Tag Archives: Research

Did active managers protect us from the pandemic? American research says “NO!”

Posted on July 31, 2020 by henry tapper

    Are active fund managers working harder for us through the pandemic?  Not according to an analysis of mutual fund returns and flows. It seems that what has served investors well is being in funds investing in  equities that … Continue reading →

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

New research shows BSPS transfers driven by fear not greed.

Posted on June 24, 2019 by henry tapper

  I have on my google drive a piece of research conducted by one of my friends – a steelworker himself – who was one of the main pillars of support for steelworkers faced with the hard choice of whether … Continue reading →

Posted in BSPS, pensions | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Hargreaves Lansdown’s IGC as pretty and effective as a chocolate teapot!

Posted on April 28, 2018 by henry tapper

    In 2015, David Grimes and the Hargreaves Lansdown IGC, delivered what remains the worst IGC report I have ever reviewed. Things improved considerably in 2016 but the IGC has not kicked on and I find the 2017 report … Continue reading →

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Pension paralysis over the net-pay rip off.

Posted on April 13, 2018 by henry tapper

I won’t bore you with a list, but there are 31 blogs on this site dealing with various aspects of the net-pay rip-off which is denying hundreds of thousands of low-paid people the incentive promised them by HMRC for contributing … Continue reading →

Posted in Payroll, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

With dementia in mind.

Posted on April 12, 2017 by henry tapper

Why don’t we design financial services for the elderly with dementia in mind? The needs and capabilities of those in their eighties and nineties can be quite different from those in their sixties and seventies. We would not treat a twenty … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Beware “black-box” auto-enrolment “solutions”.

Posted on July 20, 2015 by henry tapper

Katie Morley of the de Daily Telegraph has written an important article claiming that the occupational schemes set up to relieve the needy of their pension savings before retirement are now turning their sights on auto-enrolment. This may or may not … Continue reading →

Posted in First Actuarial, pensions, Pensions Regulator, Popcorn Pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why Bill Gross so doesn’t matter

Posted on October 1, 2014 by henry tapper

  I went to a posh PIMCO conference at the Langham Hotel, I got very bored and left after the first session. Later that week PIMCO announced that their bond guru Bill Gross had left them. The story was that … Continue reading →

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Why the IMA are so wrong about fund research.

Posted on August 9, 2014 by henry tapper

  There had been signs that the Investment Management Association (IMA) was at last coming to terms with the needs of consumers and those who advise them to reveal the cost of owning their funds. In May , Daniel Godfrey- its … Continue reading →

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

Honest research from Towers Watson on employer attitudes to workplace pensions

Posted on March 5, 2014 by henry tapper

I have a lot of respect for Towers Watson. They may be big but they have kept their integrity through their expansion and the people who work for them demonstrate a focus on their customers and an intellectual integrity that … Continue reading →

Posted in auto-enrolment, Payroll, pension playpen, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment