Tag Archives: Financial services

Advice in the workplace is 20% cheaper

I’m grateful to Paul Taylor of McCarthy Taylor for an excellent article on the current VAT treatment on the provision of free standing versus product related advice. His point is that when advice is linked to a VAT exempt product, the product can be used … Continue reading

| Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

How’s this for a rip-off?

I’m not sure if it’s my job to whistle blow and so far they have only followed 82 people on twitter (including me) – but don’t you reckon this kind of offer is a little dubious? Continue reading

Posted in customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, Management, Martin Lewis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

WE’VE GOT OUR POPCORN PENSIONS!

There have been a few times in my life that I have felt completely happy, the birth of my son, winning a scholarship to Bryanston and a telephone call received yesterday evening are three that spring to mind. Moments when your sense of self-worth is captured completely in the realisation that something wonderful has happened. Continue reading

Posted in customer service, Henry Tapper blog, Management, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Controlling wealth is not the same as generating wealth

IFAs Control £591bn of Britain’s wealth. That’s a whole lot of moley. Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, corporate governance, Fiduciary Management, Horse racing, Management, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A hunger to educate – more on Popcorn Pensions

Hunger is not a word you’d associate with actuaries. One of our clients described the team working for her as “happy puppies” who approached the task of educating members with ” hunger“. These are not words that exist in the … Continue reading

Posted in pensions, dc pensions, social media, annuity, Treasury, customer service, pension playpen, mallowstreet, Henry Tapper blog, Management, auto-enrolment, happiness | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Don’t tell me what to do – give me advice!

In a recent polldaddy poll I asked whether people would pay for advice to get information, find out their options or to be told what to do. 60% of people wanted options , 30% wanted to be told what to do and 10% … Continue reading

Posted in corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Who wins from banning credit card surcharging?

The wires hum this morning with the news that Government are going to ban companies from “surcharging” credit cards to disguise extra margin as “operational cost”. Continue reading

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

Unexpected risks – people just don’t get pensions (education).

We’re all aware that investing in the stockmarket is a “risky” business, it’s easy to understand how the sharp falls in stock markets impact on your savings and as stock market falls are the staple of media reporting, it’s not surprising that … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Bankers, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Fiduciary Management, FSA, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Should pensions be personal?

I’m surprised to say that for the first time, the Pension Play voted unanimously after the 25th London lunch held at the Counting House on Monday December 5th. What, you might ask, could bring the following fine minds together in … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, customer service, dc pensions, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Why pay for advice? Take the poll!

[polldaddy poll=5703072] This is a question that troubles me – not surprising as I’m a pensions adviser who reckons his job is to get people to the point when they can manage their pension affairs by themselves. If advisory self sufficiency is … Continue reading

Posted in corporate governance, dc pensions, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments