2005
(06/12/2005) AXA dismayed by pre budget report - excluding residential property in self invested pensions
Tony Moore: AXA Pensions Development Manager has made the following statements in relation to the Pre Budget Report announcement on member directed pension schemes:
"AXA, along with the rest of the industry, has been stunned by the Chancellor's announcement that member directed pension schemes ( SIPPs and SSASs ) will not be able to invest in residential property and certain other investments such as art , antiques and fine wine from A Day ( April 2006)".
"We are amazed that this decision has been made at such a late hour and without any consultation with the industry. The possibility of some abuse of the tax incentives by some investors could have been adequately covered by bringing appropriate regulation of the new investments forward, rather than this withdrawal at the 11th hour."
"AXA has been working to extend residential property as an asset class to both existing and new customers".
"There is no doubt that there will be many disappointed individuals who have already invested in these areas with a view to accessing the now-precluded investments, and enormous amounts of professional time has been spent on delivering pre A-Day advice, which may turn out to have been wasted".
"AXA remains confident that, despite this setback, the introduction of the simplified tax regime will still provide considerable benefits to investors, and will focus attention back to balanced portfolios including commercial property".
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AXA is a world leader in financial protection. AXA's operations are diverse with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. AXA employs 120,000 staff and tied agents and, as of 30 June 2005, had €935 billion in assets under management. AXA reported total IFRS revenues of €37 billion and IFRS underlying earnings of € 1,761 million for the first half of 2005. Our previous company performance is not a guide to how we may perform in the future.
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