Having just posted on the lamentable reaction of pension consultants to pension innovation, I had a quick browse of linked in to see if I could find something to cheer me up!

I did, and in a most unexpected place!

I am not a reader of NatWest’s insurance quarterly, I am a little put off by “for sophisticated financial professionals only” – I don’t claim to be that!

But I was interested to find out what our biggest high-street bank considered retirement product developments and amazed to find out NatWest was talking about Pension SuperHaven!

In the interests of balance , I will include innovations that follow

I will be reading further quarterly updates from NatWest. I’ve registered my interest in getting more of these insights (which include some stunning stuff on what is actually happening in the bulking annuity market).

Having had one shock this Saturday morning , I had another when I read in Funds Europe that a new provider had been moaning about EU regs – only to find that John Greenwood was talking about – me!

Well I hadn’t thought that UK savers were to benefit from a relaxation in the rules surrounding EU solvency in this way. After all, DB pension schemes have been consolidating DC pots for decades.

What of course is new- and this is the link to NatWest, is that DB pensions can now operate with capital backing – as well as – or instead of – a conventional covenant from a sponsor. This brings the capital markets into play as sponsors of pension schemes, which is presumably something not much considered by Brussels bureaucrats.

Unexpected but most welcome attention

It looks like the fund and capital markets are rather more excited about pension reform than I had expected.

Innovation comes in many ways and from many sources and in my experience it is not usually to be found where you most expect it.

If Pension SuperHaven is an unwitting beneficiary of Brexit, if it is to be promoted  by the capital and funds markets , then who am I to stand in the way of such mighty forces!

But to me, there is only one market force that really matters and that is people. People need pensions, they always have and always well and however we go about delivering them, they need to be able to swap savings for income in later life.

You don’t need to have Market Insights or be a Geopolitical observer to spot that.But it’s quite nice when those rather greater and better at these things than you, end up helping you along!