Tag Archives: pension

I’m busy making sure I stay alive!

Posted on July 1, 2018 by

Stella and I were listening to the conversation between two couples while at dinner on the train last night. The younger couple were conventionally married and in their fifties, the couple opposite were a mother and daughter , the daughter … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Averting a pensions crisis?

Posted on June 12, 2018 by

I’m on a panel of speakers at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland tonight. The title of our session is “averting a pensions crisis” and were it not the title of the worst album of the seventies, I’d be … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Is fund management over-rated?

Posted on June 10, 2018 by

We’ve got used to thinking of fund managers as the kings of the lot. They are at the top of food chain in terms of pay and the respect offered them by the rest of the financial community. So the … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Who owns “value for money”?

Posted on May 15, 2018 by

  News from the stalwart Bob Ward that the FCA has dropped the term “value for money” came as a bombshell to participants in yesterday’s Pension Play Pen lunch. Since it’s about the only term left in the financial services … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Hey Willetts, leave those kids alone

Posted on May 8, 2018 by

The Resolution Foundation have today published a paper which has as its central thesis A policy shift is needed to mitigate risks and promote asset accumulation for all It calls on Government to intervene to make society fairer, at least … Continue reading →

Posted in advice gap, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Johnson misses the point; CDC is for the common man

Posted on May 7, 2018 by

  I don’t know whether Michael Johnson is being obtuse or obstructive, but either way, his letter to the Financial Times, misses the point.    A small cabal of consultants to the pensions industry has been banging the collective defined … Continue reading →

Posted in CDC, pensions | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

A blueprint for pension consolidation.

Posted on April 26, 2018 by

Yesterday I was reading the corporate accounts of MoneySupermaket.com. Last year, as well as generating nearly £400m of turnover and making over £100m in profit, MSM were given personal information by over half the UK adult population. 25m people volunteered … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Don’t blame advisers for non-advised drawdown!

Posted on March 29, 2018 by

“Savers accessing the burgeoning non-advised drawdown market are failing to engage with information, investing in unsuitable investments and risking running out of money in retirement, an FCA probe has found”. – John Greenwood – Corporate Adviser. You can read the … Continue reading →

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

In defence of small pension schemes

Posted on March 22, 2018 by

I went to bed worrying about this statement and woke up with it still rattling round my brain.  “A lot of employers are fed up with their pensions and want to see the back of them, they want to see … Continue reading →

Posted in actuaries, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Something “DC” that John Ralfe and I agree on!

Posted on March 19, 2018 by

I sometimes think John and I will never agree, I am forever looking at the world half full and he “half empty”, where I see opportunity, he sees danger, where he sees certainty, I see parsimony. But when John posted … Continue reading →

Posted in annuity, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments