Category Archives: corporate governance

Do we need guarantees on the pensions we get? Pension Play Pen lunch – Feb 6th

Posted on February 7, 2012 by henry tapper

There was a peculiar diversity of participants in this month’s pension lunch which led to an extraordinary debate and the closest of votes. Our lunch group split into three groups 1. Those who followed a broadly paternalistic line (Stav, Bill,Mike … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Bankers, cheltenham festival, corporate governance, pension playpen, Pension Rocks III, pensions, Retirement, social media, The Racket of the Lambs | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Selling NEST and auto-enrolment to the pension weary

Posted on February 2, 2012 by henry tapper

The issue of fatigue is high on my agenda this morning – especially Regulatory Fatigue. Yesterday the DWP published a host of documents that can be accessed through this link http://www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2011/workplace-pension-reform-2011.shtml It dots the “i”s and crosses the “t’s” on a … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, NEST, pensions, Personal Accounts | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Don’t blame Stephen Hester – we made his rules.

Posted on January 30, 2012 by henry tapper

If anything is to be learned from current events, it needs to be learned about how the rules are established (not whether they are applied). Continue reading →

Posted in Bankers, Church of England, corporate governance, dc pensions, Fred Goodwin, pension playpen, pensions | 4 Comments

Controlling wealth is not the same as generating wealth

Posted on January 26, 2012 by henry tapper

IFAs Control £591bn of Britain’s wealth. That’s a whole lot of moley. Continue reading →

Posted in Bankers, corporate governance, Fiduciary Management, Horse racing, Management, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

THE PHILOSOPHY OF TRUST – Onora O’Neil

Posted on January 23, 2012 by henry tapper

I came across this on mallowstreet and thought it relevent to many of the discussions on this blog. I’ve written about ethics and political philosophy all my working life, but until the last two years I did not write on … Continue reading →

Posted in Bankers, Church of England, corporate governance | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

10 infrastucture opportunities pension funds cannot ignore!

Posted on January 22, 2012 by henry tapper

The Government has announced that it wants UK pension funds to invest in UK infrastructure. This week we saw a slice of Thames Water purchased by the Chinese. I live on the Thames and as dawn rises this morning I’m on “Junk Alert” on “the partially yellow river”. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Bankers, Church of England, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, religion, Retirement, social media, Treasury, Twickenham, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“Making Pension Charges Clearer” – good on the NAPF

Posted on January 21, 2012 by henry tapper

The NAPF, as I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog, are a rather better trade body than you’d expect . Revitalised by Joanne Seagers and Dan Torjussen-Proctor they appear a more progressive member centric organisation than in years gone by. Ambitiously, they … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, pensions, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

To get better pensions we need to share risk

Posted on January 17, 2012 by henry tapper

Yesterday, Steve Webb announced he was  to review the level of protection that needed to be provided to private pensions in payment. His  intention is to help the solvency of defined benefit schemes which might need to reserve less for future guarantees. He is … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, Fiduciary Management, Management, NEST, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Who made that choice for you?

Posted on January 15, 2012 by henry tapper

Put the question “why are pensions guaranteed?” into google and you will not get an answer. I reckon it’s because no-one asks the question. Why is nobody asking the question? Is someone guaranteeing the value of your house? Is there … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, EU Solvency II | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Can we have a word Mr Webb?

Posted on January 14, 2012 by henry tapper

You mentioned that there should be a default position (on mallowstreet). I have argued that there is a default decumulation position, it is a level single life annuity provided by the insurer that managed your pension accumulation. This is a “pot-luck” position and many are buying appalling annuities as a result. This is at the root of what we, Robin Ellison, Con Keating, Alan Higham , the AMNT and Kevin Wesbroom, (to name but a handful of those calling for change), are trying to address. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Fiduciary Management, Liberal Democrats, NEST, Nick Clegg, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments