Welfare Reform on the Web (January 2002): Pensions - UK

STAKEHOLDER PENSIONS ARE A FLOP, SAY TORIES

J. Carsen

Financial Times, Nov. 14^th 2001, p. 6

The Tories have claimed that only 34,000 of the 416,000 stakeholder pensions sold went to the government's target group of people earning £10,000 - £20,000 annually who were not in an existing pension scheme.

WARNING OVER LACK OF ADVICE ON LOW COST PENSIONS

A. Bolger

Financial Times, Nov. 7^th 2001, p. 6

Annual charges levied by providers of stakeholder pensions are fixed by the government at 1%. This means that profit margins are too slender to encourage the life assurance industry to give consumers free financial advice.