Yesterday’s pensions lunch was shocked from it’s London Pride induced torpor as one of pension’s most respected actuaries delivered a Thatcherite panegyric in favour of personal responsibility and against the prevailing argument in favour of collective DC.

So persuasive was his intervention that the eventual vote suggested that the Play Pen , while divided, had seen support ebb towards a system of personal provision with little or no support from a state safety net.

Members of the Play Peen who have previously espoused collectivist views will be heartened by comment from Robert O’Donovan who suggests that cohorts of annuitants can organise themselves to provide collective decumulation through the offices of Facebook and Linkedin (and, as suggested by Susan- Groupon) . They will be pleased too that Northern PlayPen stalwart, Susan Anyan resolutely maintained that “annuities were broken”.

Nonetheless, Strattan seemed to tap into a groundswell of sentiment that favoured an alternative approach but forward by O’Donovan that the state should provide (in the manner of Gordon Brown’s £1k bung for newborns”) a £1k bung for advice “at retirement” to be spent on getting yourself best annuity provision and on establishing some form of financial plan for older age.

Whether the view of the Pen was properly reflected by the lunch is open to further debate. We were only nine in number but it was a spuer-nine and as wll as the aforesaid , we were graced by the inimitable Tony Earnshaw, Stav O’Doherty (marooned on South West trains for some of the lunch),Andy (Sipphound) Leggett, Peter Weiner and Andy Seed.

We were further regaled by Mr Seed who claimed to general derision that many of his graduate interns at Deloittes were, mortgaging their pension tax-free cash to pay their tuition fees. This plea for sympathy for the underpaid and over charged trainee accountant fell on stony ground as far as Mr Weiner was concerned and the Play Pen greatly enjoyed the debate that ensued.

Mr Seed will no doubt live to fight another day and we are grateful for his excellent contribution to the debate as a whole and his concern to ensure the continued profitability of the UK insurance industry (bless them).

Those of you reading these minutes with a degree of admiration for the quality of debate should remind themselves that the Play Pen Lunches are regular (this being the 20th consecutive) and occur at the same time 12.30pm, same place (Counting House Pub- Cornhill) and on the same day (first business Monday of the month). We look forward to your company either at the Manchester lunch (17th June) or at the next London lunch on July 4th.

Related articles

• Pension saving age-gap ‘widens’ (bbc.co.uk)
• Pension provision ‘damaging business insurance holders’ competitiveness’ (premierlinedirect.co.uk)
• Make pension saving more interesting and we’ll all be better off (blogs.confused.com)
• ‘More will save into pensions’ with retirement lottery, says expert (moneydebtandcredit.com)
• The Pension Play Pen on good DC outcomes (henrytapper.com)
• Is personality an unrewarded risk? (henrytapper.com)
• BREAKING NEWS: Pension Play Pen launches DB scheme for members (henrytapper.com)
• Welcome to my (Facebook) world (henrytapper.com)
• Guaranteed Minimum Price-tags (GMPs) (firstactuarial.wordpress.com)
• Moving on..dealing with our DC legacy. (henrytapper.com)
• Wake up and swipe the coffee (#pensions folk) (henrytapper.com)