Category Archives: Treasury

Who pays for a register of pensions?

I’ve been writing this week about the small pension policies that most of us have “lying around” in some drawer or other. Maybe they came from well intentioned pension savings plans that just couldn’t be kept up, maybe from company DC schemes that … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, Management, Martin Lewis, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement, social media, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 54 Comments

Aspirational pensions – popcorn pensions!!

There are going to be a lot of objections to aspirational pensions over the weeks and months to come, but for me they are popcorn pensions – delicious, affordable and while they may not be the haute cuisine of the guaranteed Final Salary plans pragmatic.

Continue reading

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, de-risking, EU Solvency II, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, Management, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Public sector pensions, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

A hunger to educate – more on Popcorn Pensions

Hunger is not a word you’d associate with actuaries. One of our clients described the team working for her as “happy puppies” who approached the task of educating members with ” hunger“. These are not words that exist in the … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, customer service, dc pensions, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, mallowstreet, Management, pension playpen, pensions, social media, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 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

My five big challenges for twenty twelve

If I thought I’d be here twelve months ago I wouldn’t have bothered. I’d have gone straight to jail, not passed go and not collected my £200. I reckon most of us would have preferred to be on the subs … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Bankers, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, NEST, Retirement, Salford Quays, social media, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unexpected risks – people just don’t get pensions (education).

We’re all aware that investing in the stockmarket is a “risky” business, it’s easy to understand how the sharp falls in stock markets impact on your savings and as stock market falls are the staple of media reporting, it’s not surprising that … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Bankers, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Fiduciary Management, FSA, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Retail Distribution Review, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

He’s not a politician – he’s just a very naughty boy

Clarkson is not a politician, he is an obnoxious controversialist trying to be a comedian Continue reading

Posted in Church of England, corporate governance, jeremy clarkson, Occupy London, OECD, pension playpen, social media, Treasury | 2 Comments

Treasury 1 DWP 0 (Steve Webb o.g. 89 minutes)

I wouldn’t like to be Steve Webb this afternoon. Having protested for the past few weeks that the DWP‘s auto-enrolment timeline was carved in stone, we learn today that employers with 3000 or less employees  (for details follow this link!) will have another year or so to … Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, Church of England, customer service, dc pensions, Liberal Democrats, Middle East, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pension Play Pen lunch rescues Generation Y from retirement hell

DISCLAIMER; this account is in no way a fair representation of either the event or the views of any of the participants . It  is produced to provoke thought and pleasure – blue sky on a grey day. In a shock … Continue reading

Posted in Church of England, de-risking, pension playpen, pensions, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Can no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?

The running gag is that the Church of England’s the Tory Party at prayer and if there’d been a Tory party in 1170 I reckon they’d regard Giles Fraser and Thomas Beckett as peas from the same pod. My Sunday … Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, Church of England, Fred Goodwin, Occupy London, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment