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    From Ros Altmann:economist and pensions,
    investment and retirement policy expert

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    pensionsandsavings.com

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    Author: Ros Altmann

    Social care kicked into the long grass again – a betrayal of older and disabled people

    Social care kicked into the long grass again – a betrayal of older and disabled people

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    Social care kicked into the long grass yet again as older and disabled people remain a low political priority.   The broken UK care system has had umpteen reviews and Commissions, but now we are back to square one.    Telling Baroness Casey that she cannot assume any extra funding will be available, makes meaningful long-lasting reforms almost impossible.   The announcement that we are to have yet another Commission to review social care is deeply depressing. A huge sense of déjà vu….

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    Investment trusts under fire from FCA proposals for new consumer regime – why are active managers and investment trusts being disadvantaged?

    Investment trusts under fire from FCA proposals for new consumer regime – why are active managers and investment trusts being disadvantaged?

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    Investment trusts in the FCA firing line as consultation proposals want to reimpose damaging cost disclosures which would reverse its recent forbearance and defy Government policy. New FCA regulatory regime for ‘Consumer Composite Investments’ favours unit trusts/OEICs over closed-ended investment trusts and benefit index funds relative to active managers. The proposed replacement for EU PRIIPs and MiFID rules would worsen consumer confusion about investment trusts, misleading investors and imposing needless extra regulations for no benefit. It is time to stop…

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    Hands off our investment trusts – closed-ended funds are deliberately different from open-ended funds and are designed for LONG TERM investors, not short-term trading

    Hands off our investment trusts – closed-ended funds are deliberately different from open-ended funds and are designed for LONG TERM investors, not short-term trading

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    Hands off our brilliant investment trusts! Saba’s attacks are an existential threat to the sector and Boards must recognise the dangers before it’s too late.  Turning closed-ended funds into open-ended funds destroys their long-term value and will harm UK markets and growth.   Investment trusts comprise about a third of the FTSE 250 are a long-standing UK success story for London and Ediburgh. Closed-ended structures offer specialist portfolios of less liquid or real assets, such as infrastructure, alternative energy, small growth…

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    Ros responds to IHT consultation proposing simple flat-rate 20% levy to avoid complexity

    Ros responds to IHT consultation proposing simple flat-rate 20% levy to avoid complexity

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    Government’s proposals for draconian inheritance tax on pension funds will be disastrous – there are much better ways to raise revenue, including a flat-rate 20% levy.  In her response to Treasury consultation taxing unused pensions, Ros Altmann warns of dangers in current proposals and suggests flat-rate 20% inheritance levy instead, giving simpler, fairer rules and less damage to future DC pension. Ros Altmann’s response to the consultation makes clear that the current proposals will be disastrous for all involved in…

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    Investment trusts under threat – investors need more protection

    Investment trusts under threat – investors need more protection

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    Saba wants to turn investment trusts into hedge funds – that’s not what other investors bought into, but if they don’t vote, they can’t protect their positions. Investment Trusts are not short-term trading funds, they build long-term value for patient investors through economic cycles. If their investors wanted hedge funds, they could have invested elsewhere. These bids aim to profit from UK regulatory failures and inadequate investor protections – can FCA or Treasury step in to protect investors? Flawed charges…

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    Bank of England QT should be paused – it’s undermining markets, the economy and fiscal policy too

    Bank of England QT should be paused – it’s undermining markets, the economy and fiscal policy too

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    Bank of England should cut base rate quickly and put QT on hold.   Monetary policy is undermining growth, unsettling financial markets and damaging the Chancellor’s fiscal policy options – rates have been too high for too long. Short rates around 5% with Inflation only at 2-3%, on top of monetary tightening form QT gilt sales, leaves rates too high and will depress growth, especially after Budget tax rises. QT should be put on hold for the rest of the year…

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    WASPI women – not a penny

    WASPI women – not a penny

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    Government disappoints millions of WASPI women.  Government refuses to pay any of them anything, despite parliamentary ombudsman findings of maladministration.  Many are in serious hardship and I would have liked to see them helped.  But after taking away winter fuel payments with no notice from the poorest pensioners, clearly pensioners are not a priority. The Government has today disappointed millions of women in their mid-sixties and early seventies. Government rejects Parliamentary Ombudsman The so-called WASPIs (Women Against State Pension Inequality),…

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    Mansion House speech – worthy intention but will it make much difference to Britain?

    Mansion House speech – worthy intention but will it make much difference to Britain?

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    The chancellor could and should have been far more radical.   There is still no requirement to use any pension assets to back British growth.  Just merging pension funds is no guarantee of boosting returns or improving UK infrastructure. Of course I applaud the Chancellors worth intention to facilitate more pension asset investment in higher expected return projects. Her radical reforms, however, could and should have been much bolder. With £70billion of taxpayer funds going into people’s pensions each year, surely…

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    Mansion House speech tomorrow – Chancellor needs to be much bolder in ensuring pensions support British markets and growth

    Mansion House speech tomorrow – Chancellor needs to be much bolder in ensuring pensions support British markets and growth

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    Let’s hope this year’s Mansion House speech will be much bolder in driving pension funds to boost Britain. Last year’s voluntary agreement by some pension funds to invest 5% in unlisted assets by 2030, did not stipulate any requirement for the money to back UK businesses! UK pension fund assets need to increase their massive underweighting in UK markets – as a quid pro quo for continuing to receive £70billion a year in tax and NI reliefs. Just 5% of…

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