Category Archives: governance

Our best shot at pension simplification in a generation!

Posted on August 6, 2020 by henry tapper

It’s an interesting time right now for those involved in DC regulation. This blog suggests that if we can find a single definition of value for money that is acceptable to TPR and FCA, then we can massively simplify DC … Continue reading →

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The G in ESG is vital to pensions and our pensions governance vital to ESG

Posted on July 6, 2020 by henry tapper

  Sarah Wilson, chief executive of Minerva, the shareholder adviser, said: “At a time when innovation and [research and development] is so important it would seem that financial engineering is taking a higher priority.” – Financial Times  Employers looking for … Continue reading →

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By their fruits ye shall know them.

Posted on April 23, 2020 by henry tapper

    Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot … Continue reading →

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No more reports – nobody reads!

Posted on April 14, 2020 by henry tapper

Baroness Bennett, Stedman-Scott and Altmann – getting things done   Every year occupational pensions schemes are required to publish reports that nobody reads. Clearly this is unsatisfactory and we could go two ways Stop writing the reports (would anyone notice?) … Continue reading →

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What does SJP “sacking” Woodford mean?

Posted on June 7, 2019 by henry tapper

“HL removed Woodford from its Wealth 50 but did not force sell the funds as SJP has.” But this shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how SJP (costly restricted funds) and HL (costly self-select platform) work! https://t.co/6eQoSKNK0T — Alistair Cunningham (@Cunningham_UK) … Continue reading →

Posted in FCA, governance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Con Keating questions the value of “limited liability”.

Posted on May 29, 2019 by henry tapper

It’s been a while since this blog has featured Con’s incisive thinking. This article calls into question the capacity of shareholders to have their returns and have someone eat the risk. There’s a lot of easy talk about the “governance” … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiduciary Management, governance, pensions | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Five things that surprised me at the LawDeb Debate

Posted on May 21, 2019 by henry tapper

And the results are in at the #LawDebDebate. An indicative vote versus the final result show a dramatic swing following the speakers taking to the stage pic.twitter.com/1EK1uxs9s6 — Law Debenture (@law_debenture) 20 May 2019   I didn’t go to my … Continue reading →

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“In an advised world – do workplace pensions need trustees”.

Posted on April 28, 2019 by henry tapper

The quote is taken from a recent interview of Steve Webb of Royal London. It is a critical question which deserves an answer. The Workplace Pension Governance landscape (is changing) Something very odd is happening in DC Governance, something that … Continue reading →

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ReAssuring us through its IGC?

Posted on April 12, 2019 by henry tapper

A word on padding The first thing you notice about the ReAssure IGC report is stock images. Page one and two are entirely devoted to them, page three and four have one, page five has five and page six is … Continue reading →

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Could a Local Government Pension Scheme go bust? NO

Posted on March 11, 2018 by henry tapper

  Well the answer “no” as has been explained to me by Colin Meech of Unison – who makes the following points; LA’s can not go bust in the way you suggest – they would be taken over by government … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Government, corporate governance, governance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments