The ‘revolution’ started at the end of the 1980s with the introduction of personal pensions as part of a wider liberalisation of financial services. Personal pensions were part of a government push to extend pension choice and encourage those people not in company schemes, or who didn’t have the choice of a company scheme to build up a retirement fund.

The charity sector has welcomed the government’s U-turn on placing a cap on charity donations. Paul Gibson, National Charity Specialist at Mazars said the exemption was a victory for common sense, but concerns remain over lack of clarification on community investment tax relief. 

Trustees are frequently overwhelmed with the burden of keeping abreast of legal and regulatory reform and changes. This crucial role has a particular duty of care to safeguard the future financial well-being of its members that is dependent upon diligence and vigilance to secure a good outcome. And with the onus on trustees to find all the necessary guidance and information themselves, steering a true course is vital.

In the last issue of Insight Out we featured an interview with Otto Thoresen, Director-General of the Association of British Insurers (ABI). Mr Thoresen called for the industry to make a greater effort to clarify and explain what can be a highly complex, but increasingly important area of financial planning — pensions.

The Fine Wine Investment Fund is run by a team of experts in both risk management and investment grade wines. Director Andrew della Casa took Insight Out on a tour to show us how these liquid assets are bought, held and sold for his fund’s investors. From a trip to a UK government bonded warehouse to a live auction at Christie's, we discover how some wines are more valuable than others and how risk is managed. We also learn how its lack of correlation with equity returns means fine wines can be a useful asset allocation strategy to diversify a portfolio.

At a time of unprecedented funding cuts, it’s no surprise that local authorities have welcomed the 40% audit fee reductions announced by the Audit Commission following the outsourcing of its in-house work and ongoing reductions in its central costs. Many also look forward to being able to appoint their external auditor in five years time, subject to the legislation announced in the Queen’s Speech. 

Through its Britain Open for Business initiative, the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) will adopt a more entrepreneurial approach to boost growth by providing practical support for exporters and inward investors over the next five years. The measures back up last year’s Trade and Investment White Paper, which outlined plans to shift more government support towards fast-growing emerging markets, as well as improve the export performance of small and medium-sized firms.

Entrepreneurs’ Relief (ER) is a valuable tax planning tool for individuals selling shares in companies or unincorporated businesses. With capital gains taxed at only 10% on lifetime gains up to £10m, compared with the normal capital gains tax rate for higher and additional rate taxpayers of 28%, it means ER is worth up to £1.8m per individual.

So what are the potential problems that employers involved in pension provision should be looking out for? In the February 2012 issue of Insight Out we revealed the first five of our top 10 hidden pension bombshells, in this quick webinar guide we reveal the final five that you can’t afford to miss.

As a Global Ambassador for Smaller Earth’s Your Big Year project and supported by Mazars, we begin to plot Charles Batte’s journey that will see him experiencing first hand how social entrepreneurship can make a difference in conservation, education and the local community.

The “patent box” legislation is in line with the government's stated aim of creating the most competitive corporate tax regime in the G20 to support and sustain private sector growth. The government hopes to contribute to this by creating an incentive for companies to innovate and commercialise their existing patents as well as develop new patented products. Our 3 minute masterclass runs through the main points you need to know in order to qualify.

A list of the forthcoming Mazars seminars taking place over June and July across the UK. Including a seminar on the future of banking, tips on maximising your offshore commitments and advice on creating an effective remuneration plan.