M&G Wealth has launched a new tool to help advisers calculate whether their clients could benefit from a transitional tax-free amount certificate ahead of the abolition of the lifetime allowance (LTA) in April.

The Chancellor previously announced plans to abolish the LTA as part of his 2023 Spring Budget, replacing the LTA with three new allowances: the lump sum allowance (LSA), the lump sum and death benefits allowance (LSDBA) and the overseas transfer allowance (OTA). M&G Wealth’s new tool therefore aims to help advisers by identifying the standard lump sum allowance, calculating reductions based on default transitional rules and under transitional tax-free amount certificate rules, and easily recognises whether allowances are higher under default or certificate rules. Transitional tax-free amount certificates are provided by a registered pension scheme and are used to prove that the scheme member is entitled to a lower reduction in the LSA and LSDBA than that provided for by the standard default calculation.

Virgin Money has agreed to buy out abrdn and take full ownership of their joint venture, Virgin Money Investments.

The joint venture between Virgin Money and abrdn was established in 2019 and launched to customers in April 2023. It has since expanded its offering with the introduction of a new pension on the platform in November 2023, and all existing investment and pension accounts held on the old platform were also successfully migrated to the new platform in January 2024. Following these “significant milestones”, Virgin Money confirmed that it will take full ownership of Virgin Money Investments, in a move that is designed to enable Virgin Money and abrdn to focus on their respective strengths. Under the terms of the deal, which is subject to customary approvals, Virgin Money will acquire the 50 per cent of Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers Limited1 currently owned by abrdn, for a cash payment of £20m, funded entirely from Virgin Money’s existing capital resources.

GRESB has launched a Carbon Footprint Dashboard to allow investors to visualize the emissions within their real estate portfolio.

Powered by asset-level data, the dashboard offers real estate investors a comprehensive view of the energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions within their GRESB portfolios, in order to help them make informed decisions that benefit both their investments and the planet. The tool allows investors to visualize and analyse data on a country and property sector basis, filling in any data gaps through GRESB’s industry-leading estimation model, which is also expected to help investors in meeting disclosure requirements.

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