Category Archives: NEST

“Mind the width – improve the quality” #Pensions must “include” properly!

When Guy Opperman became Pensions Minister , he had” financial inclusion” inserted into his title; now comes his challenge. According to Government statistics, there are 675,000 qualifying workers in the “savers rate” of tax, ( the tax band where we … Continue reading

Posted in NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Finger in the dyke stuff! DC pricing is just too leaky Jon!

Jonathan Stapleton has written a deliberatively provocative piece in Professional Pensions which will be applauded by the operators of workplace pensions but is going to get short shrift from me.   You can read  Jonathan’s opinions here. The gist of Jonathan’s … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, de-risking, Debt, NEST, now, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why employers must understand the value for money of their workplace pension

  Among the remedies leading from the FCA’s Asset Management Market Study was a clear recommendation …that both industry and investor representatives agree a standardised template of costs and charges and we propose to ask an independent person to convene … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Four ways to harvest what auto-enrolment has sown!

We have to think how we can best support the 1m employers who have workplace pensions. Here are some solutions we’re coming to. Continue reading

Posted in accountants, auto-enrolment, NEST, now, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Financial Planning – a minority sport.

    “Financial planning is a minority sport for the wealthy” – @henryhtapper @NESTInsight pic.twitter.com/HVS0EMlWHt — Talya Misiri (@Talya_PA) July 5, 2017 It was fun debating with Debate Mate and Tom McPhail – who is great mate! A sense of … Continue reading

Posted in NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Feed and skim” – how NEST want to help the low-paid save more.

Thanks to NEST and their think-tank NEST Insight for a scorching day on top of the National Theatre which yielded some real thought leadership. Delighted as I was to lock horns with some very bright students (and Tom McPhail) in … Continue reading

Posted in NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

“Is it worth planning when the future’s so uncertain?”

Today is NEST Insight day;  it’s also TTF symposium day.  So I’ll be cycling from the City to the South Bank like Mark Cavendish (pre-crash). At the TTF event, Beccy Young and Robert Finer will be presenting the FCA Asset Management Market Study … Continue reading

Posted in NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

NEST’s dirty laundry on the line!

  Thanks to First Actuarial for producing this chart for this blog. Here’s how to read In 2010 when NEST opened , it had no assets – it  had quite a lot of debt (£134m* from setting up days as … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Time to dig this Government out of its hole?

Tax, national insurance and pensions policy should be put in a vault marked “toxic” and should be handled with extreme caution. This morning I have three toxic issues to prove my point. The fiasco of announcing an increase in national insurance … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An algorithm cannot lie

  An algorithm cannot lie; it will tell you what you set it to tell you with the data you fed it. It has no choice, it is entirely deterministic;- and yet algorithms can help you lie. Let’s take a … Continue reading

Posted in NEST, Pension Freedoms, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments