Category Archives: economics

A different approach to pension scheme solvency and funding.

Posted on June 10, 2020 by henry tapper

Solvency and Funding This is the second of our blogs answering questions which arose from our original essay written in response to the proposed DB Funding Code. It covers issues of solvency and funding. Solvency estimation involves the comparison of … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, de-risking, economics, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Extinction , Boredom or Symposium?

Posted on October 8, 2019 by henry tapper

Frivolity of fidelity, mindless or mindful – which will it be? I am faced this morning with stark choice. Do I cycle on the north side of the river to join responsible asset owners and Adrienne Lawlor working out how … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, age wage, economics, ESG, Guidance, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Ways of staying financially strong in later life

Posted on February 1, 2018 by henry tapper

I normally write about money, particularly about saving for retirement. Over the last couple of evenings, I’ve been lucky enough to attend two excellent discussions, not about saving, but about creating an infrastructure around you in later years that makes those … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, annuity, economics, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

When will they ever learn? (The CDO is back)

Posted on November 28, 2017 by henry tapper

The FT reports (with its usual light touch ) that the collateralized debt obligation is back and being used by Global Pension Funds (and hedge funds) as an alternative to junk bonds. I question whether in its “authentic” (CLO) or … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, investment, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Fund managers -Norma Cohen is still watching!

Posted on September 1, 2017 by henry tapper

  The great British financial journalist Norma Cohen rarely publishes in the FT these days, when she does, it is to great effect. This week she published a quiet and thoughtful piece on the impact MIFID II is having on … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, David Pitt-Watson, economics, journalism, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

What can men do to reduce gender pay inequality?

Posted on July 24, 2017 by henry tapper

For a start they can stop “welcoming this discussion” and blathering other related clichés! If men welcomed a serious discussion on gender pay equality, we’d have been having them regularly since equal pay for both gender (for the same job) became … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, leadership, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lifetime pricing – a broken model?

Posted on May 30, 2017 by henry tapper

    Of all the orthodoxies within pension insurance, the concept of “lifetime pricing” is the most sacred. What Lifetime pricing means for an insurance company is the promise of a stable stream of profit from an insurance policy over … Continue reading →

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Why pensions pinch your pay packet

Posted on December 11, 2016 by henry tapper

We now know that we are unlikely to get a national pay rise for the rest of the decade. We are worse off in terms of wages than we were ten years ago. What we get paid matters and with … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, actuaries, economics, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

How the banks try to f*ck us – and how we deal with them

Posted on March 10, 2013 by henry tapper

It’s Sunday morning and I am reading a poem written around 1936 by Ezra Pound. It is about Usury , in this context the bad practice of the Medici Bank which Pound claimed screwed up the great artistic achievements of medieval … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, ezra pound, Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, Fred Goodwin, governance, happiness, pensions, poetry, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The solid value of insurance

Posted on January 19, 2013 by henry tapper

“The people I talk to full into one of two categories, either you’ve built up some money and want to hang onto it, or you are looking to .” That was our opening gambit when we met with prospects. I … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, Fiduciary Management, life insurance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment