Monthly Archives: October 2009

Linked in- a powerful force for good (or bad)

Posted on October 31, 2009 by

Linked-in is only a platform and a portal. As a platform it connects disparate people and can be a powerful means to enable good decision making. As a portal it offers opportunities for its users to find information, compare experiences and most importantly create face to face relationships , the nuances of which Linked-in can never capture. It is a means to an end but not an end in itself.

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Dead Souls- what can trustees do about their DC deferreds?

Posted on October 29, 2009 by

DC deferreds are a problem. The problem is not being addressed even though solutions exist. There is no forum for discussing problems like this and there needs to be. Continue reading →

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Trustee to banker

Posted on October 23, 2009 by

I suppose that I’d better be frank
I’m not at my best in a bank
I don’t understand oddities-
Swaps and commodaties
If that cheque is miine- leave it blank Continue reading →

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Peter Booker- Funeral- Monday 26th October- Maidstone

Posted on October 23, 2009 by

Peter Booker was a very kind, generous and funny man who worked tirelessly to make occupational pensions better, serving on the NAPF Council and running a number of large pension plans. He had for some years been gravely ill and … Continue reading →

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I’d trust a “contract” but not a “Fiduciary”

Posted on October 23, 2009 by

The terminology we use “fiduciary, instituional, custody” is not a language that prevails among lay trustees- it is the language of the legal and financial communities. “Fiduciary” in particular is a bad word, as an adjective it denotes “trust and confidence” but intimidates and alienates everyday people- too many vowells, too many syllables and not enough Anglo Saxon gutterality! It says “difficult, opaque and self-absorbed”.
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Posted in dc pensions, de-risking, Liability Driven Investment, Personal Accounts, redington, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

I outsourced my pension fund to a Fiduciary Manager (but didn’t know it)

Posted on October 22, 2009 by

I discovered I’d outsourced my personal pension fund to a Fiduciary Manager. So had all my colleagues, so had 90% of the 14,000 personal pension holders who are my clients and so had the trustees and sponsors of all the Schemes I’d been involved in at Zurich and Eagle Star Continue reading →

Posted in EU Solvency II, Fiduciary Management, Liability Driven Investment, redington, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Check out my Guestbook!

Posted on October 21, 2009 by

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Contract based DB- Redington v Cardano- no blood!

Posted on October 21, 2009 by

Full house in St Albans for the Redington/Cardano match-off. Morinho v Ferguson, Ali v Fraser, Cowell v Walsh-we had been promised blood. Things started poorly, a weak show of hands from the audience on who was supporting who (needed some hand helds to give … Continue reading →

Posted in de-risking, Fiduciary Management, redington | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ofgem are right to close a pensions scam

Posted on October 20, 2009 by

The unions need to be reminded that the cost of energy increases falls hardest on the poorest members of society and in defending the “legal right” of a group of companies not to manage their pension costs, they are condemning the poorest in society to greater hardship.
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Hope I die before I get old

Posted on October 19, 2009 by

As a nation we are Townsendian rathan than Gallaherailian in our outlook. Continue reading →

Posted in de-risking, Fiduciary Management, Liability Driven Investment, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments