Category Archives: Management

Club Quango at #WPL13

Posted on May 10, 2013 by

Government needs quangos, the Civil Service most of all. But in a strange way, I am comforted by the various Pension Institutions that are Chaired by the ageing lotharios who I collectively name “Club Quango”. At Workplace Pensions Live yesterday we were treated to a … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, Management, pensions, social media, steve webb | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What award ceremonies are all about

Posted on May 4, 2013 by

The vast majority of the people who turn up for these events, do so because they’re frightened not to Continue reading →

Posted in life insurance, Management, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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

Posted on March 12, 2013 by

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

When pensions de-mutualise

Posted on March 10, 2013 by

When you take the mutuality out of pensions , you take good pensions out of mutuals. Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, de-risking, defined aspiration, Financial Education, First Actuarial, John lewis, Liability Driven Investment, Management, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Reading through the palm of my hand

Posted on February 19, 2013 by

To suppose that we will be purchasing financial services  in 2014 as we did five years ago or even today could be a mistake. Walk down your high street and the only discretionary businesses are social clubs (coffes shops hairdressers and nail bars) – oh … Continue reading →

Posted in brand, customer service, dc pensions, Management, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

DC Trustees – asleep at the wheel?

Posted on February 3, 2013 by

I was spending insomniac hours reading posts about savings on http://www.moneysavingexpert.com when I came upon a thread about the ABI 14 agreeing to disclose transactional costs from next summer. There wasn’t much on the comments board – one post stood out. … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, corporate governance, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, First Actuarial, Management, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Purity” in passive investment management

Posted on December 11, 2012 by

Investing is hard. There are no shortcuts. Markets are generally efficient and when they aren’t there are plenty of people digging up the value ahead of you. My  anti – view is that “winning” investment strategies have negative capability. Negative capability is … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, Management, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Right direction – wrong speed! Defining a “good” workplace pension.

Posted on December 8, 2012 by

I like the rhetoric, what the DWP and tPR are saying is going in the right direction, I hope they can keep their foot to the floor so that companies and trustees staging next year can get it right first time. Continue reading →

Posted in dc pensions, Management, napf, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Why the DC “game is up” for the active fund managers

Posted on November 24, 2012 by

Like landed salmon , they flap around on the bank, hoping they may get thrown back in the water. Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, infrastucture, Management, pensions, Personal Accounts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A defined ambition scheme that would work

Posted on November 18, 2012 by

Members want two things from their pensions, a decent retirement when they knock off work and certainty that they’ll get it during their working lives. It is extremely expensive to achieve these things and beyond the means of most people. If … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, annuity, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, de-risking, Management, napf, NEST, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments