Monthly Archives: March 2021
Is now the union’s time?
Yesterday was the first of the TUC’s pension conference and in a single session, the conference debated “investing in a just transition to a low carbon economy”. Guy Opperman spoke and was well received by Chair Paul Novak and by … Continue reading
God is on the side of the big batallions
Many readers will have joined their first company with the promise of a “company pension”. If you can admit that was before the turn of the last century, that typically meant a promise of a wage for life in … Continue reading
The cost of prudence – a cautionary tale from the pen of Con Keating
The problem with adding ‘prudence’ to a discount rate is that it does nothing for the uncertainty of the ultimate benefits, but it raises costs in the meantime in a manner which simply cannot be justified. In the case we … Continue reading
What will popular reaction be to Nest going green?
In a recent poll by YouGov carried out a survey of 1,183 pension savers conducted by last July. It found that almost two-thirds of respondents thought their retirement scheme should invest in a way that reduced the damaging impact of … Continue reading
Vaccines, data and stochastic parrots – the actuaries weekly Covid report
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Tagged actuaries, Pensions, physicists, stochastic parrots, vaccines
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Laurie Edmans’ light-bulb moment.
I’ve had one of those good weeks where months of trying seems to culminate in things happening, a bit like “tipping point” when the coins cascade down the layers and you feel like you’re getting the pay-off you deserve (it’s … Continue reading
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Tagged Guy Opperman, Incandescent light bulb, Lauire Edmans, light bulb, Pensions
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USS and the risks of power over other people’s wealth
In political science and popular discourse,[1] the horseshoe theory asserts that the far-left and the far-right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political continuum, closely resemble one another, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a horseshoe are close together. ..Proponents … Continue reading
A major contribution to the practice of funding pensions
Despite most of us saving into defined contribution retirement plans which provide no pension and rely entirely on investments and contributions for their outcomes, the defined benefit plan remains the source of most retirement income for the UK. Most defined … Continue reading
Pension Bee calls MaPS pathway tool “not fit for purpose”
A few weeks back, the Money and Pension Service(MaPS) published a comparison site to help people choose an investment pathway and then decide the best products to use when they’ve made the choice. Confusingly , the URL for the site … Continue reading
The public response to vaccine hesitancy – Joseph Robertson
Vaccines: Coverage, hesitancy, and public health response By Josephine Robertson COVID-ARG.COM COVID-19 Actuaries Response Group – Learn. Share. Educate. Influence. Summary Herd immunity thresholds, though interesting, fail to recognise the heterogeneity … Continue reading
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