Monthly Archives: May 2020

Our nearly 10,000 strong linked in group!

Posted on May 31, 2020 by henry tapper

    12 years ago I started a linked in group with Marion Elliott in a pub near Worcester. We called it the Pension Play Pen and now the group’s 30 shy of 10,000 members. The group’s been renamed to … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Leave a comment

Pensions coming out of lockdown!

Posted on May 31, 2020 by henry tapper

Let’s put the past behind us I’ve just published a blog where I criticise Pension Age, CACEIS and DC fiduciaries for not telling it straight on what we are paying for pensions and whether we’re getting value for this money. … Continue reading →

Posted in age wage, pensions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Cost transparency recedes into the murky depths!

Posted on May 31, 2020 by henry tapper

Headline;Pension Age News that transaction charges take up 37% of all investment management costs will come as a big surprise to those who study the disclosures made by IGCs and trustees to savers in workplace pensions. While there are outliers … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | 3 Comments

Pension experts and enthusiastic amateurs

Posted on May 30, 2020 by henry tapper

A pinch of actuarial salt. Mike Harrison is for my money a pension expert and has every right to rattle my cage. OK. I’ll keep reading your stuff, Henry, as I like your pro-member stance, but if you’re not a … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

C19 Actuaries Friday Report – May 29th

Posted on May 30, 2020 by henry tapper

Modelling – reports European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Projected baselines of COVID-19 in the EU/EEA and the UK for assessing the impact of de-escalation of measures As the UK and EU/EEA countries start to de-escalate lockdown and other … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, coronavirus, pensions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

Posted on May 29, 2020 by henry tapper

I am very pleased that Con Keating and Iain Clacher’s recent article has got so much attention , both in terms of readers and in terms of social media comment. Though I am one of those who thinks the Pension … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, Big Government, coronavirus, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Cummings – no smoking gun – no prosecution- no further investigation.

Posted on May 28, 2020 by henry tapper

The BBC are reporting that the police will take no retrospective action against Dominic Cummings. The worst they could find against him was not actionable ,“[We] have examined the circumstances surrounding the journey to Barnard Castle … and have concluded … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Pensions need a bonfire of regulation – (Con Keating and Iain Clacher)

Posted on May 28, 2020 by henry tapper

This essay is motivated both by the Pensions Regulator’s consultation on its proposed code of practice for scheme funding and by papers published in recent years by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, such as “Actuarial valuations to monitor defined … Continue reading →

Posted in dc pensions, de-risking, pensions | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Keep saving!

Posted on May 28, 2020 by henry tapper

Financial Security and the wellness agenda are not phrase I’m particularly fond of as they are linked to a lot of difficult ideas I’m not equipped to comment on. Not being very introspective, I’m far too careless of my vulnerabilities … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Leave a comment

COVID-19 – our chances IF we survive.

Posted on May 27, 2020 by henry tapper

      Introduction Given the complexity of the question, and the different facets, we are breaking our commentary on this question into three bulletins: What is the likely mortality of the ‘survivor pool’ in the short term? What are … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, consultant, coronavirus, pensions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment