Category Archives: advice gap
Now more than ever , Royal Mail’s CDC scheme looks a game changer
I was lucky to be among the participants in yesterday’s Westminster Business Forum and hear Jon Millidge and Terry Pullinger talk with pride of the CDC scheme they expect to launch for over 140,000 postal workers. At a time of … Continue reading
Posted in advice gap, CDC, DWP
Tagged CDC, CWU, Millidge, Pensions, Pullinger, Royal Mail
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With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies? The DB Funding Code: An Existential Threat to Open DB Scheme
We have been asked what impact the Funding Code would have on open schemes by a number of correspondents. This blog illustrates why the new funding code is the biggest risk that open scheme members face . Simply put, … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, advice gap, age wage
Tagged Con Keating, DB Funding Code, Dr Iain Clacher, open pensions, Pension Schemes Bill, Pensions
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Workplace pensions – what we pay and why we pay it!
David Hutchins , who is the presiding genius at Alliance Bernstein, a firm whose investment services power many workplace pensions has written a strongly worded piece in the FT that calls on product providers to ensure savers know what they … Continue reading
Posted in accountants, advice gap, age wage
Tagged Alliance Bernstein, david hutchins, Funds, Value for Money, VFM
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Why is Pension Consolidation flavor of the month?
Yesterday (October 30th), the Government closed its consultation on improving member outcomes. It called for small workplace pensions to fold into bigger ones and by consolidating , deliver better outcomes for their members. Pension consolidation is so politically correct it’s … Continue reading
Who pays for us doing nothing? Pension schemes and the poor!
Crikey, that’s some chart. But, what does it mean for future of credit etc? 1. Those who are attractive to lend to don’t need or want credit 2. Those who need credit most are not attractive to lend to. This … Continue reading
Posted in advice gap, age wage, de-risking
Tagged credit, credit cards, de-risking, financial inclusion, Furlough, poor, TPR
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Australia gets tough on DC funds and so should we
Australia is facing up to some tough questions and it is asking the questions we need to ask. For example, should we assume that all ESG investments a good thing, or are some more beneficial to pension savers than others? … Continue reading
The heavens open on tPR and DWP’s DB plans
As predicted in my recent blog , the heavens have opened and the Government’s plans for a new DB funding code and powers to the Regulator to make it stick are at risk of being deluged by industry criticism. Not … Continue reading
Which comes first – the dashboard or the data?
I’m doing a call this morning with some pension strategy people , some from Fintech and some representing “old tech”. It’s a timely discussion as the Scottish National Party limbers up to put a spoke in the wheels of an … Continue reading
Posted in advice gap, Dashboard, dc pensions, de-risking, Technology
Tagged auto enrolment, Business, chicken, Dashboard, dc pensions, egg, open pensions, Pensions
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The company pension is as good as dead
Until the turn of the millennium, most enterprise companies had their own pension scheme. Even if it wasn’t offering a defined benefit, the scheme was likely to have trustees drawn from the board with representatives nominated by members (often organised … Continue reading
Staying motivated with tough times ahead
I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling apprehensive. The winter is coming and the evenings are drawing in, London’s in the first stages of lockdown though this time we are behind our friends in the north. The furlough is unwinding … Continue reading
Posted in advice gap, age wage
Tagged Covid-19, crack in everything, Leonard Cohen, ring the bells
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