Monthly Archives: March 2017

Get a grip and a sense of humour

Posted on March 23, 2017 by henry tapper

The sky is full of helicopters and the streets wail with sirens. It is 9 am on the morning after the latest “terrorist” attack and Westminster and the City are on red alert. One nutter decided to go on the … Continue reading →

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Cridland and the price of state dependency

Posted on March 23, 2017 by henry tapper

  John Cridland’s consultation report into the state pension age, commissioned by Ros Altmann and delivered today, does not say quite what the modernisers wanted it to. Accelerated pension ages and the scrapping of the triple lock deliver a double … Continue reading →

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Standard Life’s IGC Statement – two greens and a red!

Posted on March 22, 2017 by henry tapper

The Standard Life IGC’s chair report was published on Friday. You can find it here https://www.standardlife.co.uk/c1/independent-governance-committee.page. As a note to Standard Life, it would be good if this report could be given more prominence on your home page, you can … Continue reading →

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My biggest financial decision was made with professional advice.

Posted on March 21, 2017 by henry tapper

The most important single financial decision facing the baby-boomers of middle England today is what to do with their defined benefit pension rights. It is – alas – a binary decision as few schemes offering split transfer values; the choice is “should I stay … Continue reading →

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FAB index up despite fall in gilt yields!

Posted on March 20, 2017 by henry tapper

  In contrast to the PPF 7800 index and other commentators’ indices, First Actuarial’s Best estimate (FAB) Index improved in February to a surplus of £288bn across the 6,000 UK defined benefit schemes. This was despite a sharp fall in … Continue reading →

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The ABI goes FABI on claims!

Posted on March 20, 2017 by henry tapper

    Readers of this blog listening to the ABI’s Huw Evans on Wake up to Money, may have been spluttering into their tea and biscuits! The ABI are faced with a cut in the discount rate used to calculate compensation … Continue reading →

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Are our train companies accountable – South West Trains?

Posted on March 19, 2017 by henry tapper

I look out of my window at a South West Trains 8 coacher to London Waterloo. I am 25 miles from that station and to get there I need to pay £10.10. ] The train is well known to me, … Continue reading →

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The Prudential’s 2017 IGC Chair report

Posted on March 19, 2017 by henry tapper

  The Prudential’s Lawrence Churchill has published the Prudential IGC’s Chair Statement (the first of the crop). You can read it here https://www.pru.co.uk/pdf/PRUAG5076_A.pdf. Last year, I reviewed this Statement and gave it the thumbs up, I’m going to give it … Continue reading →

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“So what’s the problem?” Con Keating on the PLSA’s consolidation paper.

Posted on March 19, 2017 by henry tapper

    The PLSA paper “The case for consolidation” begs an important question; one far broader than it addresses. The Pensions Regulator and DWP have concluded that DB pensions do not suffer from a problem of systemic risk, but the … Continue reading →

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Why we are all regulators

Posted on March 19, 2017 by henry tapper

A regulator is generally a device that maintains a designated characteristic in a system. In a financial sense, it ensures that the rules that govern our dealings are understood, maintained and enforced. We have regulation because we value a system … Continue reading →

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