Monthly Archives: April 2017

Steve Webb and the triple lock – muddy waters!

Posted on April 30, 2017 by henry tapper

  Here’s that Royal London press release, calling for State Pensions to be reduced and contributions to private pensions to increase. Royal London has set out a three point plan for the key pension priorities of an incoming government, including … Continue reading →

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I have seen the future of Horse Racing

Posted on April 30, 2017 by henry tapper

  A star is born! This beast galloping over the fields of South Gloucestershire is  a beast of beauty and the likely winner of the Gold Cup. Balanced with a super stride, this 3 year old gelding is owned by … Continue reading →

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Real money and real people need real regulation.

Posted on April 29, 2017 by henry tapper

  I am an admirer of Angie Brooks, though my opinion of her is not shared by Andrew Warwick- Thompson of the Pension Regulator. Angie and Andrew see pension scams in different ways. This evening I talked with Angie about … Continue reading →

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Aon, Mercer and Towers have lost the PR war on DC master trusts (terrific blog by David Rowley)

Posted on April 28, 2017 by henry tapper

David Rowley is a great journalist, I’ve just found this on wordpress. It is spot on and it asks a good question at its end. We need an authoritative source of performance data and a league table showing who is … Continue reading →

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500,000 stakeholders treated fairly – The B&CE IGC report.

Posted on April 28, 2017 by henry tapper

It’s good to be able to report on the B&CE IGC. It didn’t get reviewed by me last year as I had forgotten that the Building and Civil Engineering Insurance Company insured workplace pensions in their own right and weren’t … Continue reading →

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Why we’re forever blowing (transfer) bubbles!

Posted on April 28, 2017 by henry tapper

    It’s a shame that Alistair Cunningham’s thought-piece on behavioural bias’ encouraging herds of us to “cash-out” our DB pensions, is behind a pay-wall. If you are an FT subscriber you can use the link at the end of … Continue reading →

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“Ease of use” or “value for money”?

Posted on April 27, 2017 by henry tapper

Paul Lewis, above all other financial journalists is the master of the 140 character tweet. Here is one of his very best, embedded in a conversation with Louise Cooper. The genius is in the “compete mainly on rhetoric and ease … Continue reading →

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Equal rights to govern pensions

Posted on April 27, 2017 by henry tapper

Here’s Theresa May talking at PMQ of the triple lock in the past tense. It wasn’t just a female prime minister in that photo, four out of five ministers on the front bench were female. Parliament is making the transition … Continue reading →

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NEST’s disclosure welcome. Thumbs up from the Pension PlayPen

Posted on April 26, 2017 by henry tapper

  It’s not often that someone creates a business plan and sticks to it. But the plan for NEST, hatched between 2008 and 2010 and displayed to the EU in 2010 is being rolled out with method and purpose. For … Continue reading →

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NEST’s dirty laundry on the line!

Posted on April 26, 2017 by henry tapper

  Thanks to First Actuarial for producing this chart for this blog. Here’s how to read In 2010 when NEST opened , it had no assets – it  had quite a lot of debt (£134m* from setting up days as … Continue reading →

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