The launch of the Lifetime Isa is considered a direct attack on the pensions industry by a massive majority of 87 per cent of Association of Member-Directed Pension Schemes (AMPS) members.
Surveyed at a recent event, a poll of the 89 delegates also found 81 per cent supported the AMPS committee pushing HMRC for a requirement for professional trustees for Ssas, with 77 per cent believing it would improve the turnaround times for transfer requests to Ssas.
At the event, at which Diego Zuluaga from the European Policy Information Centre discussed the EU Referendum and its impact on financial services, 51 per cent said they would vote to remain in the EU while 31 per cent are still deciding how to vote. But 62 per cent said they are bored of hearing about the referendum already.
Just one in five delegates believe that the Pensions Tax Manual is a worthy successor to the Registered Pension Schemes Manual, and 62 per cent have not seen a significant demand for the retention of capped drawdown since 6 April 2015, compared to 48 per cent in October 2015.
Over 60 per cent of AMPS members surveyed would prefer flexi-access drawdown to replace capped drawdown, so that MPAA applies to all in receipt of drawdown pensions, a decrease from 76 per cent when compared to October 2015
There has also been a fall in the number of firms processing transfers to QROPS, with 37 per cent of delegates now doing so compared to 43 per cent in October 2015.
AMPS committee member Zachary Gallagher says: “Pensions have changed beyond recognition in the past two years, with Treasury announcements, HMRC updates and a number of outstanding issues that need to be clarified. But what our members need is a clear roadmap for the future and how they can best advice their clients, or produce the solutions that advisers need.”