Tag Archives: Insurance

Vertical disintegration

14 of the largest insurer offering pension plans have agreed to publish the true costs of the funds they off to people buying the personal and company pensions they run. These funds sit on “platforms” which provide investment administration , keep … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, hargreaves lansdowne, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

The solid value of insurance

“The people I talk to full into one of two categories, either you’ve built up some money and want to hang onto it, or you are looking to .” That was our opening gambit when we met with prospects. I … Continue reading

Posted in economics, Fiduciary Management, life insurance, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why we don’t need to fear a pension “advice gap”.

Last night it was the House of Lords, this morning it was a Parliamentary Select Committee. Both were concerned that an “advice gap” has been created that will mean poor people do not get financial advice on retirement planning. The argument goes that … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

How will employers chose their pension plans?

As everyone should now know, employers are going to have to provide a pension plan and some  money to fund their staff’s retirement. The rules and guidance are complex but the idea is simple – “you’re in”. But “in” to what. … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, Management, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Investing in the sunny uplands!

A common theme in my blogs is the frustration that people get stuck in the wrong kind of investments wrong in terms of charges, wrong in terms of management and wrong in terms of the suitability of the fund to a … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, FSA, happiness, leadership, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, with-profits | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Challenging “received ideas”

Psittacism is the act of repeating something parrot fashion and I’ve seen a lot of it in the past couple of days. Received ideas are concepts that have been so often repeated that they can hardly be challenged. We know when we … Continue reading

Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Does your pension scheme need advice?

WARNING- THIS BLOG CONTAINS A SHAMELESS PLUG FOR OUR SERVICES! (transparent as always!) I’m travelling up to Nottingham this morning to talk to Employers and Trustees who are asking themselves “Does our pension scheme need advisers”. Meeting similar groups recently, the answers I’m … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, Change, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, defined aspiration, Financial Education, FSA, happiness, leadership, Linkedin, mallowstreet, Popcorn Pensions, Retirement, social media, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Is honesty contagious? More on pension charges.

I’ve just read an excellent blog by Alastair Conway of Cofunds published on FT Advisor. It deals with the issues IFAs are facing as they enter the new world formed by the Retail Distribution Review and focusses on the adoption … Continue reading

Posted in auto-enrolment, Change, dc pensions, NEST, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An amnesty on pension charges is not the answer!

It seem that Aviva are to review the legacy charges on pension charges. Tom Mcphail is calling for a general amnesty on charges that hints that there is currently a “charges war”. There isn’t a charges war Tom, if there was … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, auto-enrolment, Bankers, Change, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, Financial Education, pensions, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Send in forensic actuaries to sort out these “rip-off” pensions!

Spookily, a couple of hours after I’d published yesterday’s blog about how the DWP had ducked the dodgy question of how to sort out legacy pension charges, Steve Webb, the Pension Minister issued an appeal to the pensions industry to … Continue reading

Posted in actuaries, annuity, auto-enrolment, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, Fiduciary Management, Financial Education, leadership, Retirement, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments