Protected rights!! What are they?

On the British pension scene we have the thorny issue of protected rights. These can now be transferred into a SIPP.
www.searchifa.co.uk The area of protected rights should be a good one for IFAs to give independent advice. Companies seemed to have washed their hands over trying to help out their employees in this area. In fact, it is pretty hard to get pension advice anywhere.
The collapse of corporate pension schemes, such as defined benefit ones, have made state pensions more valuable. The state scheme should be the cornerstone of pension planning. I suppose the tax raid on defined benefit schemes sanctioned by the then Chancellor of Exchequer Gordon Brown was based on an understanding that the sponsor companies would make up the difference. In fairness, increasing longevity would badly hit the pension schemes of firms. Perhaps, the demise of Equitable Life made people question the security and certainty of pensions. Despite being told by the Parliamentary ombudsman, the Labour government has not helped the victims of Equitable Life.
I invested in an Equitable Life with-profits fund and it was not funny aking the hit when I transferred. The authorities regulated the firm, which was originally founded in the 1760s, but provided no compensation. British personal depositors in Icelandic banks got their money back, where there was no UK regulation. However, this was not the case for Dutch and German depositors (I think), who really took a hit.

British IFAs could face a bleak year in 2009.

UK independent financial advisers are pretty much unloved by the regulatory body FSA.
Comments on the retail distribution review focus on the appearance that the banks have had a pretty easy ride. However, IFAs have got to consider the here and now. 2009 could be a bleak year but there has been so much change in the financial landscape that clients would need more advice rather than less.
For instance, the popular investment house New Star has seen the creditor banks take control while some of its high flying funds have closed for redemptions. You do recommend now? M and G or Fidelity.
Can you recommend structured products? The collapse of Lehman Brothers as a counter-party has made supposedly low-risk products into very high risk ones to put it mildly. Supporters of structured products point to their defined return and
low cost.
The collapse of the Icelandic banks have put the spotlight on the deposit guarantee schemes in offshore territories and have made a lot of British councils look stupid.
There is an area of advice in offering recommendations on where to
put deposits.
www.searchifa.co.uk
Another area is pensions. The forthcoming introduction of a higher tax rate of 45 pct
will probably lead to an increase of pension contributions. SIPPs will continue to grow.
Finally, quite a few potential clients will be planning to leave the United Kingdom. They will need help in navigating the tax codes of countries such as Australia and the United States. The collapse of sterling against the euro might make moving to eurozone countries less attractive.