The lang cat‘s Tom McPhail talks with industry experts and insiders about pensions and investments, regulation, technology, politics and policy-making .
Grown-up financial services insights for people who work here.
Tom is one of the industry‘s leading experts on pensions and retirement for over 20 years and former Head of Policy for the FTSE100 firm Hargreaves Lansdown. You can also find him on Twitter as @pensionsmonkey
ESG with Caroline Hopper of Quietroom
Caroline Hopper and I talk about what ESG looks like from a member perspective and how should it be communicated. We also discuss how it fits into the broader picture of member engagement and fraud prevention.
If Waldorf and Statler did financial services lobbying…
OK, so they’d probably be a bit funnier than us two, but Ralph Jackson of Lansons has been doing policy making on behalf of financial services firms since before I even knew it was a thing. He has a wealth of knowledge and insight about how the system works and how firms engage with political change.
State pension age, Parliament’s review of pension freedoms and some more structural musings
The state pension age is being reviewed so I’ve put together some facts, figures and reflections on our state pension and why the whole mess is Bismarck’s fault. I've included a comparison with how the French do it. I’ve also looked at the Government’s response to the DWP Committee’s report on pension freedoms and what it tells us about government policy.
What’s going on with retail investment platforms
The lang cat’s own ace data and insights analyst Steve Nelson, and antipodean refugee turned Citywire journalist James Fitzgerald talk through what’s happening in the world of retail investment platforms. Also, why Transact is the Sergei Bubka of platform pricing. If you want to know more about the lang cat's research into the platform market, head over here https://langcatfinancial.co.uk/publications/state-of-the-platform-nation-2021-22/
What’s the ABI up to?
The ABI is busy, on auto enrolment, pension engagement, advice and guidance, social care, small pots, dashboards, retirement income guidance and more; here’s an update on what’s going on. PS, I got the mic setting wrong on this one so the sound quality is a bit poor, sorry.
Some pension solutions
After last week's rant about what's wrong with pensions, an attempt this week to suggest some solutions, including a couple of slightly non-conformist ideas about the regulatory architecture and pensions tax relief
What’s wrong with pensions?
Not the definitive list of problems but a walk through some of the key pension policy issues that are on my mind, including pension freedom and taxation, Value For Money and Consumer Duty, the Statement Season that isn’t, the lack of joined-up-ness on the Stronger Nudge and the Treasury’s plans for regulatory reform. If you have any feedback on this episode, you can DM me @pensionsmonkey
The University Superannuation Scheme: learning some lessons
Independent pensions consultant John Ralfe doesn't pull his punches as he talks through the issues, myths and misunderstandings about the UK's largest funded defined benefit pension scheme.
The British Steel Pension Scheme: A spectacular and ongoing collective failure
Few individuals or organisations involved come out of this looking good. Philippa Hann of Clarke Wilmott gives an excellent explanation of what's been happening at British Steel; we also talk about some of the persistent flaws in the regulatory regime, including Professional Indemnity insurance and the regulation of Appointed Representatives.
What the Spring Statement means for financial services; also, more on advice and guidance
Now the dust has settled, Rachel Vahey from AJ Bell talks about the Spring Statement and what it means from the perspective of the financial services industry. We also talk about the boundary between advice and guidance and what can be done to meet the needs of consumers.
The financial adviser perspective
The lang cat's own Steve Nelson and Lisa Johnstone from VWM Wealth Planning talk about the state of financial advice, the world of financial advisers, the FCA and fintech. A wide-ranging chat that highlights some of they key challenges facing the industry today.
What’s that coming over the hill? Is it a pension dashboard?
Pension Dashboards really are now actually happening. Hopefully in the end it will be good news for consumers and maybe even the pensions industry too but in the meantime, it means disruption and cost. Chris Curry from the Pension Dashboard Programme (and sometimes the PPI too) and AJ Bell’s Rachel Vahey talk through what entails and where we’re going.
James Coney, Money Editor at the Times and Sunday Times
The media death spiral and recovery; Martin Lewis; financial advice fee charging; greenwashing and ESG - does anyone actually care? Fund manager accountability. Also a quick chat about Ali Hussain
The financial resilience and engagement episode
Financial resilience is about how well adapted and prepared people are to deal with the financial challenges that life throws at them. It’s a really important issue at both a personal and at a societal level. Nathan Long from Hargreaves Lansdown talks about the work they’ve been doing to objectively track the financial resilience of people in the UK. https://www.hl.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/17589844/A-savings-and-resilience-barometer-for-Great-Britain-final-report.pdf Savings and resilience comparison tool | Hargreaves Lansdown (hl.co.uk)
The Guy Opperman episode
The current Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion joined us at lang cat live to talk about whether pensions work for ordinary people. We touched on a spectrum of topical issues, including costs and charges, financial engagement, simpler statements, the statement season, the pension dashboard, the challenges in passing regulation and legislation, financial fraud and the auto-enrolment review. Also, how the state pension might be paid for in an independent Scotland.
The Steve Webb episode
Steve Webb, Liberal Democrat pensions minister in the coalition government between 2010 and 2015, talks about those coalition years; we also discuss what he sees as unfinished business on auto-enrolment and pension freedoms.
The view from the Investment Association: Purpose, stakeholders, technology and customer engagement
Jonathan Lipkin is Director of Policy Strategy and Research for the Investment Association, the UK's fund management trade body whose members look after £9.4 trillion of assets in the UK and around the world.
Pension freedom and retirement income
It has been nearly 7 years since George Osborne dropped his pension freedom Budget bombshell and we're still dealing with the fallout. In this episode Ian Costain and I explore some of the impacts and unfinished business, including pathways, the advice/guidance boundary, sustainable income and the role of annuities.
Does shareholder capitalism still work? The Tumelo episode
Georgia Stewart, the CEO of Tumelo joined me for this week's podcast to explore the extent to which shareholder capitalism still works, in a world where most investments are managed through fund managers and pension schemes. We talk about whether it is possible to restore the link between retail investors and the companies they invest in, why it is important and what her company is doing about it.
MaPS: what is it good for? Free Financial Guidance
Sarah Porretta is the strategy and insights director at the Money and Pensions Service, in this episode we talk about the development of the organisation, the financial wellbeing strategy, financial resilience, the link between money and mental health, financial education and Pension Wise.
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株式会社はてな創業者であり現在もITの第一線で働く近藤淳也が、京都の宿UNKNOWN KYOTOにやって来る「好きなことを仕事にしている人」を深堀りすることで、世の中の多様な仕事やキャリア、生き方・働き方を「リアルな実例」として紐解いていきます。 . 【ホスト：近藤淳也】 株式会社OND代表取締役社長、株式会社はてな取締役、UNKNOWN KYOTO支配人、NPO法人滋賀一周トレイル代表理事、トレイルランナー。 2001年に「はてなブログ」「はてなブックマーク」などを運営する株式会社はてなを創業、2011年にマザーズにて上場。その後2017年に株式会社ONDを設立し、現在もITの第一線で働く。 株式会社OND: https://ond-inc.com/ . 【UNKNOWN KYOTO】 築100年を超える元遊郭建築を改装し、仕事もできて暮らせる宿に。コワーキングやオフィスを併設することで、宿泊として来られる方と京都を拠点に働く方が交わる場所になっています。 1泊の観光目的の利用だけではなく、中長期滞在される方にも好評いただいています。 web: https://unknown.kyoto/ . こちらから本文を読んだりコメントが書けます！ https://listen.style/p/unknownradio
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