The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced new rules to ensure a green label on a fund is more than just marketing puff. It was perhaps no coincidence that the FCA published a new set of rules on sustainable funds just as COP28, the UN global conference on climate change, got underway in late November. Interest in all forms of sustainable investing has surged in recent years, with an estimated $18,400 billion of assets currently managed globally under the environmen

The gap between two government set income levels is the widest it has ever been. Source: HMRC, DWP. The National Living Wage (NLW) and the new State pension both started life in April 2016 during George Osborne’s tenure as Chancellor. In his March 2013 Budget, he announced that the new State pension would begin a year earlier than had originally been planned. Just over two years and an election later (and still Chancellor – they were different times), in July 2015, Mr Osborne

A survey of 6,000 people, aged 18 to 80, revealed starkly different views on retirement across the generations. According to the Office for National Statistics, the median age of the UK population in mid-2021 was 40.7 years, up from 39.6 in mid-2011. Perhaps that gradual ageing and the impact of Covid-19 on working patterns explains why there is a steady flow of research reports on attitudes to, and experiences of, retirement. The latest to emerge is Standard Life’s Retiremen

For employees, the national insurance cut announced in the Autumn Statement took effect on 6 January. For many years, successive governments have been happy for the public to vaguely believe that national insurance contributions (NICs) are building up in some national benefit fund, rather than representing just another tax on income. While something called the National Insurance Fund does exist, as a House of Commons Library briefing noted back in 2019, “The Fund operates on

The Chancellor’s national insurance contribution (NICs) ‘giveaway’ is no match for his income tax ‘takeaway’. The central surprise in Jeremy Hunt’s second Autumn Statement was a major reduction in NICs. For employees From 6 January 2024, the main class 1 contribution rate on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 will be reduced from 12% to 10%. That amounts to a saving of up to £754 a year. For the self-employed From 6 April 2024 - Flat rate class 2 NICs (currently £3.45

The Global sector is the largest fund sector, according to the Investment Association, but it might not be quite as global as you think. * To 17/10/2023 Source: Trustnet. The largest fund sector by value is Global, according to the Investment Association (IA), the UK’s investment trade body. At the end of August 2023, Global funds accounted for £171.1bn of investments, about a seventh of the IA’s fund total, which covers over 50 sectors. Second on the list, at £138.9bn, was