Tag Archives: Pension Pound

Redefining the choice architecture at retirement.

    In this blog I talk of Pension Pathways, which is what I call the variable pensions payable to people choosing to transfer their retirement savings pots  into  Collective Money Purhase pensions. Put another way, they are the scheme … Continue reading

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Should pensions be personal?

I’m surprised to say that for the first time, the Pension Play voted unanimously after the 25th London lunch held at the Counting House on Monday December 5th. What, you might ask, could bring the following fine minds together in … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, customer service, dc pensions, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

24 cheers for The Pension Play Pen Lunch

There’s a fine tradition in this country of people getting together in coffee houses and taverns and sorting out how and with whom business should be transacted. This was how the insurance market was founded in London and it still is how … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, Facebook, mallowstreet, NEST, pension playpen, pensions, social media | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Le Pension Crisis est Arrivé

Image via Wikipedia PWC report today that the value of DC pension pots has fallen by 30% in the last three years. This Telegraph article gives the grim details. This is not a paper loss which can be reversed if markets recover, … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Fiduciary Management, NEST, OECD, pension playpen, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

PPF II -opening the door for a better DC

We are where we are – the social contract has been decided… not compulsion but impulsion; impulsion  into a DC pensions model that relies on the markets to deliver a second tier of pensions. Our retirements will be funded from employer and employee contributions over a … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, Liability Driven Investment, NEST, OECD, pension playpen, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

It’s the legacy, stupid!

If we really care about retirement outcomes, we have to think about this stuff and the £20bn of unclaimed (orphaned) pensions that are hanging around in the back cupboards of life companies and occupational pension schemes alike. Continue reading

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, customer service, dc pensions, de-risking, Liability Driven Investment, Martin Lewis, pensions, Treasury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A pound spent on pension’s as good as salary – the new golden rule

I published a blog recently on the need for the DWP to take notice of the real concerns of the ASA. It got some  really interesting comments made on various sites mainly opposing the ACA’s pessimism. Interestingly the pessimism of the actuaries mirrors … Continue reading

Posted in annuity, corporate governance, dc pensions, Fiduciary Management, pension playpen, pensions, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A broken housing market?

I have to admit to being baffled this morning by reports that house prices are set to increase by 25% (relative to what?), that rents will soar and that social (council) housing  will become scarcer. Apparently we are building less houses … Continue reading

Posted in corporate governance, dc pensions, RBS, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The right to screw up your pension

There’s a place in Iceland where the American and European tectonic plates grind together like two sets of molars. At Thingvellir you can smell the sulphur emitting from the fissures where the plates grind and you can peer into the unfathomable … Continue reading

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When we make company pensions compulsory..

My point is that the pensions industry has a once off opportunity to get it right, this is our London Olympics and while we need to have our heads down making sure the infrastructure to make this work is in place, we should take a little time out to celebrate the fact that this “new day” is but a year away (M &S will be auto-enroling this time next year).

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Posted in annuity, corporate governance, dc pensions, mallowstreet, NEST, pension playpen, Retirement | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments