Category Archives: dc pensions

The state of corporate advice at #casummit

  The corporate adviser summit has been held every October in a swanky hotel somewhere in the home counties. This year we are in a frightful faux castle near Horsham complete with fake arrow slits and other accoutrements of the English … Continue reading

Posted in advice gap, annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

CDC schemes and Ponzi Schemes – a guest blog by Derek Benstead

  A tweet is long enough to write an idiocy but not long enough to make a reasoned argument. The quoted tweets from PJ Zoulias  in Henry Tapper’s recent blog say nothing meaningful to give a reasoned response to. I’ll give … Continue reading

Posted in CDC, dc pensions, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

In defence of genius.

Genius is not just misunderstood – it is persecuted. Those who didn’t get Copernicus, Galileo, Wordsworth or Darwin did not ignore these genius’, they set out to do them in. Bob Dylan when he laid out his Highway 61 album … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, CDC, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, pension playpen, pensions, Pensions Regulator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

CDC designed by an enlightened actuary -Derek Benstead!

  When I started out in insurance my sales manager told me: “Don’t sell a solution until you’ve understood the problem.” So far, collective defined contribution is a solution that is so short on detail we can only suppose what … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Auto-enrolment – matching payrolls to pensions.

The big payroll/pension issue There are, according to one payroll software development we have spoken to, 42 separate interfaces between payroll and HR and the various workplace pension providers. Not all payrolls are prepared to build processes to accommodate each … Continue reading

Posted in dc pensions, Payroll, pensions, Pensions Regulator | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Retirement reforms and the Guidance Guarantee” – The Pension PlayPen’s response

This is the Pension PlayPen submission to the FCA’s consultation CP14/11 Pension PlayPen is a website dedicated to helping small employers and their advisers find good quality workplace pension plans.   It was founded in 2013 by Henry Tapper with … Continue reading

Posted in dc pensions, Financial Conduct Authority, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Value for money” key to DC Governance say FCA.

The FCA published yesterday an important consultation (CPA14/16) proposing rules for independent governance committees (IGCs). The introduction of IGCs was agreed by the ABI as part of a deal with the Office of Fair Trading that fended off insurers being referred to a more serious investigation. The main … Continue reading

Posted in accountants, advice gap, dc pensions, FCA | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The great pensions rotation

“Everything dies honey that’s a fact, and everything that dies some day comes back” – Bruce Springsteen DB died the day they guaranteed indexation. DA will be born the day they take that guarantee away. Ring out the old, ring … Continue reading

Posted in dc pensions, de-risking, defined ambition, defined aspiration, FSA, pension playpen, pensions, Pensions Regulator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“We are as concerned as we can afford to be”

The DWP has now presented the draft bill that will enable Defined Ambition pensions to be set up, probably from this time in 2016.  While lawyers pour over the clauses, it’s worth considering the responses the Government received to the ideas … Continue reading

Posted in David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, defined ambition, defined aspiration, drawdown, pensions, Pensions Regulator, Public sector pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Auto-enrolment needs common data standards!

  At a recent meeting of the CIPP’s working group “The Friends of AE”, (FoAE) concern was expressed to Pensions Minister Steve Webb that without the introduction of a common data standards, the wheels might fall off auto-enrolment. According to … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment