Tag Archives: Business and Economy

Tomorrow’s problems today..the OFT on pensions

Answers on an e-postcard to http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/pensions Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, Financial Education, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Cobblers shoes – how an adviser selects a pension for its staff

If we can find a pension provider that knows what “good” is, I will be pleased. But I worry whether that may be as much a challenge for us. Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, Financial Education, First Actuarial, pensions, Retirement, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Reading through the palm of my hand

To suppose that we will be purchasing financial services  in 2014 as we did five years ago or even today could be a mistake. Walk down your high street and the only discretionary businesses are social clubs (coffes shops hairdressers and nail bars) – oh … Continue reading

Posted in brand, customer service, dc pensions, Management, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The solid value of insurance

“The people I talk to full into one of two categories, either you’ve built up some money and want to hang onto it, or you are looking to .” That was our opening gambit when we met with prospects. I … Continue reading

Posted in economics, Fiduciary Management, life insurance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Pensions dead by 2050 – taking the Michael?

The Daily Telegraph, which through Richard Evans has started writing sharp and provocative articles on pensions, came out with a corker just before Christmas. I read it on the beach and nearly choked on my sangria! Here it is in … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Australia, auto-enrolment, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, Henry Tapper blog, NEST, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, Treasury, with-profits | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Tsunami – make haste to higher ground!

You don’t need to be particularly clever to work out that in 2013 and 2014 , there are going to be a lot of purchasing decisions by employers if the “victorious” unblemished start to auto-enrolment is to be continued among … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, customer service, dc pensions, NEST, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Your 10 frequently asked pension questions

 Is Aviva a bus or a pension company? If I am entitled, am I eligible for a company contribution? If I am eligible, am I an entitled worker? Why has Gregg McClymont got so many consonants in his name? Why has … Continue reading

Posted in pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Challenging “received ideas”

Psittacism is the act of repeating something parrot fashion and I’ve seen a lot of it in the past couple of days. Received ideas are concepts that have been so often repeated that they can hardly be challenged. We know when we … Continue reading

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“The Employer’s Duty”

We talk blithely of the employer’s duties as if these obligations were pre-ordained. Economic Liberals may ask how we got to a world in which the Pension Regulator can issue a document entitled “Employer Duties and defining the workforce – an … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, Bankers, dc pensions, Financial Education, FSA, Henry Tapper blog, leadership, Management, pension playpen, pensions, poetry, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Why we mustn’t let the Royal Mail “pension solution” become a precedent

In Pension Age’s May edition, Paddy Briggs argued that the member’s best interests were not being served by the Government’s “sequestration” of the assets of the Royal Mail’s pension fund. Roger Turner produced a cogent riposte in your July/August issue … Continue reading

Posted in Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, Management, pensions, Public sector pensions, Royal Mail | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments