It’s another big day of announcements from Government that will impact pensions for years to come. We expect to hear today more detail on DWP ministerial appointments. The front-runner for the Pensions brief is Stephen Timms, who has done it before, but there is a chance he will take up the employment role instead.

Meanwhile we are promised more detail from Rachel Reeves about the Government’s proposed National Wealth Fund. This will likely have implications for DB investment and may well involve the PPF as a source of seeding.

That’s not to mention the Bullish words from the Pension Regulator yesterday on its evolving vision for DC master trusts or the very interesting proposals on pension taxation put forward inter-alia by new Labour MP – Torsten Bell (as well as the IFS).

Due to our hopeless disorganisation and the non-availability of previously booked guest, you will be getting me hosting a general discussion on the post-election outlook for pensions.

I appreciate that regular readers will have heard quite enough from me but I intend this to be a general discussion where your views are as and probably more important than mine.

Admission to this event will be free providing you use this link.

Free entrance to the Pension PlayPen coffee morning – July 9th

10 discussion points

How important are pensions in the grand scheme of things?

What do we expect from the workplace pensions review?

Does Labour  need to nudge auto-enrolment rates along?

How important are the unions in pension decision making?

What might get thrown out of the balloon?

Will Labour’s version of Mansion House be any different?

Do we need a DB funding code?

Should the Pensions Regulator be worried?

What pension taxes should be reviewed

Will Stephen Timms be the next pensions minister?

 

Martin Woolf and Andy Haldane published their wish-list this morning

As former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane argues, they will need to take some bold steps. I would stress coming much closer to the EU, radically liberalising planning, relaxing regulations, supporting innovation, decentralising power, reforming taxation, strengthening the pension system, enabling life-long learning, rationalising immigration, and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public services and administration. They are also going to have to raise taxes, including by reforming the taxation of land and replacing fuel duty with a tax on emissions of greenhouse gases.

Rachel Reeves delivered her first speech on speeding up planning decisions and unlocking pensions this (Monday) morning; watch here

Please feel free to email henry@agewage.com with supplementary questions. Thanks to those who have!

As usual this will be at 10.30 am and the format is a one hour Teams Call.

 

See you there.