Monthly Archives: December 2013

Angelina Jolie – turning celebrity to good use

Posted on December 28, 2013 by

This is an excerpt from Angelina Jolie’s speech to the United Nations Hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of women, children, and men have been raped in conflicts in our lifetimes. The numbers are so vast and the … Continue reading →

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Good with food – not so good with money.

Posted on December 28, 2013 by

The sad events at the Co-operative Bank this year are not the first financial services scandal to hit the Co-operative movements. Less publicised but no less carnal, was the behaviour of the management of Co-operative Insurance Services (CIS) who were … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, Bankers, Change, club pension | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Are workplace pensions all the same?

Posted on December 28, 2013 by

I don’t believe that the majority of the workplace pension providers in the market today are ready to give up on innovation,competition and reputation. Continue reading →

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Another year older..

Posted on December 24, 2013 by

I am not a year older – I am two years younger than I was five years ago – at least I’m two years further from retirement (relatively speaking). Continue reading →

Posted in Popcorn Pensions, Retirement, steve webb, welfare, with-profits, workplace pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

IFAs need to reconnect with workplace pensions in 2014

Posted on December 23, 2013 by

The answer is very simple, it’s in technology, in the application of actuarial science and – (surprise, surprise) in www.pensionplaypen.com ! Continue reading →

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What’s this charge cap really going to cost? (1000th blog)

Posted on December 22, 2013 by

Ringing out the old and ringing in the new should be managed with a little more responsibility than the approach adopted by the DWP through their dodgy Impact Assessment Continue reading →

Posted in club pension, dc pensions, defined aspiration, governance, Liberal Democrats, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement | 2 Comments

Why I’m walking backwards for Christmas.

Posted on December 20, 2013 by

I saw a lady walking down London Wall this morning, what a sourpuss, I turned to her and tried to cheer her up “cheer up it’s Christmas” said I. She flicked me a V and walked off Continue reading →

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Humankind cannot stand too much reality.

Posted on December 18, 2013 by

TS Eliot was right as the game-makers King have proved with their addictive smart phone and Facebook app Candy Crunch. Candy Crunch is a game that involves wiping out rows of candy shaped icons from a screen. Wipe enough and … Continue reading →

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Should we give the ABI one last chance on charges?

Posted on December 15, 2013 by

We need change and though this document sees the ABI moving in the right direction- this document stops short of showing the insurers are yet to “get it”.
Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, annuity, auto-enrolment, brand | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Guaranteeing second rate outcomes is not ambitious!

Posted on December 14, 2013 by

Let’s get the issue in focus; defined ambition is not about giving people certainty about their pension savings, it is about being more ambitious about the outcomes they get for saving. For employers who are prepared to make a pension promise, we … Continue reading →

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