Category Archives: EU Solvency II
Will health insurers be unlikely winners from Covid-19?
Background Much of the media and public attention is focused on the progression of Covid-19 in terms of cumulative and daily number of cases, deaths and recoveries. However, for health actuaries, our key interest is in infection rates and … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, advice gap, coronavirus, EU Solvency II, pensions
Tagged Adrian Baskir, BUPA, Coronavirus, Healthcare, PMI, Private Medical insurance, WordPress
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GARs – a simpler way out for insurers…
This blog offers insurers a simple way out of the problem they have with Guaranteed Annuity Rates- it means paying the reserved for value of the policy rather than the (lower) investment value of the contributions. By way of explanation.. … Continue reading
Posted in annuity, EU Solvency II, investment, London, Pension Freedoms, pension playpen, pensions, Pensions Regulator
Tagged advice, Annuity Rates, defined benefit, Equitable Life Assurance Society, Equity, Guaranteed Annuity Rates, Ros Altmann, Royal London, The Equitable, Transfer values
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A promise or a guarantee?
If Steve Webb wants AE to work, he should stop turning promises into guarantees and burdening employers with unforeseen liabilities and huge consultative and administrative costs. Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, EU Solvency II, Fiduciary Management, leadership, Liability Driven Investment, pension playpen, Popcorn Pensions, steve webb
Tagged Benefit, Business, Business and Economy, dc pensions, de-risking, Defined benefit pension plan, Guarantee, pension, Pension new, pension playpen, Retirement, Steve Webb
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“Fit lean pension machines” – an uncomfortable prospect?
We move into day two of auto-enrolment with all to play for on a pitch increasingly likely to take spin Continue reading
Posted in advice gap, auto-enrolment, Bankers, dc pensions, EU Solvency II, pensions
Tagged Aviva, Bob Diamond, Far East, Gregg McClymont, Labour, OFT, pension, Steve Webb
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“Stick or twist” for the lifecos.
It is hard for the insurers to twist because they think the dealer’s against them. Continue reading
Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, customer service, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, EU Solvency II, Financial Education, Henry Tapper blog, pension playpen, pensions, Personality, Popcorn Pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement, social media
Tagged Aviva, BlackRock, David Pitt-Watson, House of Fraser, John, Legal & General, National Employment Savings Trust, Standard Life
21 Comments
Why we need to say “NO” to pension guarantees!
On Monday the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries delivered a paper stating that it would be able to deliver a system of lock-in guarantees at a price of less than 1% pa of the fund that could be used by … Continue reading
Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, Bankers, club pension, corporate governance, customer service, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, defined aspiration, EU Solvency II, FSA, happiness, Liability Driven Investment, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement
Tagged Capital market, Financial Times, Government, Jarvis Cocker, National Employment Savings Trust, pension, Pensions in the United Kingdom, Steve Webb
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End of an epoch?
This is an article by Con Keating, reproduced with his kind permission. It’s hard but it’s worth it- Con is the cleverest man in town. The demise of the Bretton Woods system in the 1970s was epoch-defining; it constituted a massive shift of … Continue reading
Posted in Bankers, Change, economics, EU Solvency II, Treasury
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Define your aspiration.
Last week, the brotherhood of DB and DC pensions got a little sister when Steve Webb introduced the prospect of DA to the family. There is nothing new about the search for a third way, indeed it is the pensions equivalent of the … Continue reading
Aspirational pensions – popcorn pensions!!
There are going to be a lot of objections to aspirational pensions over the weeks and months to come, but for me they are popcorn pensions – delicious, affordable and while they may not be the haute cuisine of the guaranteed Final Salary plans pragmatic.
Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, Management, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Public sector pensions, Retirement, Treasury
Tagged Defined benefit pension plan, Dutch, National Association of Pension Funds, pension, Pension Protection Fund, States of Jersey, Steve Webb, Webb
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“Making Pension Charges Clearer” – good on the NAPF
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