This morning we will be having a different kind of Pension PlayPen coffee morning. Sarah Abraham of First Actuarial will be talking about the threat facing the advice industry from perceived mis-selling of pension transfers during the second half of the last decade.
I will be taking a keen interest in this. I was working at First Actuarial at the time and my position was twice put in jeopardy by Directors of two large IFAs who tried to get me fired for speaking out against the “risk-transfer” from DB plans to DC pots. I argued that in the long-term , this risk transfer would do more harm than good and that the freedom that a pot could give, would become an albatross not a golden goose.
I know many happy people who took their CETCs who would argue against me. Nobody says that all DB transfers were against the member’s interests. But many people transferred without properly thinking things through and those people are now seeking restitution, not just in Port Talbot and Scunthorpe.
I strongly suggest that IFAs attend today and suspect that the audience will be much wider. I would urge you to join Pension PlayPen and get these sessions as part of a monthly contribution to our costs. For people who want to by-pass the subscription and the normal paywall, I have included a free-link at the end of this blog.
Details below….
February 20, 2024 10:30 am London
At our next event Sarah Abraham, head of Pension Redress Services, at First Actuarial will be talking about why IFA’s should plan for pensions transfer redress.
With the British Steel pension redress scheme still rumbling on, and the FCA’s “polluter pays” proposals to digest, pensions transfer redress should be firmly on the agenda for firms that have written defined benefit transfer advice. However, understanding how pensions transfer redress works can be challenging.
In this session, Sarah will explain:
- How pensions transfer redress is calculated
- Recent developments in DB pensions transfer redress
- Why DB pensions transfer redress poses a significant risk for IFAs and why this is a concern for the pensions industry as a whole
- The implications of the FCA’s “polluter pays” proposals
- What firms can do to improve their understanding of pensions transfer redress
Sarah qualified as an actuary in 2006, with a specialism in pensions. She acted as a Scheme Actuary until 2016 at which time she moved in-house to be the corporate actuary for the Co-op Group advising on their staff pension arrangements and pre-paid funeral plans.
We hope you can join us
