6 April 2008

Changes to tax rates and tax relief
Widely announced some time ago the changes from 6 April 2008 are:

• basic rate of income tax is reduced from 22% to 20%
• higher rate of 40% remains unchanged
• starting rate of 10% is to be removed completely
• annual allowance increased to £235,000

There are also significant changes to the level of National Insurance contributions for higher earners, with nearly £5,000 more income subject to the 11% rate instead of 1%.

The implications
A reduction in the basic rate of income tax ultimately results in an equivalent reduction in the tax relief paid into any pension. Whilst high earners will see an increase in their self assessment claims, where 20% is reclaimed instead of 18%, their pensions are now only funded by an additional 20% instead of 22%. If they have specific retirement goals and targets, they will therefore have to review their contributions and increase them.

If you are concerned about any of the above, please speak to your financial adviser.

20 March 2008

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA OR JAPAN OR ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

Recommended Cash Offer
by
Legal & General Retail Investments (Holdings) Limited (“LGRI”),
a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Legal & General Group plc (“Legal & General”)
for
Suffolk Life Group plc (“Suffolk Life”)

• The Boards of LGRI and Suffolk Life are pleased to announce that they have agreed the terms of a Recommended Cash Offer to be made by LGRI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Legal & General, to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Suffolk Life.
  
• The Offer is £15.75 in cash for each Suffolk Life Share, valuing the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Suffolk Life at approximately £62 million. 
  
• LGRI has received binding irrevocable undertakings to accept the Offer from all of the Suffolk Life Directors and various other Suffolk Life Shareholders in respect of, in aggregate, 1,720,496 Suffolk Life Shares, representing approximately 52.1 per cent. of the existing issued share capital of Suffolk Life.
  
• The Suffolk Life Directors, who have been so advised by Fenchurch Advisory Partners, consider the terms of the Offer to be fair and reasonable and intend unanimously to recommend that Suffolk Life Shareholders accept the Offer.  In providing such advice, Fenchurch Advisory Partners has taken into account the commercial assessments of the Suffolk Life Directors.
  

Commenting on the Offer, Tim Breedon, Legal & General Group’s Chief Executive said:

“Suffolk Life is an outstanding business which has developed a leading position in the fast growing bespoke SIPP market.  Combining Suffolk Life's product expertise and service delivery with Legal & General’s extensive distribution reach will transform Suffolk Life's growth potential and create an outstanding business within Legal & General.”

“Growing our savings business is a strategic priority for Legal & General. Pensions and the mass affluent market are areas we have targeted for development. Suffolk Life enables us to accelerate our growth in these key expanding markets.”

Commenting on the Offer, Henry Catchpole, Suffolk Life's Chief Executive Officer said:

“Our strategic review has confirmed that, whilst the development of the pensions landscape presented Suffolk Life with attractive opportunities to grow profitably, Suffolk Life’s development could be accelerated through being part of a larger group which offered clear distribution synergies. We are therefore delighted to recommend the offer from LGRI which the Board, in conjunction with our advisers Fenchurch Advisory Partners, has concluded is in the best interests of our clients, employees and shareholders.”

This summary should be read in conjunction with the full text of the following Announcement and the Appendices which can be found here.

14 January 2008

Suffolk Life establishes 10,000th SIPP
Suffolk Life announced on 11 December that it had established its 10,000th SIPP. Managing Director Henry Catchpole presented a magnum of champagne to the investor Frank Hinks QC and his adviser Julian Morgan of Advoco. He commented "..the launch of our MasterSIPP product has given sales volumes a further boost on the back of our ability to accept self-investment of protected rights". Read more in our press release.

The event also brought a personal element to our business. Frank Hinks QC is a fascinating character. Not only is he a renowned QC with over 30 years experience, but he is a successful published author of children's books, set in the magical land of Ramion. Suffolk Life is extremely grateful to Frank for allowing his details to be used.

27 December 2007

Protected rights for all by October 2008, but no need to wait
The Department of Work and Pensions is consulting to consider allowing protected rights to be self-invested via SIPPs. Implementation is expected in October 2008, and as a recognised market authority Suffolk Life will be an active contributor to the consultation.

The Suffolk Life MasterSIPP, however, already allows investors to self-invest their protected rights. Those who don’t want to wait can join the significant numbers who have already started self-investing their protected rights since the MasterSIPP became available in October 2007.

If you are unsure about your financial position or want to see how these changes could affect you, please contact your financial adviser. Please note that applications for the Suffolk Life MasterSIPP must be made via a financial adviser.

26 November 2007

Strategic review
Following a number of expressions of interest, the Board of Suffolk Life Group PLC ("Suffolk Life" or the "Company") has appointed Fenchurch Advisory Partners ("Fenchurch") to advise on the strategic options for the future of the business. Please read the press release for further information.