Category Archives: Change

“This House” is a pension playpen


The serendipity of social media and  more exactly the generosity of http://www.quietroom.co.uk brought me two tickets to see “This House” on  Saturday night. The link is with the Quiet Room’s co-boss, Vincent Franklin who is one of the stars of this show. My … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, brand, Change, Linkedin, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A method to chose your workplace pension scheme.


I’d value your feedback on a scoring system we are developing which aims to provide employers with a method of rating one pension proposition against another. We want it used by employers looking to establish a new workplace scheme, and those who … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, Change, customer service, dc pensions, First Actuarial, Payroll, pensions, Personal Accounts, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Paying as you earn; the best way to save


Monday will see the start of the benefits changes that will climax in the full introduction of the Universal Credit in a year’s time. This is not an article about these changes. But it takes it kicks off from a brilliant … Continue reading

Posted in Change, dc pensions, Financial Education, Martin Lewis, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, St Paul's, Trades Union Congress, wonga | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No win no fee – one way to clean up asset management


I met yesterday with a Swiss firm whose business is to reduce the investment costs for large investors (typically with €500m +). The model is simple, no retainer – they receive 50% of the savings from their work. They are a … Continue reading

Posted in pensions, dc pensions, de-risking, redington, twitter, Retirement, pension playpen, RBS, Fred Goodwin, corporate governance, Bankers, FSA, Management, Change, David Pitt-Watson, napf | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Britain’s Premier Equine Investment Conference


Thoughts turn to Cheltenham. The Pension Play Pen will decamp there after work this evening . Continue reading

Posted in Change, cheltenham festival, customer service, Horse racing, one pound fish, pension playpen, social media | 1 Comment

Mismanaging on-line identity – when cyber PR goes wrong!


The role of the publicity agent has changed. Celebrities have so much exposure via social media that it’s a 24/7 task just reading what’s being said about your clients, let alone controlling the message. Quantity still trumps quality – the axiom that … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, Change, Linkedin, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Some of our insurers are missing


What have all these insurers got in common?
Answer, you can’t buy one of their personal pensions today.
Continue reading

Posted in Change, club pension, governance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The still small voice ..and Trenton Oldfield


The British nation took a dislike to Trenton Oldfield earlier in the year, we don’t take kindly to Australian nutters messing with our institutions, especially the public school  kind who claim to speak for our disenfranchised . I blogged about him when he … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, Change, defined aspiration, governance, happiness, Occupy London, Olympics, Olympics 2012, Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, religion | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

NESToration – go boom in that Euro room!


If NEST had been a person Amnesty would have registered it a political prisoner. Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Change, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Abusing the voice of the people – a call for better pensions


Evangelists of social media cite the wisdom of the crowd. But wisdom and gullibility are two sides of the same coin and  those who marvel at the capacity of groups to congregate around their chosen solutions, demonize their herd mentality when the crowd looks elsewhere. “Vox … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, Change, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, defined aspiration, Henry Tapper blog, leadership, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments