetime mortgage provider CEOs this week the FCA said: “We have seen examples of exploitation and misleading information. These practices are counterproductive and detrimental to a healthy financial services system and are the types of poor practices the Consumer Duty seeks to prevent.”

The letter informs CEOs that the FCA’s second consultation with specific rules and guidance on the proposed new Consumer Duty is now closed and it expects any new rules and guidance to be published in July.

A key area of concern for the FCA on lifetime mortgages is procuration fees. 

In its letter the FCA said: “Sales of lifetime mortgage products are predominantly made through mortgage intermediaries. “Our work with advisers and intermediaries in this and other portfolios has highlighted the risk that placement of business may be subject to conflicts of interest, for example to providers that offer the highest procuration fees or where there is an adviser – provider relationship. We will intervene where we consider that there is a potential distortion to the market or that firms’ systems and controls are not operating effectively to help ensure positive outcomes for customers.” The FCA identified 7 areas where lifetime mortgage providers needed to pay particular attention, adding that it would act where it identified firms causing, or likely to cause, significant harm to consumers. These include firms needing to do more to evidence how they are monitoring outcomes for customers in vulnerable circumstances; product design and governance with a concern that there is now a trend for some equity release plans to be sold to younger customers who are outside the traditional target market and are borrowing larger amounts than the usual medians. The FCA is also concerned about contracts that may expose borrowers to “excessive charges” and relationships between lenders and intermediaries. There are also concerns about post-sale systems and controls and financial resilience. The FCA says it will intervene where it learns that that firms are at risk of exhausting cash reserves or face liquidity challenges and may need to exit the market. The FCA is also concerned that tougher economic times will cause more consumers, potentially vulnerable ones, to search for credit and firms must remain alert to the risk of some consumers buying “unsuitable” equity release products.

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Financial Planning firm Evelyn Partners, formerly known as Tilney Smith & Williamson, has joined forces with CliftonLarsonAllen to launch a global accounting and advisory network.

CLA Global will launch on 1 July.

The partnership between the two firms is expected to make CLA Global a top 15 global accounting and advisory organisation.

The network plans to add additional member firms throughout this year.

Sancho Simmonds, a partner at Evelyn Partners, will be co-CEO along with

Financial Planning firm Evelyn Partners, formerly known as Tilney Smith & Williamson, has joined forces with CliftonLarsonAllen to launch a global accounting and advisory network.

CLA Global will launch on 1 July.

The partnership between the two firms is expected to make CLA Global a top 15 global accounting and advisory organisation.

The network plans to add additional member firms throughout this year.

Sancho Simmonds, a partner at Evelyn Partners, will be co-CEO along with Joe Kask from CliftonLarsonAllen.

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP is the eighth largest accountancy firm in the United States with 7,500 staff and 121 US offices.

Andrew Wilkes, chief professional services director at Evelyn Partners, said: “There are many synergies between CliftonLarsonAllen and Evelyn Partners. Both of our firms are energized by working with private clients and their business interests and invest a lot in creating opportunities to grow our clients and our people.”

CLA Global’s member firms will provide audit, accounting, tax, and advisory services to both organisations and individuals.

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Evelyn Partners and CliftonLarsonAllen said the new network will fill a gap among top global professional services organisations with a focus on fast-growing middle-market cross-border businesses, while also assisting international public interest and listed entities.

Tilney Smith & Williamson rebranded as Evelyn partners earlier this month. 

The firm started the rebranding process in March.

Bestinvest, the firm’s online investment platform and hybrid digital advice service, has remained a separate brand and is now known as Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners.

According to the Financial Planning and wealth management firm, the rebrand to Evelyn Partners reflects the business becoming ‘one firm with a single purpose’ following the Tilney and Smith & Wiliamson merger.

The brand is named after Evelyn Gardens, the 1893 London address of one of the business’ founders.

Tilney and Smith & Williamson merged to become one firm in September 2020. The firm has since made a number of smaller acquisitions, mainly of advice firms.

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Financial Planning firm Evelyn Partners, formerly Tilney Smith & Williamson, has joined forces with professional services firm CliftonLarsonAllen to launch a global accounting and advisory network.

CLA Global will launch on 1 July.

The partnership between the two firms is expected to make CLA Global a top 15 global accounting and advisory organisation.

The network plans to add additional member firms throughout this year.

Sancho Simmonds, a partner at Evelyn Partners, will

Financial Planning firm Evelyn Partners, formerly Tilney Smith & Williamson, has joined forces with professional services firm CliftonLarsonAllen to launch a global accounting and advisory network.

CLA Global will launch on 1 July.

The partnership between the two firms is expected to make CLA Global a top 15 global accounting and advisory organisation.

The network plans to add additional member firms throughout this year.

Sancho Simmonds, a partner at Evelyn Partners, will be co-CEO along with Joe Kask from CliftonLarsonAllen.

CliftonLarsonAllen LLP is the eighth largest accountancy firm in the United States with 7,500 staff and 121 US offices. It serves a number of accountancy markets and also has a wealth advisory and Financial Planning arm.

Andrew Wilkes, chief professional services director at Evelyn Partners, said: “There are many synergies between CliftonLarsonAllen and Evelyn Partners. Both of our firms are energised by working with private clients and their business interests and invest a lot in creating opportunities to grow our clients and our people.”

CLA Global’s member firms will provide audit, accounting, tax, and advisory services to both organisations and individuals.

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Evelyn Partners and CliftonLarsonAllen said the new network will fill a gap among top global professional services organisations with a focus on fast-growing middle-market cross-border businesses, while also assisting international public interest and listed entities.

Tilney Smith & Williamson rebranded as Evelyn partners earlier this month. 

The firm started the rebranding process in March.

Bestinvest, the firm’s online investment platform and hybrid digital advice service, has remained a separate brand and is now known as Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners.

According to the Financial Planning and wealth management firm, the rebrand to Evelyn Partners reflects the business becoming ‘one firm with a single purpose’ following the Tilney and Smith & Wiliamson merger. The brand is named after Evelyn Gardens, the 1893 London address of one of the business’ founders.

Tilney and Smith & Williamson merged to become one firm in September 2020. The firm has since made a number of smaller acquisitions, mainly of advice firms.

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Revenue increased 488% year-on-year to £149.7m for Financial Planner and wealth manager Kingswood for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Kingswood attributed the growth to the integration of UK and US acquisitions.

Operating profit increased by £5.5m for £6.3m, a rise of 688%.

Group assets under management and advice increased 15% year-on-year to £6.8m. Kingswood said 10% of the growth was driven organically, and 5% through acquisitions.

Kingswood has completed nine UK acquisitions

Revenue increased 488% year-on-year to £149.7m for Financial Planner and wealth manager Kingswood for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Kingswood attributed the growth to the integration of UK and US acquisitions.

Operating profit increased by £5.5m for £6.3m, a rise of 688%.

Group assets under management and advice increased 15% year-on-year to £6.8m. Kingswood said 10% of the growth was driven organically, and 5% through acquisitions.

Kingswood has completed nine UK acquisitions since August 2021. These nine acquisitions added £5.1m of annual operating profit and around £2.6bn in assets under management and advice to the group for 2021.

The Financial Planner and wealth manager has made a further five UK acquisitions in the first half of this year. Allots Financial Services, Joseph R Lamb Financial Advisers, DJ Cooke Life and Pensions, AiM Independent Financial advisers and Vincent & Co Ltd have added £2.7m of annual operating profit and c.£0.8bn AUA to the group.

A further eight UK acquisitions are currently in exclusive due diligence. Should all eight acquisitions come to completion, they would add a total of £7.7m annual operating profit. Kingswood said all are expected to conclude in the third quarter of this year.

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David Lawrence, CEO at Kingswood, said: “Kingswood continues to demonstrate a strong track record in sourcing and securing acquisitions and in doing so is quickly building scale. We have a single-minded focus on both financial advice/Planning and investment management activity, relying on leading market external expertise for other aspects of the client value-chain.

“I believe to be a truly successful firm we must put the client at the heart of the relationship, be highly accessible, have a clear proposition and most importantly provide great value for money. Our staff and technology are key enablers to deliver this success and will therefore be critical pillars of our strategy today and moving forwards.”

The Financial Planning and wealth management firm’s UK revenues for 2021 were 87% recurring in nature.

The firm plans to build its UK assets under management to £10bn in the UK, and £12.5bn globally, in the near-term. Longer term it hopes to hit £20m of operating profit.

Kingswood now has 292 staff across the UK and US managing £9bn of client assets.

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NS&I’s new Green Bond pulled in £228m, according to the government-backed savings body’s Annual Report for 2021/2022.

The amount raised helped NS&I deliver £4.4 billion of net financing to the government over the past year.

NS&I said Green Savings Bonds, which help raise funds towards tackling climate change, were “successfully launched” although critics said the amount raised was modest.

NS&I launched Green Savings Bonds in October 2021, following the Chancellor's

NS&I’s new Green Bond pulled in £228m, according to the government-backed savings body’s Annual Report for 2021/2022.

The amount raised helped NS&I deliver £4.4 billion of net financing to the government over the past year.

NS&I said Green Savings Bonds, which help raise funds towards tackling climate change, were “successfully launched” although critics said the amount raised was modest.

NS&I launched Green Savings Bonds in October 2021, following the Chancellor's announcement in the Spring Budget 2021. In total, Green Savings Bonds achieved sales of £288 million as at 31 March 2022. A second Issue of the Bonds went on sale in February 2022 and the interest rate was increased from 0.65% to 1.30%.

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Critics said the amount raised by the Green Savings Bonds was underwhelming.

Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Calling the Green Bond launch a success is being very generous, because it was obvious to anyone with an eye on interest rates that it wouldn’t raise much cash. 

“NS&I has discovered the hard way that we weren’t willing to plough our cash into something with a green label regardless of the rate – even when it came from an incredibly trusted brand like NS&I.”

Separately, as part of its annual report NS&I announced its ‘Transforming NS&I’ drive with NS&I awarding the first of four new outsourcing partnership contracts to IBM as NS&I starts to add new distribution partners.

NS&I chief executive, Ian Ackerley, said: “This has been a successful year for NS&I, in which we have met all of our financial targets and restored customer service to our normal high standards.

“After a challenging period during the pandemic, I am proud of the work we have done to bounce back and deliver what our customers deserve – the ability to save in our unique products with fast, responsive and friendly customer service.”

“Our new partnership with IBM is the start of building our future business. Working with multiple suppliers, we will be able to modernise our operation with new technology and deliver ongoing savings to taxpayers.”

NS&I said it had improved customer satisfaction which dipped during the pandemic. Customer satisfaction fell to 70.6% in November 2020 but has now recovered to 84.8%.

NS&I met nine and missed four of its 13 service delivery measures in 2021-22. NS&I met the service delivery measures for areas such as net financing, fraud management and ethnic diversity but missed targets in digital first, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), gender balance and employee engagement. 

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The FCA is to hold a tech-focused Innovation Day at its London HQ in July to showcase what it is doing to nurture new financial technology developments.

The regulator said the day will “showcase what’s next for our innovation agenda.”

The day will feature a mixture of keynotes, panel sessions and presentations, as well as an exhibition area where attendees can meet the FCA’s innovation teams.

The day is also designed to inform those considering using the FCA’s innovation services such

The FCA is to hold a tech-focused Innovation Day at its London HQ in July to showcase what it is doing to nurture new financial technology developments.

The regulator said the day will “showcase what’s next for our innovation agenda.”

The day will feature a mixture of keynotes, panel sessions and presentations, as well as an exhibition area where attendees can meet the FCA’s innovation teams.

The day is also designed to inform those considering using the FCA’s innovation services such as its regulatory sandbox, digital sandbox or pathways service.

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The FCA expects industry leaders at the event, including CEOs and venture capitalists who will discuss topics such as AI and algorithms, diversity and inclusion, cryptoassets and leveraging global networks.

The event is aimed at senior individuals from the fintech and regtech sectors, as well as technologists, trade associations, government, academia and financial institutions. 

The FCA says that attendees will get the opportunity to:

• Learn more about the FCA's market-facing services

• Discover how emerging technology is shaping regulation and how the FCA Innovation Hub is evolving to "support the next generation of financial services"

• Listen to a series of roundtables and breakout sessions, visit an exhibition and meet the FCA innovation teams

Attendees can register to attend in person or virtually.

The day will take place on Wednesday 13 July from 10am - 5pm at the FCA HQ in London: Financial Conduct Authority, 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN.

Those interested are asked to register for the event here: FCA Innovation Day Registration

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Sales of ISAs almost double in 2021 and SIPP sales were up by 15% during the year, retail investment data from the FCA has revealed.

Despite the pandemic the figures suggest that sales of investment and pension products fare remarkably well with investors using their spare time to invest.

ISA sales nearly from 389,674 to 769,247 during the year and SIPP sales leapt by 15% year-on year,up from 740,418 plans in 2020 to 851,963 in 2021.

Pension income drawdown continued to be a mainstay

Sales of ISAs almost double in 2021 and SIPP sales were up by 15% during the year, retail investment data from the FCA has revealed.

Despite the pandemic the figures suggest that sales of investment and pension products fare remarkably well with investors using their spare time to invest.

ISA sales nearly from 389,674 to 769,247 during the year and SIPP sales leapt by 15% year-on year,up from 740,418 plans in 2020 to 851,963 in 2021.

Pension income drawdown continued to be a mainstay for pension investors with 218,100 people entering drawdown in 2021, up 21% from 180,654 in 2020.

Annuity sales also rose by 7% year-on-year, from 41,293 to 44,161.

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AJ Bell, which analysed the figures (Retail Investments Product Sales Data dashboard said that while many were hit financially by the pandemic there were also millions in employment who found more money left in their bank accounts each month as entertainment and holidays became unavailable.

Tom Selby, head of retirement policy at AJ Bell, said: “During the peak of the pandemic and subsequent national lockdowns, millions of ‘accidental savers’ fortunate enough to remain in employment saw their bank balances bolstered as spending on things like going out and holidays plummeted.

“These accidental savers were undoubtedly one of the key driving forces behind a near-doubling of ISA sales from 2020 to 2021. The first quarter of 2021 was particularly eye-catching, with almost 300,000 ISAs bought during that three-month period alone.

“The world has of course moved on significantly since the turn of the year, with millions of Brits now facing up to a cost-of-living crisis which is squeezing their ability to spend and save for the future.”

Despite bad publicity in recent times, SIPPs continued to grow as a popular pension option. AJ Bell, which offers SIPPs, said that with SIPP sales up 15% year-on-year they were “comfortably the most popular product among retail retirement savers.”

AJ Bell believes the rising popularity of SIPPs is reflected in the retirement income market, with drawdown now firmly established as the dominant option. 

The company says that stronger markets during 2021 encourage more people to stay invested and use drawdown for retirement income but it believes that will be test by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the global economic issues that has caused.

The firm added that annuities remain viable but sales are lower than 2015 just over 44,000 new plans sold in 2021, up 7% compared to 2020. Recently annuity rates have begun to increase but AJ Bell said it did not expect major growth in annuities.

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FNZ, the platform engine behind many UK investment platforms, has added a cash management and savings solution with an investment in fintech Bondsmith.

The Series-A investment in Bondsmith sees its solutions integrated into FNZ’s platform engine.

The platform engine has added cash savings as an investable asset class.

Bondsmith is looking to make holding cash assets on platforms more popular by offering a range of savings solutions to increase the opportunity for competitive returns.

The

FNZ, the platform engine behind many UK investment platforms, has added a cash management and savings solution with an investment in fintech Bondsmith.

The Series-A investment in Bondsmith sees its solutions integrated into FNZ’s platform engine.

The platform engine has added cash savings as an investable asset class.

Bondsmith is looking to make holding cash assets on platforms more popular by offering a range of savings solutions to increase the opportunity for competitive returns.

The solution allows savers to access competitive rates whilst taking advantage of investment and pension tax wrappers.

It is delivered in partnership with a panel of banks including Investec and Cater Allen.

Bondsmith also offers a treasury platform and treasury advisory services to help corporate and institutional clients to manage liquidity, diversity counterparty risk, and increase interest income.

It advises on over £3bn in treasury service deposits.

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Michael Doyle, founder and CEO at Bondsmith, said the FCA’s new Consumer Duty rules could lead to more advised clients keeping cash on investment platforms.

He said: “Our partnership with FNZ could not come at a better time. The base rate of the Bank of England, as with other central banks worldwide, is as high as it has been since the financial crisis.

“With the new FCA consumer duty rules coming into place from next year, it is more important than ever for the wealth industry to be focused on delivering great consumer outcomes. Actively managing cash, which makes up 5-10% of most portfolios, and ensuring the consumer benefits, is a great way to achieve this.”

Din Mustaffa, group chief strategy officer at FNZ, said the platform engine’s investment in Bondsmith could allow for more holistic Financial Planning.

He said: “Our investment in Bondsmith, and the integration of its solutions into our global wealth management platform, will further improve functionality and customer choice as we seek to deliver on our mission of opening up wealth.

“Generally, cash that is not actively managed results in savers seeing negative returns, as interest gains are offset by fees. The partnership with Bondsmith will allow FNZ’s customers to offer their clients a new asset class, make active cash management more accessible, provide greater opportunity for competitive returns and allow for more holistic Financial Planning.

“This will help savers get the most out of their cash, which is particularly important at a time when household finances are being squeezed and every basis point counts.”

In December FNZ sold off its acquired rival GBST to a private equity firm after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) blocked FNZ’s acquisition of GBST. In June last year the CMA ordered FNZ to sell off GBST's platform arm after concluding that the £150m merger of FNZ and GBST risked reducing competition in the UK platform market.

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The population of England and Wales is ageing, with almost one in five (18.6%) of people age 65 and over, according to the first Census 2021 estimates.

This is a rise from 16.4% since the 2011 census.

The local authorities with the highest percentages of the population age 65 and over were North Norfolk (33.4%) and Rother (32.4%).

East Devon had the highest percentage of the population age 90 year and over (1.9%) followed by Rother (1.8%).

London had the largest percentage of

The population of England and Wales is ageing, with almost one in five (18.6%) of people age 65 and over, according to the first Census 2021 estimates.

This is a rise from 16.4% since the 2011 census.

The local authorities with the highest percentages of the population age 65 and over were North Norfolk (33.4%) and Rother (32.4%).

East Devon had the highest percentage of the population age 90 year and over (1.9%) followed by Rother (1.8%).

London had the largest percentage of people aged between 15 and 64 years, making up 70% of the population.

The population of England and Wales on 21 March 2021 was 59,597,300, an increase of over 3.5m (6.3%) since 2011.

The population in England is growing faster than that of Wales, with population growth of 6.6% and 1.4% respectively.

Women made up 51% of the overall population.

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The fastest growing region for population growth was the East of England, which increased by 8.3% from 2011, a gain of approximately 488,000 people.

Pete Benton, deputy national statistician at the Office for National Statistics, said: “Today’s census statistics begin to paint a rich and detailed snapshot of the nation and how we were living during the pandemic. They show the population of England and Wales continued to grow across the decade, albeit at different rates across the regions.

“Since census day the world has continued to change. People continue to move home, some people will have left the country, others will have arrived. People will have changed jobs, some of us now work in offices once again, while others continue to work from home.

“We need to understand all of this and more. The results from Census 2021 – and there’s lots more to follow - therefore provide a key bridge from the past to the future as we deliver more frequent, relevant and timely statistics using data from across government to allow us to understand population change in local areas this year and beyond.”

The population figures are the first in a series of Census 2021 data being released by the Office for National Statistics over the next two years.

All households in England and Wales were required to fill out a Census survey on 21 March 2021.

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It has asked the regulator to ditch plans to mandate lump sum compensation.

The professional body said lump sum compensation does not address the central issue of BSPS members giving up a guaranteed income.

It has called for the Department of Work & Pensions to work with the Pension Protection Fund to ensure clients are re-admitted to the BSPS or admitted to the Pension Protection Fund.

It has also called for adviser to have a right of appeal to an independent qualified transfer specialist

It has asked the regulator to ditch plans to mandate lump sum compensation.

The professional body said lump sum compensation does not address the central issue of BSPS members giving up a guaranteed income.

It has called for the Department of Work & Pensions to work with the Pension Protection Fund to ensure clients are re-admitted to the BSPS or admitted to the Pension Protection Fund.

It has also called for adviser to have a right of appeal to an independent qualified transfer specialist for a review of the full file and specific circumstances involved creating the recommendation. It said in many cases the Defined Benefit Advice Assessment Tool process is not adequate to address the individual circumstances.

It said that advisers giving advice during the FCA’s timeline had no way of knowing what information the BSPS would publish in the future.

The professional body has shared information with the regulator about cases where adviser were told by the BSPS that early retirement options could not be issued as the client was not old enough.

According to the professional body, this example highlights how the regulator’s assessment tool process is not sophisticated enough to establish a full picture of what could have been reasonably expected from financial advisers working with limited information rather than the full facts in individual cases.

Matthew Connell, director of policy and public affairs at the PFS, said: “Clients who received poor quality advice to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme transfers should receive compensation, but we are concerned about the way suitability of recommendations will be assessed and whether a lump sum can ever replace a guaranteed income.

“We accept that there were very poor practices among some firms involved in giving advice to British Steel Pension Scheme members. However, the FCA research shows that good advice was also given, which means the review must be fair, proportionate, and operate on a case-by-case basis.

“Given that so much of the detriment that applies to British Steel Pension Scheme members relates to a loss of guaranteed income, we do not think it is right for the compensation scheme to mandate those who received poor advice only receive a lump sum.

“The regulator needs to rethink their approach and work with the Department for Work & Pensions, The Pensions Regulator plus the Pension Protection Fund to ensure British Steel workers retirements are put back in the financial position they would have been in if they were not advised to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme.”

The PFS also raised concerns that the training given to those using the Defined Benefit Advice Assessment Tool is only two days, in comparison with the approximately 13 weeks that it takes to become qualified as a pension transfer specialist.

It said that it is ‘highly questionable’ whether people working with the tool training alone are able to consider cases according to the factors that apply to an individual case.

It has called on the FCA to amend the timetable to provide for circumstances where advisers had good reason not to seek information on conversion rates.

In 2017, many British Steel workers were advised to transfer out of their defined benefit pension into a defined contribution pension, typically a personal pension or a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP). The scandal has attracted national attention and criticism. The FCA recently said that it was looking at 343 advice firms involved in BSPS claims and was expecting to pay out over £70m in compensation.

By transferring to a private pension arrangement, the BSPS victims would have potentially lost benefits already built up in the British Steel Pension Scheme.

A total of 1,823 new complaints about financial advisers were logged in 2021/22, in comparison to 2,774 complaints in 2020/21.

The proportion of all complaints against financial services firms registered against financial advisers held steady at 1%.

Of 2,150 complaints against financial advisers resolved, 32% were upheld in favour of the client.

The most complained about product area for financial advisers was stocks and shares ISAs, where there were 187 complaints, 31% of which were

A total of 1,823 new complaints about financial advisers were logged in 2021/22, in comparison to 2,774 complaints in 2020/21.

The proportion of all complaints against financial services firms registered against financial advisers held steady at 1%.

Of 2,150 complaints against financial advisers resolved, 32% were upheld in favour of the client.

The most complained about product area for financial advisers was stocks and shares ISAs, where there were 187 complaints, 31% of which were upheld.

This was closely followed by personal pensions, where there were 182 complaints, 42% of which were upheld.

There were 92 complaints about defined benefit transfers (not to a SIPP), 52% of which were upheld, and 38 claims about transfers to a SIPP where 67% were upheld.

Administration and customer service were the most common resolved complaints with 687 resolved, 29% of which were upheld.

Mis-sale/suitability of advice saw the highest uphold rate with 49% of complaints being resolved in favour of the client.

The number of complaints against financial advisers where the event being complained about happened more than 15 years ago fell slightly to 304 (2020/21: 363). Of these 25% were upheld in favour of the client.

The FOS saw 187 complaints from over 15 years ago that it was unable to consider for reasons such as time limits in place.

Falling victims of scams and issues with customer service and administration were the most complained about wider financial services topics in 2021/22, according to the new FOS data.

Administration and customer service complaints topped the ombudsman’s list with over 35,000 complaints.

Examples included lack of attention to detail and sending personal information to the wrong address.

Complaints about ‘authorised’ scams increased by a fifth to 9,370 in 2021/22.

The ombudsman said it is upholding around three quarters of these ‘authorised’ scam complaints in the consumers’ favour.

The latest FOS data showed that it is starting to make headway against its complaints backlog. The ombudsman received 165,263 new complaints in 2021/22 and resolved 218,749 complaints.

It upheld 38% of the 218,740 complaints, in comparison with 31% on 2020/21.

Of the new complaints, 16,276 were about investments and pensions.

Nausicaa Delfas, interim chief executive and chief ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service, said: “Over the past year, the Financial Ombudsman Service continued to help over two hundred thousand customers who had problems with financial businesses on issues across banking, lending, insurance and investments. In this period of economic uncertainty it is more important than ever that where problems do arise, they are addressed quickly. We are here to help to resolve financial disputes fairly and impartially.”

The Financial Ombudsman Service was set up by Parliament in 2000 to resolve individual complaints between financial services firms and their customers.

The Ombudsman launched an action plan to improve its services and operational efficiency in December last year.

It recently proposed changes to its funding model to more accurately reflect the cost of individual cases. 

The acquisition marks Progeny’s first expansion into international markets.

The Fry Group is a Financial Planning, tax and estate firm with 191 employees across the UK (London, Worthing, Cheltenham and Exeter), as well as four international offices in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong and Belgium.

The firm was founded in 1898.

On completion of the deal Progeny’s total assets under management will be boosted by £5.5bn.

David Pugh, CEO of The Fry Group, said: “The

The acquisition marks Progeny’s first expansion into international markets.

The Fry Group is a Financial Planning, tax and estate firm with 191 employees across the UK (London, Worthing, Cheltenham and Exeter), as well as four international offices in the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong and Belgium.

The firm was founded in 1898.

On completion of the deal Progeny’s total assets under management will be boosted by £5.5bn.

David Pugh, CEO of The Fry Group, said: “The Fry Group and Progeny are a great fit and we’re excited about this next stage in our journey.

“We are both values-based businesses with a sharp focus on clients, building trust and long-lasting relationships with them and aiming to always exceed their expectations.

“The wellbeing of our team is a priority and in this area we have more common ground with Progeny, who share our passion for attracting, inspiring and developing exceptional people.

“I’m looking forward to the new possibilities, the additional services we can offer our clients and the scope for scaling up that joining Progeny will bring.”

Neil Moles, CEO of Progeny, said: “We’re proud to announce the international expansion of the Progeny brand and what better way to do it than with a business as prestigious and long-established as The Fry Group.

“This is a thrilling new front for us, which will bring fresh new opportunities for our clients, our team members and for Progeny as a growing and ambitious firm.”

The acquisition of The Fry Group is the third for Progeny this year.

In May it acquired Hampshire-based Financial Planning firm Coll Perkins. 

In February it acquired Chartered Financial Planning firm RU Group, adding £3bn in assets under management. 

US-based private equity firm Further Global Capital Management acquired a majority stake in the five-year-old Progeny business in October, to accelerate the Financial Planning firm’s expansion.

Both management and Progeny’s existing capital partner, LSG Holdings, remain invested as significant shareholders in the company.