Monthly Archives: June 2015

GRAXIT! – an open letter to Phil Loney on how he can help solve the GAR problem.

An open letter to Phil Loney – CEO of Royal London Phil You’ve started a good debate on Guaranteed Annuity Rates and how we should manage them in this time of Pension Freedom. Getting out of GAR contracts (GRAXIT) is proving a … Continue reading

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GARs – a simpler way out for insurers…

This blog offers insurers a simple way out of the problem they have with Guaranteed Annuity Rates- it means paying the reserved for value of the policy rather than the (lower) investment value of the contributions. By way of explanation.. … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, EU Solvency II, investment, London, Pension Freedoms, pension playpen, pensions, Pensions Regulator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Turning it round- lessons from English Cricket

  I can’t think of a a better example of turning things round than the English one day cricket team. Earlier this year I was embarrassed to be an English cricket fan, this morning I am reading of us winning … Continue reading

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The value of guaranteed annuity rates

The affable , cricket loving chief executive of Royal London- Phil Loney- has written to Ros Altmann thus;- Dear Ros Congratulations on your Maiden Speech. It is pleasing to hear such a positive advocate for pensions. I was particular pleased … Continue reading

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The perils of Pre-Selection

Yesterday was dominated by one word – choice. During the day I attended the ICAEW Auto-enrolment conference with around 120 accountants. It was a very serious event, enlivened by an outburst from the floor as an accountant objected to the … Continue reading

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High risk, medium risk , low risk? No idea! Guest blog from Ralph Frank

How many times have you been asked whether you have a high, medium or low risk tolerance?  Perhaps the question has been phrased differently, testing if you are an aggressive, moderate or conservative investor? You might even have had your … Continue reading

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MoneyHub – financial education’s future?

I met yesterday with Toby Hughes, CEO of MoneyHub, one of the very few people in financial services who I could properly call visionary. Like most visionaries, his big idea is very simple. He and his CTO Dave Toge talked … Continue reading

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Supply-side woes , buy-side goes; the disappearing pension billions

It’s not hard to spend a billion, not if you’re a nation that knows how to spend but finds it hard to save. As Osborne found, a generation of planning can be unwound in a minute. Were the tax rules … Continue reading

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Identifying your auto-enrolment workers! Great guest blog by Karen Prince

This month sees the start of the final stage of auto-enrolment in the UK for more than 1.2 million employers. This last stage affects small and medium enterprises employing less than 30 staff. By April 2017, all businesses, including those … Continue reading

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The inter web of trust

My father did his national service in the navy. I remember him telling me why those in the navy saluted with a closed palm and those in the army with an open palm. According to my  Dad, those in the … Continue reading

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