Tag Archives: Office of Fair Trading

An advice gap…or a competence gap?

Posted on July 27, 2013 by

I wish the OFT success in their endeavours, I enjoyed reading their interim paper and I’m sure I will enjoy reading the output of their current research in the autumn. In the meantime, we have work to do. Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The death bell tolls for commission –

Posted on July 3, 2013 by

Another step on the hard road to pensions decency Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, auto-enrolment, dc pensions, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“We don’t know what we’re doing”!

Posted on June 16, 2013 by

To the average fan it is not the fans or player or clubs that bring the game into disrepute it is the referee – hence the chants the politest of which is “you don’t know what you’re doing”. But it’s never that simple. What … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, auto-enrolment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Has Webb scotch’d the commission snake – or killed it?

Posted on May 12, 2013 by

All the advisers needed to do was to make promises. They did not have to keep them. Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, Fred Goodwin, pension playpen, pensions, poetry, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

A momentous day for restoring confidence in UK pensions

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

We cannot have confidence in a system where member’s pensions can be impacted by as much as 30% though advisory arbitrage. Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, workplace pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Taking meaningful investment choices off the shelf

Posted on January 25, 2013 by

  I’m  pleased to hear that NEST is planning to explain its investment plans that everyone can understand.I visited their offices last week and spoke with their chief investment officer about this. I hope that as part of this explanation , he’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, club pension, dc pensions, de-risking, London, NEST, pensions, Popcorn Pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Dear OFT….

Posted on January 24, 2013 by

I see you are looking into pensions and will be completing a “market study” by August that  will focus on value for money and the size of pension pot savers end up with at retirement. I hear it will look … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, dc pensions, First Actuarial, NEST, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Vertical disintegration

Posted on January 20, 2013 by

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

Call out the instigators

Posted on January 18, 2013 by

The Office of Fair Trading has decided to get stuck into workplace pensions. Pension people fight grimly on like  townspeople uner siege in the 100 years war. The OFT is the  invincible siege engine wheeled to the gates. In August this year,  the OFT … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, David Pitt-Watson, dc pensions, governance, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions, Retail Distribution Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments