Tag Archives: GAA

Time for the FCA to review its DC lifestyle guidance ?

Thanks to James Farr of Aviva for helping me out with the FCA’s most recent pronouncements on pension lifestyling. James and I worked together at Zurich some 20 years ago and it’s great to know compliance experts at a time … Continue reading

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Assessment of 2021 IGC reports – a boring read but an important one!

Despite the efforts of the FCA to make IGC reporting more relevant to ordinary savers, I found this crop of IGC reports were bland and unambitious in their reporting of VFM. No IGC suggested that  value for money was not … Continue reading

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The IGCs are now in a tight corner – is this fair?

Normally at this time of the year I would be reading IGC reports and commenting on them. In future reports will be published by the end of September and will be considerably more challenging for IGCs to produce. In this … Continue reading

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IGCs duties to savers are clear, their duties to spenders aren’t.

The latest statement of intent by the FCA to improve value for money in workplace pensions arrived yesterday as Policy Statement  21/12.  This is not a discussion paper but new rules which came into force yesterday and the not so … Continue reading

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The SJP’s GAA report comes up short

  This is how the SJP Governance Advisory Arrangement measures the value for money offered by SJP’s workplace pension schemes. Behind this analysis is a statement from the GAA Chair The GAA believes that value for money is subjective and … Continue reading

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Can we get the IGCs and FCA back on the same track?

  The FCA’s relationship with workplace pension providers for whom they have oversight (e.g. the providers of group personal pensions and group SIPPs) has clearly deteriorated over the past 15 months, as has its relationship with their Independent Governance Committees … Continue reading

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Have IGC’s let savers down with impunity?

When it all began Back in 2015 , when the IGC chairs first met, I wrote a blog critical of IGC Chairs and their advisers who seemed to be publicly questioning the purpose behind Independent Governance Committees. You can read … Continue reading

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The FCA’s new approach to Pension Value for Money

The Backstory Back in 2014, with the excoriating OFT report fresh to mind, the FCA made a deal with the insurers not to refer the insurers to the Competition and Markets Authority in return for those insurers operating workplace pensions … Continue reading

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Who will patrol the investment pathways?

  Investment pathways are the big idea to help those getting to 55 and with pension freedom in sight. From August, people will be presented with four paths for their money. One takes them to a point when they can … Continue reading

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IGC reports 2019; what should we be looking for?

    For those who don’t follow this blog, I’ve been reviewing IGC reports since 2015/16 and intend to do so again this year. There is very little accountability on the IGCs. Though IGCs were set up to put right … Continue reading

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