Monthly Archives: March 2023
We need value for our money not “Retirement Roulette”
Stephanie Hawthorne has hit the nail on the head in her article today in the Mail’s this is Money section Are YOU at risk of missing out on thousands as pension plans stake your cash on a game of… … Continue reading
The closure of SVB in London – more than an embarrassment.
On Friday lunchtime I got a text from a friend “how big do you think this banking crisis is – do you think?” “What banking crisis?” – was my text back. A friend was being laid off by Silicon Valley … Continue reading
The problem with price – how DC pensions got lost down a rabbit-hole
A recent blog reported an excellent conversation between Nico Aspinall, Darren Philp and Des Healy – consulting on DC VFM. In the previous pod, Sophia Singleton, a consultant at XPS claimed that larger pension schemes could secure an AMC … Continue reading
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Betting on pensions in the budget? My money’s safer at Cheltenham.
Everyone it seems wants Jeremy Hunt to sort their problems with a pension fix If I was Jeremy Hunt I would be blocking ‘pensions’ from my browser right now. All week the financial press, led by the Mail have been … Continue reading
What future for retail pensions? Darren. Nico and Des Healey get stuck in!
The Aspinall/Philp VFM Podcast extravaganza dialed up to 10 this week with an excellent episode that you can listen to here. One of the big issues under discussion in recent episodes is scale and the advantages that it brings. Nico … Continue reading
Advice to my older self
Someone sent me this cartoon last week. I guess it’s of our younger selves we think we see ourselves as. I’m going to see Morrissey in concert next week, for the first time. I remember thinking back in 1984 he … Continue reading
The importance and focus of UK DC consultants
The influence of a handful of independent consultants in determining winners and losers in the reshaping of DC workplace pensions cannot be overestimated. The big deals- the consolidation of large single employer sponsored occupational schemes into master trusts are determined … Continue reading
What’s wrong with Life Platforms? Nico and Henry in conversation March 14th
Nico and I come at this subject from different angles. I was at Investment Solutions before it became Mobius Life and have spent more time than I should admit to with Adrian Swales – thinking about insured and non-insured solutions. … Continue reading
Women’s days are not one and done!
International Woman’s day is over and I bet a lot of men like me are thinking it’s time to get back to BAU. BAU is sadly summed up by this report from Prospect that shows that New figures show … Continue reading
Time for a “reset” on the DB funding code?
Whatever happened to our shareholder democracy? Back in the day, Britain aspired to have a shareholding democracy. We were to own little slices of the companies nationalised in the 1980s and our ownership would mean that Sid and all … Continue reading
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