Tag Archives: CETV

The pension transfer debate can’t be left to experts!

Posted on May 28, 2017 by

I’m a big fan of outright hostility on social media, especially if it is directed at me. I don’t rate myself as anywhere near as good as Paul Lewis – who is the master at absorbing and developing such hostility … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

WTW-you don’t “de-risk”; you transfer risk!

Posted on May 7, 2017 by

In late March, Willis Towers Watson (WTW) published a survey of the choices made by 170,000 members of occupational defined benefit schemes. This is the question the survey sets out to answer “What choices have pension members made since the dawn … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Isn’t life looking up for our DB Plans?

Posted on May 4, 2017 by

  Say it quietly but the outlook for our defined benefit pension schemes is improving. Members , trustees and sponsoring employers can be heartened by five concurrent signals – all of which suggest that the cataclysm predicted last year by … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Why we’re forever blowing (transfer) bubbles!

Posted on April 28, 2017 by

    It’s a shame that Alistair Cunningham’s thought-piece on behavioural bias’ encouraging herds of us to “cash-out” our DB pensions, is behind a pay-wall. If you are an FT subscriber you can use the link at the end of … Continue reading →

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

A note on transfer values and “reverse transfer risk”.

Posted on March 30, 2017 by

James Greer of Old Mutual is reminding financial advisors that there’s a risk of advising clients to stay put and not take a DB Transfer Value. Our data suggests that only about 15% of transfer values applied for are taken … Continue reading →

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

Should we be wary of cheap financial advice?

Posted on March 24, 2017 by

Robert Reid is a very professional IFA and  someone I like a lot. He represents IFAs and stands up for their interests in Money Marketing. His latest article argues that “cheap advice” especially cheap advice on pension transfers, is wrong. … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

My biggest financial decision was made with professional advice.

Posted on March 21, 2017 by

The most important single financial decision facing the baby-boomers of middle England today is what to do with their defined benefit pension rights. It is – alas – a binary decision as few schemes offering split transfer values; the choice is “should I stay … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

A suffocating man craves the foulest stench.

Posted on January 20, 2017 by

Such is the pressure on trustees and sponsors of our defined benefit schemes to appear solvent, that they welcome the transfer of their potential pensioners to “cash” as a suffocating man breathes fetid gas. It is within the capacity of … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Transfer values – Con Keating sees a comedy of errors!

Posted on January 5, 2017 by

This blog is from the pen of Con Keating     There has been a spate of requests for quotations of transfer values from DB schemes and much publicity given to some of the more public figures who have taken … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Con Keating on the real cost of pension transfers

Posted on January 3, 2017 by

  Imagine buying a bond at par, say a ten-year, ten-percent coupon issue; then let five years pass, when market interest rates decline to one percent. At this time, the bond is trading in the market at £143.68 percent. Now, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pension Freedoms, pensions, Retirement, trustee | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments