You usually need 35 qualifying years of National Insurance contributions to get the full State Pension in the UK. If…
In the states, certain retirement savings programs have unique "catch-up" provisions - where those whose income varies from year to…
NEST’s Guided Retirement Fund in the UK gets part of the way there by separating money according to its intended…
"As usual with The Times, this is a briefing about England & Wales only." I'm so old that I can…
Tag Archives: Office of Fair Trading
An advice gap…or a competence gap?
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 Business, corporate risk, dc pensions, Financial services, Office of Fair Trading, OFT, pensions
1 Comment
The death bell tolls for commission –
Another step on the hard road to pensions decency Continue reading
“We don’t know what we’re doing”!
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 Funds, Government, Gregg McClymont, Morningstar, Office of Fair Trading, OFT, pension, Steve Webb
1 Comment
Has Webb scotch’d the commission snake – or killed it?
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 Employment, FCA, Financial Conduct Authority, Financial services, Office of Fair Trading, OFT, pension, Steve Webb
9 Comments
A momentous day for restoring confidence in UK pensions
We cannot have confidence in a system where member’s pensions can be impacted by as much as 30% though advisory arbitrage. Continue reading
Taking meaningful investment choices off the shelf
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
Dear OFT….
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 AMC, August, Dublin, Employment, Financial services, Office of Fair Trading, pension, Pension Regulator
18 Comments
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
Call out the instigators
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
Agreed!