Advisers wrestling with A-Day one year on

A year on from A-Day, advisers are still battling to unravel the complexities of the so-called pension simplification.

Since they were launched in April 2006, the regulations have received a mixed response from financial planners, with the fiercest critics calling for the regulation to be withdrawn completely.

Francis Klonowski of Leeds based Klonowski & Co called the A-Day changes a ‘complete waste of time’. He added that those who introduced the regulation should be sacked.

Klonowski said that the government’s belated withdrawal of tax relief for pension term assurance and action to clamp down on alternatively secured pensions is evidence that the regulation was ill-thought out.

While Klonowski welcomed the move to bring all pensions under one regulatory roof, he said that the regulations have not generated new business and have increased the amount of time spent with each client by up to three hours.

Nick McBreen, an adviser at Cornish firm Worldwide Financial Planning, said the A-Day reforms were ‘long overdue’ but added that there are still key areas of improvement needed to allow historic pensions agreements to be amalgamated under a Sipp.

Current regulations prevent protected rights from being transferred into a Sipp which means that many people still have to be spread pensions from different sources across a range of pensions pots.

McBreen said that the government had promised to allow protected rights pensions to be amalgamated into a Sipp by 2007 but has since changed its mind.

McBreen also called for improvements in the time taken for pensions providers to come up with scheme information.

He said: ‘It can take an unacceptable amount of time for providers to get back to you.’

Overall Worldwide Financial Planning has seen an increase in pensions business since A-Day, which McBreen said has been a result of people waiting for the pension changes to come into force.