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
Guidance works
Many in the industry, myself included, have worried the advice/guidance boundary prevents businesses from helping their customers. With the help of Ian Beestin of Money Alive and Philip Hodges of Guiide, this episode explores how Guidance can in fact work within the current framework. Guiide the Happy Retirement Designer Risk Management Via Video Engagement - Money Alive
The annuities episode with Mark Ormston
Annuities have fallen out of fashion in recent years; given their obvious efficiency and utility, this begs the question, how and when will they be rehabilitated. Mark Ormston of Retirement Line gives us his perspective. www.retirementline.co.uk Retirement income market data 2020/21 | FCA Retirement income market study | FCA Retirement Outcomes Review | FCA
The Equity Release episode
In this episode, Tom talks about the equity release market and how it fits with later life financial planning. He also dissects recent publications, from the FCA/TPR on the pensions consumer journey and from the DWP on helping savers understand their pension choices HOUSE RULES - the lang cat (langcatfinancial.co.uk) FS22/3: Pensions consumer journey | FCA Helping savers understand their pension choices - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Pension engagement – the Robert Cochran episode
From pension freedoms, through workplace pensions to the new engagement season advocated by the Pensions Minister, better consumer engagement on pensions is a vital element of delivering better retirement outcomes.
The Pension Credit episode with Henry Tapper
Pension Credit is money the government struggles to give away. Henry Tapper of Age Wage and I talk through the issues. We also get onto Value For Money, retirement income and CDC schemes. Henry’s blog: Henry Tapper
It’s going to be a busy summer
A quick review of current policy initiatives from the FCA, DWP and HM Treasury suggests we may not have a lot of time for summer holidays this year.
Making allowances for pensions
Along with Andrew Tully and Paul Speight of Canada Life, I try to make some sense of the pension tax allowances, the state pension and almost inevitably, the advice/guidance boundary.
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
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一日一配
声の日記。自分の声で日記を書く、LISTENならではのポッドキャスト。
jkondoの朝の散歩
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ミシマ社ラジオ
本をあまり読まない人も、本好きな人も、思わず本を読みたくなる、そんな時間をお送りします。出版社ミシマ社が運営する、本との出会いがちょっとだけ広がるラジオ
近藤淳也のアンノウンラジオ
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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