Category Archives: Treasury

All change on pensions – a positive outlook for 2013!

Posted on December 30, 2012 by henry tapper

Neasa MacErlean has written a great article in the Independent which you can read here. I was asked to collaborate on one or two sections and I’m quoted as inciting members of workplace savings plans to up the ante and make sure that … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

What Steve Webb must do now.

Posted on October 17, 2012 by henry tapper

Well Mr Webb, you said it; I refer to your excellent talk at the IOD (16/10/12) First you said that you would legislate for “pot follows member” in 2014/15 .Then when asked what happens if a member transfers to a bad qualifying scheme, you … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, CDC, dc pensions, defined aspiration, Financial Education, Henry Tapper blog, Management, Payroll, pensions, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

Does your pension scheme need advice?

Posted on August 14, 2012 by henry tapper

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

Too important to hide;- why the Government has to investigate pension default charges

Posted on August 8, 2012 by henry tapper

LCP, the pensions consultancy, yesterday published its first DC Fees Survey and very good it is too. It confirms what we knew, that the investment fees and charges for some DC funds are not transparent, that they can be as much as 100% … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, Bankers, Change, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

End of an epoch?

Posted on July 25, 2012 by henry tapper

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

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

Posted on July 25, 2012 by henry tapper

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

500,000 pensioners who will get no help from the Government.

Posted on April 27, 2012 by henry tapper

If you have purchased an annuity in the past three years of are likely to purchase one in the next three years you will be buying into pension conversion rates artificially depressed by the Government‘s quantitive easing program and by insurance … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, corporate governance, dc pensions, defined aspiration, NEST, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Stamp Collecting – Britain’s most profitable hobby.

Posted on April 13, 2012 by henry tapper

Once upon a time Britain invented the universal penny post that allowed your for 1d to send a letter anywhere in the UK. Because we invented the service and did the infrastructure properly we became the envy of the world and … Continue reading →

Posted in corporate governance, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Steve Webb’s good week

Posted on March 24, 2012 by henry tapper

Now anyone who can talk of a “regulatory regime which allows 1000 flowers to bloom” has got to have been taking the happy pills. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, defined aspiration, Liberal Democrats, Management, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The cheque’s in the post

Posted on March 12, 2012 by henry tapper

The Chancellor is due to receive a “windfall” of £25bn if plans for the Government to take over the Royal Mail pension fund go ahead. In a sleight of hand that would make David Blaine blush, this will enable the … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments