Monthly Archives: August 2021

Link to this morning’s coffee morning on DC governance and ESG comms

I’m looking forwards to this morning’s Pension Playpen coffee morning with Rona Train and Simon Grover. Simon Grover has worked on pensions-related projects for clients including Kodak, B&CE, Invensys, Irish Life, JLT, Atkins, First Group, Lloyds bank, RBS, British Steel, … Continue reading

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Where will Nest’s £1.5bn private investment go?

Nest wants to invest £1,500,000,000 into private markets, meaning just under 10% of our money will not be invested in public stock exchanges or debt markets but in companies that raise money other ways. Actually £1.5bn is not a lot … Continue reading

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You can stick your garden furniture!

Once upon a time, commuting into London was a necessity for millions. Then, one day in March 2020, it became the preserved activity of a few key workers and a big no-no for everyone else. Well almost everyone, my commute … Continue reading

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Take me back to London

The charts are interesting. This blog comes with a health warning – supplied by Stuart McDonald. This age-stratified analysis is important when drawing conclusions from trends in case numbers. Cases are still trending up in older groups, so it’s likely … Continue reading

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Has Nest detonated an investment big bang?

The Financial Times reports;- Nest, one of the UK’s largest workplace pension schemes, has announced a £1.5bn private equity spending spree in the biggest move by a British retirement scheme into the asset class. The £20bn state-backed pension fund with … Continue reading

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Con Keating’s CDC Question time

This note responds to the questions raised by members of the audience of the webinar: Fair, Sufficient and Sustainable Collective Defined Contribution Pensions;  It quotes them anonymously, verbatim, and then offers responses. It is worth bearing in mind that in … Continue reading

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Productive Capital – producing value for members, tax-payers or both?

  This blog reports a discussion by  the Steering Committee (SC) of the Productive Finance Working Group’. The original document (minutes of a meeting on July 28th) can be accessed here. This meeting occurred before the letter from the Prime … Continue reading

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We need pensions not pots

10m UK pensioners risk running out of money — poll https://t.co/LTEpRsBNXS — Josephine Cumbo (@JosephineCumbo) August 26, 2021 We are busy saving into pots that provide no pensions and turning future pensions into pension pots. Let’s be clear, we are … Continue reading

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Keating moves the dial towards collective DC pensions.

The work done by Iain Clacher and Con Keating on creating a consistent  framework for a fair , sufficient  and sustainable way of returning to funded pension provision is too important to sit on an academic bookshelf. We have DC … Continue reading

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The prospect of fair, sufficient and sustainable pensions; miracle or mirage?

In a very short time , Pension PlayPen’s coffee mornings have achieved a regular following of 100 or so pension professionals, keen to hear and share views on critical pension issues. Steve Goddard has assembled a group of Pension All … Continue reading

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