'Requirement for SSAS professional trustees should be explored'

A requirement for professional trustees for SSAS should be explored, AMPS members have said. The Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes asked members for their views at a recent technical seminar.They were asked to vote on whether they would like the AMPS Committee to discuss the prospect of a requirement for professional trustees for SSAS with HMRC. Some 81% said yes and of those, 77% said they believe it would improve the turnaround times for transfer requests to SSAS.AMPS also reported that 87 regarded the Lifetime ISA as “an attack on the pensions industry”.The new savings vehicle, which was announced at the March Budget by George Osbrone, has been described as a step towards a Pensions ISA combination.Some critics have questioned the move, saying it could have an adverse impact on auto-enrolment.The poll about various aspects of pensions, which was taken part in by 89 attendees, also found that:• 62% haven’t seen a significant demand for the retention of capped drawdown since 6 April 2015, this compared to 48% in October 2015• Over 60% would prefer flexi-access drawdown to replace capped drawdown, so that MPAA applies to all in receipt of drawdown pensions, a decrease from 76% when compared to October 2015• There has also been a fall in the number of firms processing transfers to QROPS 37% as of April 2016 as opposed to 43% in October 2015• 1 in 5 believed that the Pensions Tax Manual is a worthy successor to the Registered Pension Schemes ManualZachary Gallagher, committee member at AMPS, said: “Pensions have changed beyond recognition in the past two years, with Treasury announcements, HMRC updates and a number of outstanding issues that need to be clarified.“But what our members need is a clear roadmap for the future and how they can best advice their clients, or produce the solutions that advisers need. The AMPS Technical Seminars are designed to create a forum to discuss and share information and ensure that as an industry we are all aligned and creating a pension sector for us all to be proud of.”Members at the event also heard from Diego Zuluaga from the European Policy Information Centre. He discussed the EU Referendum and its impact on financial services.They were asked how they would chose to vote on the EU referendum and a potential Brexit. Some 51% said they would vote to remain in the EU while 31% are still deciding how to vote. However, 62% said they are bored of hearing about the referendum already.Other guest speakers were Claire Trott, Talbot and Muir, Jade Murray, Addleshaw Goddard, Tony Wickenden, Technical Connection, Jarrod Ellis, Delta Financial Management, Paul Clark, Russelldene Consulting.Neil MacGillivray, chairman of AMPS, said: “It was a great opportunity to get together with some of the industry’s key spokespeople to discuss the issues that they are currently seeing and how as a trade body we can best support them in the future and in our dealings with regulators and Government bodies.”

'Requirement for SSAS professional trustees should be explored'

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