Alan Pickering is one of everybody’s heroes and I’m pleased he’s made it onto the VFM podcase

He goes straight for the jugular through which is passing everything. Its the vein through which  growth, regulation and the public’s money are trying to find a way.

Pickering points out that we did DB damage when we moved all the way from “best endeavour to guarantee“. It’s a journey from 18 to 95 and we’re de-risking far too early, he tells us.

He tells us that the brainpower that fired DB is now firing DC. I hope so, I don’t see why a defined contribution from an employer cannot translate to a certainly defined benefit for the pensioner.

There follows discussions on conflicts of interests by those managing DC schemes (commercially) and the Trustee. Clearly this is the case wherever a scheme is run for profit and cross subsidies between fees passed from fund managers to the commercial managers has been an issue for a long time. At the end of day VFM is about managing outcomes , not fiduciary standards.

DC Trustees are potentially conflicted and managing this is why we pay a lot to people like Helen Dean at Standard, Robert Waugh at L&G and Andy Cheseldine at Smart. If Trustees allow cross subsidies that aren’t declared, then they are not doing their job. If they are given no choice they should walk. We need to share information about a commercial scheme so that those purchasing know how those who place their or other’s money in the hands of people they trust.

It is good to have Alan Pickering , President of BES Trustees , explaining how it works and good that Darren brings it up.

I will pass over discussions about Net Zerto, they are coming up again at an event we’re running at 10.30 am on Tuesday. My brain is simply overloaded to properly understand how pensions interact with green issues. The reality for most of people like me is that measurement of Net Zero progress is out of our understanding.

Alan Pickering concludes that we have the responsibility for smoothing the transfer for people living through climate change and the attempts to stopping change happening. In other words, people need to understand what is going on which is tricky.

Being a Yorkshireman

As a union man. and I think he is the only one who has been on this podcast, Alan Pickering is unique. Gregg McClymont works for IVF – set up by Australian unions.

Talking with Alan over the years, I know what he’s like. He’s interested in the interests of poor people as well as those who have done well. Like other great union pensions people (step forward Terry Pullinger and Bryn Davies for instance) , Alan sees employer pension payments  as an investment in the workforce and not a pension.

I have noticed that a lot of Yorkshire men, not just Yorkshire union men, see pensions in terms of the good they do for ordinary people who otherwise would not have an MOT for their retirement finances when they get to that stage. But I don’t think I’ve heard anyone speak so well, listen to the Pod after minute 50 to hear Alan at his best- on what differing types of Trustees can do.

Coming back to Darren’s points on fiduciary issues, there is no way that we can do without effective trustees. Alan was a powerful voice in politics 20 years ago and remains an important voice today.

I am glad he is on the Podcast though I struggled to get to the end.