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 , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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 , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“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 , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

“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 , , , , , , , | 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 , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

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 | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, EU Solvency II, NEST | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

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.

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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 , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

“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 →

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