Monthly Archives: May 2019

We all love disruptors till we feel disrupted!

Yesterday I wrote a blog in favour of annuities and Britain’s favourite annuity broker – Retirement Line. My argument was that some of the best retirement income ideas and one of our best brokers are unknown. What a hullaballoo ensued! … Continue reading

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Pension Income’s best kept secret

Did you know that when you buy an annuity you can change your mind? No? Well neither did I. I thought that once you handed your money over to an insurer that it was it, an income for life with … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Con Keating questions the value of “limited liability”.

It’s been a while since this blog has featured Con’s incisive thinking. This article calls into question the capacity of shareholders to have their returns and have someone eat the risk. There’s a lot of easy talk about the “governance” … Continue reading

Posted in Fiduciary Management, governance, pensions | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Risk-taking , ground-breaking academics in our universities

I have been impressed by the way academics , through their unions, took on university employers and the received wisdom of the pension industry and refused to let their defined benefit scheme close to future accrual. I’m pleased that one … Continue reading

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Who says European elections don’t count?

The turn out for the Euro-elections saw a sharp rebound this week – for the first time in 25 years, more than 50% of Europe voted. Turnout in the UK was just below 37%. That puts it on course to … Continue reading

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“Storms pass” – UK politics in 2019

The results of the European election polls give us a picture of the voting public’s current respect for the people who govern us. Around 75% of the votes cost were for parties who have minimal representation in Westminster, less than … Continue reading

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Retail platforms – a boat worth missing?

I hadn’t realised until yesterday that the FCA has a SIPP and Platform team in the Retail Investment supervision department. For most of us , the idea that we are buying into a platform when we save into a pension … Continue reading

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Grand designs from Dolphin Trust

    If you want to invest in Dolphin Trust , you can watch a video advertising Canisius Careee, one of Dophin Trust’s investments. These are “real pictures”. It’s property backed – it’s German – you get a first charge  … Continue reading

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These aren’t “apples and oranges” – just pension pots

There came a point as I was reading another article in the FT (about the time it takes to switch pension pots) that I lost my temper. That point was when I read this Mercer says comparing individual pension policies … Continue reading

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You want to help people engage with pensions? WATCH THIS!

Wow! Quietroom have put together a short video of clips of  people confronted by the investments in their pensions. The video also sees what happens when people see a “stunning list of good things” There are a couple of clips … Continue reading

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