Tag Archives: advice

IFAs and actuaries – as easy as “A Cap B”.

For half of the 30 years I’ve been advising people, I was paid by private individuals to help them take difficult financial decisions. For the other half, I’ve been paid by employers to help their staff take difficult decisions. This … Continue reading →

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Advice and education

  I chaired a meeting of independent financial advisers at RIBA yesterday. The best thing about the morning was the half hour spent over lunch in the wonderful Rennie Mackintosh exhibition within RIBA’s beautiful HQ in Great Portland Street, a … Continue reading →

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Why are we so unproductive?

News is out that Britain produces in five days what the French produce in four Robert Peston has written a series of articles on this over the past few days. Here is the gist of it. on the basis of … Continue reading →

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Auto-enrolment needs payroll and advisers on the same page.

News reaches me from up north of an abrasive public meeting in which a major payroll disputed the value of financial advice in staging auto-enrolment. I need not name names, sadly it comes as no surprise to hear a payroll software providers … Continue reading →

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Advisers advise, fiduciaries govern.

I am going to New York next month to talk about risk sharing in the UK. I will be sharing my session with Simon Nelson of Eckler, a Canadian actuary and we’re comparing notes at the moment. I’d like to … Continue reading →

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Two thirds of SMEs are pension virgins.

New research is out on the purchasing intentions of the remaining 1.2m employers who aren’t “in” to auto-enrolment. Of the  SMEs surveyed who are yet to stage, two thirds (66%) don’t have any existing pension arrangements for their staff while … Continue reading →

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A rosy outlook for employers and workplace pensions

Five years ago, one of the major concerns for the Johnson Committee that Steve Webb set up to consider auto-enrolment was whether there would be choice by the next election. At the meeting, attended by all the workplace pension providers, it … Continue reading →

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Why are we not talking about our pensions? An IFA’s view (guest blog)

On 6 April 2015, brand new rules that affect the way UK retirees can access their pension will come into effect. To assist people in generating their retirement income the government has guaranteed free guidance to all retirees, yet a … Continue reading →

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Pension transfers – are they worth it?

Britain is in great need of advice on transfers between one pension and another. This doesn’t just mean transfers from defined benefit schemes to defined contribution schemes, it means support in transferring pot to pot transfers for DC arrangements. Unless … Continue reading →

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A code of good practice for transfer advice?

  We are rubbish at financial risk and we know it. We take decisions on financial matters with as much confidence as betting on the horses and if our horse falls at the first we blame everyone but ourselves! Small wonder that … Continue reading →

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