Category Archives: Financial Education

“The Employer’s Duty”

We talk blithely of the employer’s duties as if these obligations were pre-ordained. Economic Liberals may ask how we got to a world in which the Pension Regulator can issue a document entitled “Employer Duties and defining the workforce – an … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, Bankers, dc pensions, Financial Education, FSA, Henry Tapper blog, leadership, Management, pension playpen, pensions, poetry, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Does your pension scheme need advice?

WARNING- THIS BLOG CONTAINS A SHAMELESS PLUG FOR OUR SERVICES! (transparent as always!) I’m travelling up to Nottingham this morning to talk to Employers and Trustees who are asking themselves “Does our pension scheme need advisers”. Meeting similar groups recently, the answers I’m … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, Change, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, Financial Education, FSA, happiness, leadership, Linkedin, mallowstreet, Popcorn Pensions, Retirement, social media, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

An amnesty on pension charges is not the answer!

It seem that Aviva are to review the legacy charges on pension charges. Tom Mcphail is calling for a general amnesty on charges that hints that there is currently a “charges war”. There isn’t a charges war Tom, if there was … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, Bankers, Change, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, Financial Education, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Why we mustn’t let the Royal Mail “pension solution” become a precedent

In Pension Age’s May edition, Paddy Briggs argued that the member’s best interests were not being served by the Government’s “sequestration” of the assets of the Royal Mail’s pension fund. Roger Turner produced a cogent riposte in your July/August issue … Continue reading

Posted in Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, Management, pensions, Public sector pensions, Royal Mail | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Send in forensic actuaries to sort out these “rip-off” pensions!

Spookily, a couple of hours after I’d published yesterday’s blog about how the DWP had ducked the dodgy question of how to sort out legacy pension charges, Steve Webb, the Pension Minister issued an appeal to the pensions industry to … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, leadership, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Heard the one about the actuary, the investment consultant, the IFA and the lawyer?

At precisely the same time, the Pension Play Pen debated the relative value of actuaries, investment consultants, lawyers and financial advisers to Britain’s future pensioners, but in two different towns. These lunches , which have been taking place since 2009, bring … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, Financial Education, FSA, pension playpen, Retail Distribution Review, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Thank RBS for a Pension and Payroll lesson .

The last few days have not been good for those relying on RBS – be it their own , their employers’ or of their creditors’ RBS bank account. We have become reliant on our banking system and as Robert Peston put it … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, Bankers, Financial Education, Management, NEST, pensions, RBS | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Sponsor affordability and the use of security

This is an excellent article from my friend Simon Kew who trades as the Pensions Jackal on twitter. The subject may seem obscure but it isn’t – if you are in a Defined Benefit Pension Scheme you should know about … Continue reading

Posted in de-risking, defined aspiration, Financial Education, Pension Rocks III, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Japanese Knotweed – the spread of passive defaults.

While investment consultants ponder the fifty shades of grey of diversification, I ponder just who , outside a small number of “experts” is prepared to take a decision on the default investment option of a company’s defined contribution pension scheme. This question … Continue reading

Posted in dc pensions, Financial Education, NEST, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Retail Distribution Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The economic history of the world in one little graph

  That headline is a big promise. But here it is: The economic history of the world going back to Year 1 showing the major powers’ share of world GDP, from a research letter written by Michael Cembalest, an analyst … Continue reading

Posted in economics, Facebook, Financial Education, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments