Tag Archives: Holland

Other ways of doing CDC

  It’s great when you wake up – turn on your phone and get a really great couple of messages! This is what happened this morning to me Last night John Ralfe had been asking me where I felt CDC … Continue reading

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Getting CEOs and Chairmen “seriously relaxed” about pensions.

I don’t normally hob nob with FTSE 30  Chairmen so when I met one at a party over the weekend I hit on him about pensions…this is the nub of the conversation Me-What do you know about auto-enrolment? Chairman-My pension person … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, corporate governance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Maybe consumer cynicism about pensions is right..

I want to restore faith in a pensions system we were once proud of. Yesterday I wrote about the Plumbing and Mechanical Services Pension Scheme – which you can read about here. Today I am praising a brilliant pamphlet published by … Continue reading

Posted in dc pensions, defined aspiration, Financial Education, Management, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

“I cannot advise you on that Sir”

Here is a salutary tale for our times. Not a tragic tale – no disaster resulted – but a sad tale that demonstrates what happens when staff become scared to help customers. Anyone who has travelled on an “advanced” train ticket knows that … Continue reading

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Can pension saving really grow the economy?

Putting a stealth tax on an employer’s wage bill of 3% and frog-boiling millions to reduce their take home by up to 4% doesn’t fit comfortably with a growth strategy for the economy. Less money to spend. Many regard UK pension policy … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, happiness, Henry Tapper blog, NEST, Payroll, pension playpen, Popcorn Pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

So you want better pensions?

I’m going to Holland next week to talk to European Fund Managers about how they engage with the UK DC market, it could be a short presentation. Ironically, the Dutch  pension system is delivering 50% more pension – per pound … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, auto-enrolment, Change, Management, Martin Lewis, pensions, Personal Accounts, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

500,000 pensioners who will get no help from the Government.

If you have purchased an annuity in the past three years of are likely to purchase one in the next three years you will be buying into pension conversion rates artificially depressed by the Government‘s quantitive easing program and by insurance … Continue reading

Posted in Change, corporate governance, dc pensions, defined aspiration, NEST, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The 500,000 retirees abandoned by the Government

If you have purchased an annuity in the past three years of are likely to purchase one in the next three years you will be buying into pension conversion rates artificially depressed by the Government‘s quantitive easing program and by insurance … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, Bankers, corporate governance, dc pensions, Henry Tapper blog, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Collective Defined Contribution Schemes – A Shameful Missed Opportunity

An article by Kevin Wesbroom. In December 2008 the Government published the response to its paper on risk sharing pension schemes.  The opening sentence of the Executive Summary states “The Government is committed to encouraging good practice pension provision.”  In December … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, customer service, dc pensions, defined aspiration, pensions, Public sector pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

The Spurious Certainty of Chicken Licken

There are two certainties – death and taxes; oh – add to that a pension in payment! Or so the officers of the DWP , the Government Actuary and the Pensions Regulator would have it. GAD tried to knock the idea … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, Management, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 125 Comments