Monthly Archives: November 2014

It’s not pensions that are rubbish- it’s the way we picture them

    I spent some time last week expressing my dis-satisfaction  with the DC Governance and the irrelevance of most DC trustees. It is easy to throw stones…. What is also needed is someone to mend the greenhouse to make … Continue reading

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

We need a Bus and a Lamborghini!

My friend Ralph Frank is very good at putting his finger on the problem. If he was a Doctor, I’d trust his diagnosis and I like to think of him with a stethoscope prodding around the body financial – listening … Continue reading

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Re-energising trusteeship (for a DC world)

    My recent blog pointing out that DB trustees tend to make bad DC trustees has gone down like a lead balloon with certain DB trustees. I don’t think is surprising. The next question is whether we can find a … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Trades Union Congress, trustee | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

“AMNT” or “APPT” – Why DB trustees don’t get DC!

Yesterday I gate-crashed two parties. Party one was held by the association of professional pension trustees at the Butchers livery Hall and party two was held by the association of member nominated trustees around the corner. Both parties were in … Continue reading

Posted in pensions, trustee | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

“Investing for the long-term” – guest blog from Ralph Frank

The Financial Services Consumer Panel (“FSCP”) recently published a number of suggested options for reform of the governance, disclosure and pricing of investment products.  These options were based on the findings of two studies, one by Rajiv Jaitly and the … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, dc pensions, de-risking, NEST, Payroll, pensions, Pensions Regulator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The time to clean up drawdown’s NOW!

We owe it to ourselves as Pension Professionals to make sure that we treat our customers fairly. Over the past three years we have seen a move to restore confidence in pensions, the RDR, auto-enrolment and the pension freedoms introduced … Continue reading

Posted in pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

People seeking safety at any price?

  I was annoyed to listen to one of the Bank of England’s Chief Economists Andy Haldane tell the BBC’s Robert Peston that people were seeking safety at any price. Passing the buck on to the “cautious consumer” may play … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, Bankers, Mark Carney, pensions, Politics, Retirement, reward | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Labour’s drawdown cap – right idea- wrong execution

Labour is calling for a cap on drawdown charges from April 2015. It is easy to see why. Currently there is a false market for drawdown with many customers paying as much as 4% pa for the management of their … Continue reading

Posted in drawdown, DWP, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

50 minutes with Pharrell beats 50 years of the Who!

  The Who have been playing as long as I’ve been around but I’ve never seen them live. Frankly I don’t get any of their stuff since 1967 when they morphed into the Woodstock friendly stadium band that we know today. … Continue reading

Posted in pensions | 3 Comments

Rory throws a shape- the Road to Dubai ends here!

  Bored with the sound of the Dubai ocean beach club we took a taxi to the golf – this is what we found. Our highlight? Standing next to Shane Lowry when he got his hole in one at the 13th. … Continue reading

Posted in pensions | Leave a comment