{"id":130410,"date":"2025-09-09T04:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T04:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/130410\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T04:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T04:53:12","slug":"hands-off-our-pensions-reeves-told-industry-chief-demands-confidence-in-savings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/130410\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands off our pensions, Reeves told: Industry chief demands ‘confidence’ in savings"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JOHN-PAUL FORD ROJAS, DEPUTY BUSINESS EDITOR<\/a> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Updated: 17:08 EDT, 8 September 2025 <\/p>\n

The boss of Britain\u2019s largest pensions firm has urged Rachel Reeves to dispel speculation that she will stage a Budget raid on retirement funds.<\/p>\n

Phoenix chief executive Andy Briggs said savers needed reassurance that the Chancellor would not \u2018chop and change\u2019 pensions rules.<\/p>\n

\u2018Therefore, we should be looking to stop it being an area of speculation of regular changes all the time,\u2019 Briggs told the Mail.<\/p>\n

\u2018You need people to feel confident that if they save their hard-earned money, they\u2019re going to be rewarded for doing so.\u2019<\/p>\n

The comments came as Reeves was warned that a pensions tax raid risked creating an \u2018Omnishambles\u2019 \u2013 the term used to describe Tory chancellor George Osborne\u2019s notorious 2012 Budget.<\/p>\n

Reeves faces growing calls to rule out changes to Britons\u2019 pensions in her desperate hunt for cash to make her Budget numbers add up.<\/p>\n

\"Plea: <\/p>\n

Plea: Phoenix chief exec Andy Briggs (pictured) said savers needed reassurance that the Chancellor would not ‘chop and change’ pensions rules<\/p>\n

Michael Summersgill, boss of broker AJ Bell, and former Institute for Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson last week called on the Chancellor to provide more certainty about retirement savings rules.<\/p>\n

Pension savers are able to withdraw up to 25 per cent of their nest eggs tax-free from the age of 55, up to a maximum of \u00a3268,275.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reducing that threshold was seen as a tempting target for Reeves as she looked to shore up the public finances in last year\u2019s Budget.<\/p>\n

That speculation prompted a surge in those pulling money out of retirement funds to pre-empt any rule change.<\/p>\n

Those fears proved unfounded, but with the next Budget on November 26, fears are again growing that the Chancellor may look to this area as she aims to repair a financial black hole estimated at \u00a350billion.<\/p>\n

Briggs said savers have been left worse off by pulling money out prematurely last year and that it should not be allowed to happen again.<\/p>\n

He added: \u2018We need to avoid a huge amount of speculation that leads customers to making what turn out to be sub-optimal decisions.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Chancellor has so far refused to rule out a pension tax raid in the Budget, though a Whitehall source last week said it was an area that was not being looked at.<\/p>\n

Asked if she should rule it out, Briggs said: \u2018Pensions are a very long-term business and if you leave consumers with a sense that it can chop and change on a regular basis, then you will undermine consumer confidence \u2013 people will save a lot less and have a poorer retirement.\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a report from consultants LCP pointed to the danger of slashing pensions tax relief for higher earners.<\/p>\n

Former pensions minister Steve Webb, a partner at LCP and co-author of the report, said: \u2018Reforms might raise far less than expected, break manifesto promises to workers or put additional burdens on employers.<\/p>\n

\u2018The political backlash against such reforms could easily echo previous \u201cOmnishambles\u201d budgets where a U-turn was made within a matter of weeks.\u2019<\/p>\n

Rebrand at Phoenix <\/p>\n

Phoenix Group is changing its name to Standard Life in a bid to \u2018bring its most trusted brand to the forefront\u2019.<\/p>\n

The insurer \u2013 which has about 12m customers and manages more than \u00a3295billion in assets under administration \u2013 said it would rename the group next March.<\/p>\n

Phoenix bought the Standard Life brand in May 2021 after purchasing Standard Life Aberdeen\u2019s insurance arm in 2018 for \u00a33.28billion.<\/p>\n

Phoenix said profits jumped by a quarter to \u00a3451million in the six months to June 30, too.<\/p>\n

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\n Hands off our pensions, Reeves told: Industry chief demands ‘confidence’ in savings<\/p>\n