Monthly Archives: August 2015

Room 101 for BT Fon

Join me if you would like the appallingly intrusive BT Fon service banished to room 101. The ridiculous pay as you go service is like the unwanted guest who turns up uninvited at your every event. BT Fon sits on … Continue reading

Posted in Blogging, brand, Fungible, monty python, pensions, social media | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

He’s here, he’s there,he’s every f**k*n where -Carsten Staehr

If you were in Carriage B on the 15.35 Kings Cross to Newcastle yesterday afternoon, our apologies. It was a quiet coach, it wasn’t quiet. Carsten Staehr was in the carriage. Two weeks ago, at the age of 52, Carsten … Continue reading

Posted in Payroll, pension playpen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Financial advisors need better retirement products

Better products that deliver what they say I had the pleasure of Chris Radford’s company over the weekend. Chris is a consultant to pension providers , a regular at our Pension lunches and someone who thinks about the way ordinary people … Continue reading

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Ten reasons for the FinTech revolution

 This blog, provided by Innovate Finance, takes a step back by providing us with an overview of the traditional financial services sector to determine what exactly has prompted its disruption alongside the rise of FinTech. Below are a few key … Continue reading

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MUTINY AT THE BOUNTY!

Yesterday was a shocker!   As many of you know, (from first hand experience), I spend much of the summer driving my boat and guests up and down the Thames. Yesterday was no exception. What made yesterday different, was my … Continue reading

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Disruption – is how social media regulates

In the context of Business continuity management, Disruption is an event which causes an “unplanned, negative deviation from the expected delivery … according to the organization’s objectives”. In this blog, I argue that disruption is part of the governance process … Continue reading

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Re-engaging employers with their staff pensions

Once it was so simple. Good employers offered good pensions and lousy employers didn’t. The good employers congregated at NAPF conferences and congratulated themselves and an industry fed on the easy money growing within these plans. But then came lower … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, Liability Driven Investment, pensions, Pensions Regulator, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Simplifying AE – why the workforce assessment IS worth it

The Government is calling for ideas to simplify auto-enrolment.  I had an interesting discussion with a senior payroll policy lobbyist yesterday. She argues that the “workforce assessment” is too problematic to become part of the normal payroll function of Britain’s … Continue reading

Posted in accountants, advice gap, auto-enrolment, DWP, pensions, Pensions Regulator, risk, Ros Altmann, welfare | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is increasing complexity making pension saving harder ? – guest blog by Ralph Frank.

The most conclusive finding of a recent survey by PwC into pensions taxation was not even related to the respondents’ views on the central question of the survey (namely, the most appealing tax scenario for their pension)! Sixty percent of … Continue reading

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Addiction

Addiction is not a word that resonates positively. But we had a discussion yesterday centred on getting people addicted to properly managing their money, in which the word seemed entirely appropriate. People get addicted to courses of action resulting from a … Continue reading

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