Monthly Archives: May 2017

How real is your pension deficit?

Posted on May 31, 2017 by

How real is my pension deficit? How real is my pension deficit? How real is my pension deficit? How real is my pension deficit?  We get a lot of questions on this issue! Pension scheme deficits continue to make the … Continue reading →

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Standard Life- welcome to Sage’s digital “Data Exchange”!

Posted on May 31, 2017 by

I’m very pleased to see Standard Life’s announcement that its “Good to go” proposition is now part of Sage’s Data Exchange initiative. The news grabs headlines in the Scotsman and it should be headline news down south as well! Employer’s … Continue reading →

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Lifetime pricing – a broken model?

Posted on May 30, 2017 by

    Of all the orthodoxies within pension insurance, the concept of “lifetime pricing” is the most sacred. What Lifetime pricing means for an insurance company is the promise of a stable stream of profit from an insurance policy over … Continue reading →

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ARE CETVs being “panic sold” OR NOT?

Posted on May 29, 2017 by

  To his credit, James Baxter of Tideway (who I have criticised in a recent blog for selling not advising) , has posted a reasoned response. The key matter for me is whether members of DB schemes are being panicked … Continue reading →

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Proper information gets value for our money.

Posted on May 29, 2017 by

In this weekend’s FT, Merryn Somerset-Webb asks us to imagine ourselves a Government strapped for cash to meet rising costs of social care and struggling to find a source of revenues. .. late last year Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority established that … Continue reading →

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“A dementia tax- by any other name”- guest blog from Alex Adamou

Posted on May 28, 2017 by

Thanks to Alexander for this excellent blog and for Con Keating for sending it to me. After watching an unusually shallow discussion of the so-called “dementia tax” on This Week last night, I want to give my take on it. … Continue reading →

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The pension transfer debate can’t be left to experts!

Posted on May 28, 2017 by

I’m a big fan of outright hostility on social media, especially if it is directed at me. I don’t rate myself as anywhere near as good as Paul Lewis – who is the master at absorbing and developing such hostility … Continue reading →

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Whose department is workplace pensions?

Posted on May 27, 2017 by

At 11am on Tuesday 18th April I shook hands with Richard Harrington, our Pensions Minister and began a meeting that discussed how small businesses could in future measure how effectively their workplace pensions were working. The meeting was interrupted by … Continue reading →

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The forbidden fruit – choice can be a mixed blessing.

Posted on May 26, 2017 by

I am concerned about the destination of the pensions of thousands of British workers build up over decades. In a recent blog tried to point out that accepted wisdom that the PPF is a bad destination may not always been … Continue reading →

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Tideway – we’ll resume this conversation on June 19th!

Posted on May 25, 2017 by

  The original blog published here has been the subject of certain threats by Tideway Investments both to me and to my employers. I have no intention of letting this blog get in the way of my daily work by … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , | 13 Comments