Monthly Archives: October 2015

Pensioning high-earners;- the nightmare deepens

Posted on October 31, 2015 by

We’ve known about the problems for high earners losing their pension  lifetime allowance protection for some time. They now have an exemption from auto-enrolment if their employer knows that enrolment would jeopardise their tax privileges in retirement. But now there’s … Continue reading →

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IGCs – 6 months in – a worrying lack of diversity.

Posted on October 31, 2015 by

In April 2015, insurers offering personal pension contracts were required to set up Independent Governance Committees as a result of the findings of a study by the Office of Fair Trading that concluded Also in April 2015, the FCA issues a … Continue reading →

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What is the Sharpe Ratio of a buy-in?

Posted on October 30, 2015 by

Originally posted on JT's ALM viewpoints:
A few years ago, I worked at a very special and unique place called Redington where I had the privilege of advising a handful of multi billion pound defined benefit pension trustee boards…

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When is a fiduciary independent?

Posted on October 30, 2015 by

It’s a question asked by Karen Wake on twitter @JosephineCumbo @henryhtapper @DominicLindley @greggmcclymont So … what is "independent"? We might be chasing a tornado here — Karen Wake (@pensionmonkey) October 29, 2015 I’m not into chasing tornadoes so I’ll try … Continue reading →

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There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about……Guest blog by Ralph Frank

Posted on October 29, 2015 by

The pensions freedoms announced in the 2014 Budget are claimed to have made defined contribution (“DC”) pensions more effective in helping people retire.  This view is set out in the 2015 CBI/Mercer Pensions Survey, ‘A view from the top’.  The … Continue reading →

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The day the IGCs had their picnic

Posted on October 29, 2015 by

Apparently yesterday was the day the IGCs had their picnic or whatever they do when they congregate at some legal temple in the City. The IGC’s – let’s be reminded – were set up by Government to keep the insurers … Continue reading →

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One small step for payroll, one giant leap for auto-enrolment.

Posted on October 28, 2015 by

There have been two events over the past couple of weeks that I think we’ll look back to as tipping points in the auto-enrolment staging timeline. Till now, employers have had no choice but to send and collect data to … Continue reading →

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Productivity measures financial education’s ROI

Posted on October 28, 2015 by

No matter how philanthropic we believe our business to be, no employer is going to sustain a financial education program indefinitely unless it is clear that it is reaping some return on its investment. There has been considerable research on … Continue reading →

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Why shouldn’t pot follow member? Guest blog from Ralph Frank

Posted on October 27, 2015 by

The Government has recently announced that it has suspended plans to require that defined contribution pension pots of less than £10,000 automatically transfer when savers change jobs (and related pension arrangements).  Although the legal compulsion for such transfers has been … Continue reading →

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Helping employers with pensions – you don’t have to be an IFA!

Posted on October 27, 2015 by

Since RDR in January 2013, the number of IFAs operating in Britain has more than halved from 50 to 24,000. The ban on commission or its sibling “consultancy charging” has made it all but impossible for IFAs to make money … Continue reading →

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