Monthly Archives: September 2023
When is a guarantee not a guarantee? – When it’s a pension promise
It should come as no surprise to those who follow Steve Webb or read this blog that the anticipated 8.5% pension increase “guaranteed” by the triple lock is under VAR. A decision on the definition of earnings will follow shortly … Continue reading
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Andrew Smithers on the Failure of Economic Policy (video and slides )
It was a packed Zoom to listen to Andrew Smithers talk on economic theory today. The video of the event is available here and it’s well worth viewing – even if you missed the chat and the frisson of the … Continue reading
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Balmy or barmy? Your state pension got another boost this morning!
Barmy! Ouch! Chancellor won’t be thrilled that key average earnings number out this morning is +8.5% which will feed through to a rise in the new state pension of around £900 per year to £11,500. But we estimate well over … Continue reading
When ESG doesn’t work
Robert Armstrong’s email this morning is a cautionary tale to those who think that having an ESG strategy is enough. Clearly some ESG strategies are more successful than others. In the hope that Glencore feels some pain from people’s reading … Continue reading
Andrew Smithers at the Pension PlayPen – 10.30 today (gift link here)
I know nothing about Andrew Smithers but I asked a few economists (and would be economists) about him. The consensus is that he is a good egg and we want all the good eggs in our basket. I looked him … Continue reading
Time for PPF to lose its pocket money?
Imagine running a business where you can’t stop charging your customers and your customers can’t stop paying you. That’s the Pension Protection Fund, a public corporation, set up by the Pensions Act 2004, that has been protecting members of eligible … Continue reading
What kind of a shadow pensions minister are we getting this time?
I don’t know much about Gill Furniss, but I don’t know much about Matt Rodda who she succeeds and has been in post some time. Rodda is moving on to Shadow Minister for AI and Intellectual Property. Pension Ministers have … Continue reading
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No certainty for triple lock – or much else for that matter.
Sunak refuses #pensions ‘triple lock’ commitment for Tory manifesto https://t.co/u67OnXpodV — Josephine Cumbo (@JosephineCumbo) September 11, 2023 Rishi Sunak stands accused by the FT of not standing by the triple-lock. What assurance can a politician give on manifesto pledges when … Continue reading
DB surpluses are not “the golden opportunity” of the Mansion House reforms.
WTW (as we now must call Willis Towers Watson) have identified the use of surplus as conclusive to the WTW perspective ( a four page PDF which finishes with this call to action). It would have been as unimaginable for … Continue reading