Tag Archives: finance

Michael, it’s not Auto-Enrolment’s that’s failing low-earners!

“Automatic enrolment is failing many low earners. Millions of them are both serial borrowers via consumer credit, paying APRs in excess of 30%, and auto-enrolled into default funds typically targeting an annual real return of under 3%. The DWP should … Continue reading

Posted in advice gap | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Death by discount rates

Q: When is a million dollars not a million dollars? A: When it is not yet a million dollars. The pensions business is all about the long term. Fund managers like me are responsible for ensuring we have sufficient funds … Continue reading

Posted in de-risking, defined ambition, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

If not a house…what ?

This chart taken from Office of National Statistics Data – seems significant. It shows that in the period following the financial crash renting became the norm for young adults in the UK. Buying a house in your twenties was – … Continue reading

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Fancy finance or cheaper houses?

  I recently wrote a blog arguing that we could make more use of the  burgeoning financial education/wellbeing brigade to get youngsters saving for proper housing of their own. My thoughts focussed on finance but of course the Government want … Continue reading

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

What do you do when the lights go out?

Professional Pensions run the story of the £22.9m fine dished out to State Street who had been double charging clients for years. I had thought of custodians till recently as their name suggests as guardians of assets, not as asset strippers. … Continue reading

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

John Kay has not left the room.

I had read Professor John Kay‘s Review of UK Equity markets and long-term decision making but it wasn’t till I heard him speak yesterday that I “got it”. Kay’s concern for the state of the UK financial services market goes much … Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, governance | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Replacing the financial salesman in the workplace.

Auto-enrolment killed this kind of adviser as video killed the radio star. Continue reading

Posted in advice gap, annuity, auto-enrolment, Payroll, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Bankrupt graduates – W.O.T.

We are  a nation in debt. Jointly and severally. As a country we have lived beyond our means, individually we have spent more than we have earned. The problem is not universal and many individuals have managed their finances well, … Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, Student debt | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Keeping kids solvent

Vivi Friedgut is quite a woman. Still in her early thirties she has left the world of private banking where she could make easy money advising the super-rich. She has chosen to invest her private capital in educating students and those at … Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, customer service, Facebook, Henry Tapper blog, pensions, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Not saving replaces debt as Britons’ biggest financial regret

Not saving replaces debt as Britons’ biggest financial regret Continue reading

Posted in Bankers, Martin Lewis, NEST, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment