Category Archives: Retirement

Controlling wealth is not the same as generating wealth

IFAs Control £591bn of Britain’s wealth. That’s a whole lot of moley. Continue reading →

Posted in Bankers, corporate governance, Fiduciary Management, Horse racing, Management, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

10 infrastucture opportunities pension funds cannot ignore!

The Government has announced that it wants UK pension funds to invest in UK infrastructure. This week we saw a slice of Thames Water purchased by the Chinese. I live on the Thames and as dawn rises this morning I’m on “Junk Alert” on “the partially yellow river”. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Bankers, Church of England, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, religion, Retirement, social media, Treasury, Twickenham, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“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

To get better pensions we need to share risk

Yesterday, Steve Webb announced he was  to review the level of protection that needed to be provided to private pensions in payment. His  intention is to help the solvency of defined benefit schemes which might need to reserve less for future guarantees. He is … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, Fiduciary Management, Management, NEST, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Can we have a word Mr Webb?

You mentioned that there should be a default position (on mallowstreet). I have argued that there is a default decumulation position, it is a level single life annuity provided by the insurer that managed your pension accumulation. This is a “pot-luck” position and many are buying appalling annuities as a result. This is at the root of what we, Robin Ellison, Con Keating, Alan Higham , the AMNT and Kevin Wesbroom, (to name but a handful of those calling for change), are trying to address. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Fiduciary Management, Liberal Democrats, NEST, Nick Clegg, pension playpen, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Popcorn pensions

I was sitting in Kentucky Fried Chicken with my friend Mr Peter Shellswell last week. We were eating the salad in case you are wondering. Popcorn chicken and gravy is my fave but we’d decided to be good. Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, Fiduciary Management, mallowstreet, pension playpen, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Is Auto-Enrolment a busted flush? Pension Play Pen lunch Jan 2012

The Play Pen sat down for the 26th time at the Counting House on Monday 9th Jan 2012-the first working Monday of the month. It concluded that their was life in auto-enrolment though enthusiasm for the project and for NEST … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, customer service, dc pensions, NEST, pension playpen, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Pension Equality? Don’t make me laugh.

Great news, – a group of civil servants (the National Audit Office) have decided to audit the work of another group of civil servants (the Pension Regulator) reporting to another group of civil servants (the DWP). The point of the audit is … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Bankers, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, Liberal Democrats, Martin Lewis, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

How Shell announced the closure of its DB Scheme to members

UK Retirement Benefits Review – 2011                                                                                                       December 2011 This update is primarily aimed at employees of the Member Companies of the Shell Contributory Pension Fund (SCPF) and Shell Overseas Contributory Pension Fund (SOCPF) who are members of those funds or … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions, Retirement, shell | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sorting the pensions of the “squeezed middle”.

There are three distinct streams among those old enough to work and young enough not to, Stream One is for  those who can look forward to retirement with a degree of confidence because their employer is guaranteeing it. They are primarily … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Bankers, corporate governance, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, Fiduciary Management, FSA, Henry Tapper blog, Liability Driven Investment, Martin Lewis, NEST, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments