Tag Archives: VFM

The time is right for pension price disclosure.

Posted on June 4, 2017 by

Last week I went to the FCA to discuss price disclosure with the Regulator. The time is right for people to understand what they pay to have their pension managed. I am one of the few people who gets information on … Continue reading →

Posted in IGC, pensions | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lifetime pricing – a broken model?

Posted on May 30, 2017 by

    Of all the orthodoxies within pension insurance, the concept of “lifetime pricing” is the most sacred. What Lifetime pricing means for an insurance company is the promise of a stable stream of profit from an insurance policy over … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, pensions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Prudential’s 2017 IGC Chair report

Posted on March 19, 2017 by

  The Prudential’s Lawrence Churchill has published the Prudential IGC’s Chair Statement (the first of the crop). You can read it here https://www.pru.co.uk/pdf/PRUAG5076_A.pdf. Last year, I reviewed this Statement and gave it the thumbs up, I’m going to give it … Continue reading →

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

Where next for “value for money”?

Posted on January 26, 2017 by

  Value for Money is the holy grail for the fiduciaries of workplace pensions. In this article I outline how the providers of workplace pensions are going about establishing value for money and looking at ways to improve things in … Continue reading →

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

Over-consulting ; not a victimless crime!

Posted on January 16, 2017 by

I was “distressed” to read of a new way of extracting fees from the sponsors of DC pensions, the value for money review/assessment. http://tinyurl.com/ju4ppnp Ok – I wasn’t distressed – I was cross! Value for Money is not as complicated … Continue reading →

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

Transaction costs- what Pension PlayPen has to say to the FCA

Posted on December 17, 2016 by

The FCA’s consultation paper on Transaction Costs and Charges is important and timely. It enables those who are governing our workplace pensions to do their job and makes sure that those who invest our money- do their’s. Here’s the response … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The IGCs must not slip into the pocket of their provider

Posted on December 2, 2016 by

I hear worrying reports of various IGCs meeting and pronouncing their tasks “too hard”. Phrases such as “I don’t know how this would play with my provider” have no place in an IGC’s lexicon but they are reported as littering these … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Is you trustee/IGC getting you value for money? (guest blog from Ralph Frank)

Posted on June 9, 2016 by

  The concept of ‘value’ has been exercising Trustee Boards (“TBs”) and Independent Governance Committees (“IGCs”) for some time.  TBs are required to evaluate “the extent to which the charges and transaction costs represent good value for members”.  Similarly, IGCs … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Don’t be passive; just because your tracking

Posted on June 5, 2016 by

  Most of us have our pensions invested in passive funds. I use a passive grammatical structure because we do not choose , our funds are chosen by others, hopefully with our best interests in mind. So the best we … Continue reading →

Posted in pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

No value without trust- PPI on “value for money”

Posted on May 5, 2016 by

Yesterday , the Pensions Policy Institute  delivered its “Value for money in DC workplace pensions” paper. The report can be read or downloaded from this link The central thrust of which was that “value ” was undervalued and too much … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, pensions, Pensions Regulator | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments