I have been quiet over the past few weeks following surgery and complications that leave me unable to do what my body promised me! I have a tap to pee, I thought it appropriate for a Tapper, Pullinger thought it a way to “turn you on”!

This is not a good way to open a serious blog about how I intend to spend the next few weeks as my company and those we work for , prepare to deliver into a market where the menu of offerings to those at retirement will widen to include CDC and where we are going to see “shared ambition” DB plans springing up, offering retirees a basic level of DB pension with improved pension driven by the market (conditional indexation).

That doesn’t mean that freedom from pensions won’t continue but it looks likely that people will have to opt-out to get it, My guess is that the point of a pension scheme is that it will offer a menu with a single default option in place, much as default funds have taken over the investment menus for savers building up savings for later days.

So what I need to do and will be doing with the help of my colleagues, employers I work with and with advisers is create a compelling proposition to offer to those who want to offer a menu of choice that meets the demands of a Pension Bill and more importantly delivers a satisfactory balance between security (the certainty that income will be there as expected) with ambition that income will deliver more than the basic promise.

It seems right that we use annuities as the benchmark, something that many people will use instead of investment driven pensions for their own reasons. Many choose annuities rather than drawdown today because they value certainty over flexibility.

I have friends in our team

Let’s start with my favourite annuity broker – Retirement Line – who provide us with data we need to make comparisons

Then let’s move to my former employer First Actuarial, experts on CDC , trusted by unions and solid deliverers of DB schemes.

Let’s reach out to Hymans Robertson and Paul , Calum and others who are doing thinking for employers, trustees and I hope will influence policy with Government.

Lets include our technology partners, the inspirational Eduardo and Ricardo of Collegia who approach challenges such as delivering pensions with an intense intelligence

Let’s include our Trustee, Pi Partnership and my especial Trustee Sam Ashraf, a person who holds everything together!

Finally let’s include AgeWage, my firm which does a lot of management and works with the Global Pension Corporation to make the development of Pension SuperHaven happen,

You will note that this is not a group that includes experts on investments , we are not there yet. We have experts in the cupboard but they are staying there till we can be sure what we want and the assumptions that we will make for the future

You will note that we are not a lobbying organisation either to Ministers or to Regulators who are writing legislation through Bills and Regulation through new Codes.

We are a group of people that I intend to meet regularly over the spring and summer to be ready to make a real difference as things change in the Autumn.

Who do I think we should be talking to?

I think most in need of help are the large commercial mastertrusts and employer dedicated DC schemes. There are a few DB schemes who are showing signs of wanting to pay pensions for transfers-in of DC pots (LGPS already do this for new-joins).

We see our customer base in the long-term as organisations that who currently have no way to pay pensions to those with DC pots but would like to. You may be thinking that this is something you would like to do for your staff (employers) or members (trustees).

If you are thinking that, we would like your input into what you think should be built and we will include it in our build priorities. It may not make it to build but it will make it to consideration , you may not want to be client- we may not be able to help you.

We should be talking to the people who want change and are determined to work with others with expertise.

What will be sharing as we develop?

I do not know what we will deliver but on a beautiful morning on the Thames, I find it hard to think it will not be great news for ordinary savers who right now are so short-changed by their workplace savings schemes.

I am working in Britain but we have friends in Australia, India, Europe (Sweden especially) the US and Canada. We have much experience to draw on and I am determined that we meet to deliver plans that convert DC saving into genuine pensions.

So in the short term we will be sharing our findings and while we do this, we will be building the platform for pensions for the millions.

Many thanks to all in organisations mentioned above and to the many i have omitted who will make a difference. Finally I would like to thank my partner Stella, who is a strength to me intellectually and through what has been a difficult time.

But onwards, we have a great job and we need to deliver to the mantle of change.