Tag Archives: defined benefit

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

Posted on March 30, 2017 by henry tapper

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

The CWU pension proposals – your questions answered.

Posted on March 17, 2017 by henry tapper

Yesterday’s article got a lot of interest and a number of people have asked for the technical details behind the CWU’s headlines; but first the headlines! All 130,000 Royal Mail staff could have access to DB accrual going forward Members … Continue reading →

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

More FAKE NEWS on pension deficits #FABI

Posted on February 22, 2017 by henry tapper

The Government’s just published its green paper ‘Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes’. It’s already generated knee-jerk headlines claiming 11m employees could see their pensions cut. The green paper refers to “under-funded schemes” and “stressed employers”, but can’t … Continue reading →

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

Elements of Truth – and Complete Misunderstandings (Con Keating and the DB Green Paper).

Posted on February 20, 2017 by henry tapper

    This is an era of fake news, half-truths and outright lies. Spin and distortion have become the fabric of a false DB pension narrative; their unjustified ruination. Some “fact checking” is appropriate. We hear again and again that … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Diversity, Narratives* and Pensions (Con Keating)

Posted on January 20, 2017 by henry tapper

This blog first appeared in Professional Pensions, if you’ve read it before, read it again. “What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning.”    W. Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, Bankers, pensions | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

A suffocating man craves the foulest stench.

Posted on January 20, 2017 by henry tapper

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

Let’s put an end to pension transfer privilege.

Posted on January 2, 2017 by henry tapper

“Sexy cash” legitimised? A few years ago , Sir Steve Webb, then our pension minister, stood in front of the PLSA and berated Boots and its pension scheme for tempting members out of the pension scheme with cash incentives. He … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Good and bad news for Tata’s pension scheme

Posted on December 10, 2016 by henry tapper

BSPS members down but not out The deal facing members of the British Steel Pension Schemes(BSPS)  isn’t great , but it’s a whole lot better than that predicted. What’s clear is that there won’t be much future accrual of defined … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is the USA the model to recover our DB deficits?

Posted on December 4, 2016 by henry tapper

This article was published on October3.com and reports how American pension finances are recovering through perseverance in growth assets and from an uptick in interest rate projections. Just how relevant it is for the UK- I’ll leave for you to … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Con Keating – Damage control

Posted on November 25, 2016 by henry tapper

This blog is by Con Keating; Con Keating is head of research at Brighton Rock Group and a member of the steering committee of the financial econometrics research centre at the University of Warwick One of the favourite narratives of … Continue reading →

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