Monthly Archives: February 2013
Pension agnostic?
An “agnostic” is someone who knows he cannot know and so gives up trying to find out. You hear the phrase “pension agnostic” bandied around at the moment, mainly from the providers of ancillary services that help companies auto-enrol. If you key … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, Consolation, corporate governance, dc pensions, defined aspiration, Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, First Actuarial, hargreaves lansdowne, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement
Tagged Business, Employment, Financial adviser, Financial services, Human Resources, National Employment Savings Trust, pension, Saving
7 Comments
The growing epidemic of stats misuse
Hilary Salt is founder of First Actuarial plc. She is currently the Actuarial Post’s Actuary of the Year. Late in 2011 she was asked to contribute a piece to the Independent’s Battle of the Ideas. This is what she wrote . Twenty years ago, … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, Martin Lewis, Music, pensions, Trades Union Congress, Treasury
Tagged Harvard University, Journalist, Math, Nate Silver, New Zealand, SpongeBob SquarePants, Statistics, United States
1 Comment
Lord make AE simple – but not yet!
The title refers to Augustine’s prayer “lord make me chaste, but not yet”. It came to mind as I read concern from “industry spokespeople” over the DWP’s announcement to simplify the Auto-Enrolment regulations in time for the staging of the … Continue reading
Posted in auto-enrolment, Payroll, pensions, Retirement
Tagged DWP, Employment, first actuarial, Marks & Spencer, Payroll, Steve Webb, Taylor Wessing, Thomas Aquinas
9 Comments
Diagnosing the real cost of DC
A problem with buying “bundled” DC services is finding out what’s really going on under the bonnet. I recently blew my power steering pump , I wanted to know what had happened but the pump was in a sealed unit – no warning … Continue reading
Posted in annuity, dc pensions
Tagged ABI, AMC, Defined contribution plan, Diagnosis, Investment management, pension, Pension Regulator, Transaction cost
9 Comments
People get ready!
If “wave one” so far looks a success, what about waves 2 and 3 and what can the employers preparing to stage in late 2013 and onwards learn? Continue reading
Poor execution – a pigsty – not a playpen
A researcher I was speaking to yesterday asked whether I considered the bad practices associated with the poor execution of trades by fund managers as criminal fraud. His argument was that indirect benefits such as the receiving of rugby tickets from … Continue reading
Bothered about your pension wealth?
In the past few days I’ve had some fruity exchanges with Tom McPhail of Hargreaves Lansdowne about when people should start getting interested in managing their pension pot. Tom’s view is “as soon as savings begin, mine “when you can be bothered”. Hargreaves … Continue reading
“Thought leadership” – perish the thought!
Anyone who markets themselves as a thought leader ought to shut up – (pension plowman 2013) I was tweeted the message “shut up” by a twitter robot yesterday which made me consider whether I should be annoying people with my … Continue reading
Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, First Actuarial, leadership, pensions
Tagged Business, German, Leadership, Management, Management consulting, Mein Kampf, Thought leader, twitter
4 Comments
It’s a wrap trap – but who’s been caught?
If you thought you were sick of pensions, imagine the nausea of the life company CEO. If you are such a beast and reading this, you are probably are American or European and your company brought into the UK a few years back … Continue reading
100% horse!
When you pick up a packet from a shelf- the chances are you looking at the brand. If you are looking at the supermarket‘s own brand– you are making ca call on the probity and governance of the supermarket. If … Continue reading
Posted in brand, pensions
Tagged Aldi, Findus, Food Standards Agency, Horsemeat, Lasagna, Supply chain, Tesco, unilever
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