Financial Services Unplugged with Tom McPhail (the lang cat)

Defined Benefit pensions, LDI, regulatory failure and the real-world consequences of pension tax policy on the NHS

We cover recent inquiries on pension freedom and saving for retirement; the stronger nudge and increasing take-up of guidance; preventing pension scams; how to build on auto-enrolment; the current inquiry on LDI investing and forthcoming work on DB pensions.

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

The Government has BIG PLANS for pensions, after the Chancellor's Mansion House speech we got to see a clearer picture of where they want to take us. Redington's brilliant Russell Wright joins me to reflect on the Value for Money framework and how it intersects with this next round of consultations...

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.

Shifting demographics and the nature of our ageing population pose some particular social challenges. In this episode, Aviva head of savings and retirement Alistair McQueen explores some of these issues, and why Aviva is looking to champion the interests of older workers (a subject close to the heart of 50-something podcast host Tom McPhail).

Alistair and Tom also reflect on the changing dynamics between people, their employer and the state, as well as some of the ways we can start to close the advice gap.

For due diligence support, market insight from the lang cat and more, visit https://platformanalyser.thelangcat.com/blog. Go premium for full Platform Analyser access.

Presented by Tom McPhail. Produced by Ross Burns.

Andrew Tully of Canada Life joins me to discuss the FCA's retirement income thematic review; the forthcoming Budget and what it might mean for pensions; and a bit of a reflection on what a Labour government could mean.

Michael Johnson sets out a radical and thought-provoking vision for reform of the UK's state, workplace and individual pensions, with a view to simplicity and long-term sustainability. Pensions: a vision for the future - Social Market Foundation. (smf.co.uk)

In this first half of what turned into a two part recording, I talk with Darren Philp, a man with whom I’ve shared a few beers over the years, we talk about his time working in the Treasury which is where I first met him when he was working in Drawdown policy, we also talk about the pension dashboard and about the world of workplace pensions. With his experience in the public sector, at a trade body and now at a commercial provider, Darren has an amazing breadth and depth of experience. If you’re at all interested in pensions policy and politics, then you’ll enjoy listening to him.

If you want a perspective on UK pension provision and policy from someone who has spent time working on other pension systems around the world, Jamie Jenkins from Royal London is your man. We talk here mostly about UK pensions but with some interesting insights from others' experieneces.

Nathan Long of HL joins me for a rich feast of pension news: party conferences, the Value for Money framework, the government pensions review, the latest FCA data and a look ahead to the Budget.

Unpicking the Budget pensions announcements with Tom Selby from AJ Bell

Everyone in the industry wants to stamp out scams and fraud, however the delays in transferring customers' money are themselves costing everyone a lot of time and money. Phil Warner from Hargreaves Lansdown talks through the issues (NB apologies for the sub-optimal sound quality on this episode)

Mike Ambery from Standard Life joins me to talk about what the new government is up to and what he learned on his recent research trip to Australia

Stuart McDonald of LCP takes us on a brilliant canter through what's happening with life expectancy and longevity and the implications for pension provision.

Link to Stuart's report, referenced in the podcast: https://www.lcp.uk.com/pensions-benefits/publications/longevity-report-2023-a-new-era-for-longevity-insights-to-tailor-your-journey/

Adrian Boulding makes a compelling case, not just why CDC schemes are a good idea but also, crucially how they are actually going to happen

Scott Phillips of the Pension Lab joins me to talk about Dashboards, the surprisingly dysfunctional LOA system and what some in the industry are trying to do about it

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.

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. 

Corporate Adviser editor and award-winning journalist John Greenwood and I talk about some of the highlights of 2022, including the problem with net-zero; price caps and illiquid investments and consolidation. We also take a look at 2023, decumulation and whether early access to pensions is a good idea.

...in Which Dave Henderson of Penny https://pennypension.com and I offer a couple of suggestions for how to make pension transfers work better

Futurologist Eleanor Winton talks about how businesses can plan for future disruption and uncertainties. We also talk about the work we did with Parmenion to anticipate the world of financial advice in 2030.

Dave Henderson is a fintech enthusiast, he spent nearly 20 years at Hargreaves Lansdown, now he's an adviser to Fintech West, he's a board member at the Accounting, Economics and Finance department of the University of West of England and he's helping get a couple of fintech start-ups up and running. In this episode he walks me through the impact of open banking, the Khalifa review and some of the interesting trends in financial technology.

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

My colleague Alison Gay and I review the party manifestos published to date and consider the key personal finance promises

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

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)

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

In which Robert and Charlie from Money Guided talk about how to help people manage their money better

Not one but two really knowledgeable and thoughtful individuals join me to reflect on workplace pension reforms: Philip Brown of the People's Pension and Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown. 

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.

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.

Tom Selby of AJ Bell helps me try and make sense of the mother of all reshuffles and we make some moderately well-informed predictions about the forthcoming Autumn Statement

The excellent Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown talks through with me the Government's pension review, retirement adequacy and its complexities, financial resilience and the work they've done tracking it and we finish with a look ahead to the Budget on 30th October. 

HL Savings and Resilience Barometer | July 2024 | HL

One of the few real product innovations post pension freedom is Just's Secure Lifetime Income. Peter Ellis talks to me about how it works and about the FCA's latest post-pension freedom regulatory review

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. 

The FCA is looking at Equity Release advice this year, as part of its retirement advice review. Jon Dunckley has written an independent review of the Equity Release market, looking at how the sector can evolve from here…

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 happening with the FCA's review of advice and guidance and where might it take us? We're expecting an announcement in the near future; in the meantime, expert insight is provided by Michael Lawrence of Bovill | financial services regulatory consultancy in UK, Asia & Americas and Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown | ISAs, pensions, funds and shares (hl.co.uk).

The Pensions Policy Institute has produced a brilliant analysis of the UK's pensions system, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of dozens of underlying components, and the trade-offs across the competing high-level objectives.

In our launch episode, we chat to AJ Bell head of retirement policy Tom Selby about what it’s like to work for a big platform business, the gender pay and investment gap and the Budget and pension tax reform.

We also discuss the Treasury’s back and forth (aka the ‘reverse ferret’) on the normal minimum pension age, and touch on what came out of COP26 for financial services firms.

Check out Tom McPhail’s Platform Analyser article on the implications of the age 57 rules:

https://platformanalyser.thelangcat.com/blog/how-the-new-age-57-rules-will-change-pensions

Presented by Tom McPhail. Produced by Ross Burns.

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. 

Tom Selby and I unpick the political, fiscal and personal finance fun and games of the Budget

Alex Funk of Portfoliometrix and I discuss the world of DFMs and MPS, and the implications of the Budget and the US Trumpquake

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

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.

...in which Catriona McInally of M&G Wealth and I discuss Consumer Duty, Lifestyle planning, vulnerable customers, segmentation, ponies and the Scottish Highlands

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.

The 2024 Advice Gap report is the definitive guide to the advice market, the dynamics of the sector and the impact of the FCA's Consumer Duty. Co-author and colleague Mike Barrett is here to explain all. You can download a copy of the report here The Advice Gap 2024 - The Lang Cat

What are Labour's plans for pensions and are we going to see a big bang scheme consolidation initiative? Tom Frackowiak from Cicero joins me to discuss these questions and also to talk about the alternative reality of political party conferences.

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.

Joe Dabrowski from the PLSA on pensions in the Autumn statement, retirement living standards, 5 steps for pension reform and pension scheme consolidation.

This isn't about DB scheme LDI strategies because that would be boring. Instead Nathan Long and I talk about politics, pension tax reform (again), annuities rate rises and investment losses and the tantalising possibility of regulatory reform

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.

Richard Smith gives the expert's view on where we're at with the development of pension dashboards, drawing on years of experience in the UK and fresh insights from across Europe. 

Rachel Vahey of AJ Bell talks with me about the Triple Lock, the LTA, Pension Freedoms and the advice/guidance boundary review

...in which my colleague Alison Gay explains why the FCA is consulting on SMCR; she also reveals a handy hack for consultation responses and we discuss PIMFAs recent suggestions for rethinking the disclosures regime.

The FCA's proposed solutions and consultation questions analysed with expert help from Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown and Michael Lawrence of Bovill. You can also read Michael's thoughts here Advice Guidance Boundary Review puts transformative change on horizon - Bovill

FT Adviser editor Simoney Kyriakou and the future for financial advice firms

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

Andy Tully joins me to talk through the Nucleus research on retirement confidence; who's confident, who isn't and the factors that affect confidence. Clue: it's really important to have a plan...

What should have been simple has proved to be anything but; HMRC has created a new way to inflict misery on unsuspecting pension savers. Jon Greer from Quilter gently explains everything we need to know. We also discuss what a new Labour government might do with the rules.

This is the big one, clear the diary, wrap a wet towel round your head and get to grips with the Consumer Duty. In this episode, Mike Barrett and I discuss the key challenges and how firms can survive and thrive in this new world order.

Links:

PS22/9: A new Consumer Duty (fca.org.uk)

FG22/5: Final non-Handbook Guidance for firms on the Consumer Duty (fca.org.uk)

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.

AJ Bell are lobbying for a radical simplification of ISAs. Tom Selby explains why, and how it could work. You can also read more about it here AJ Bell calls for ISA overhaul in radical simplification of UK savings system | AJ Bell

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)

This week it’s the turn of Parmenion senior investment manager and all-round ESG guru Mollie Thornton. We talk to Mollie about what next after COP26, and whether the conference can be judged as a success or a failure.

As you’d expect, we also look at how the world of ESG investing is evolving, plus the various policy initiatives at play and the specific developments advisers and planners should be paying attention to.

For due diligence support, market insight from the lang cat and more, visit https://platformanalyser.thelangcat.com/blog. Go premium for full Platform Analyser access.

Presented by Tom McPhail. Produced by Ross Burns.

7IM's Ben Kumar talks with me about geopolitics, investment risk management, regulatory change and lots more

Right at the end of 2022, I recorded this conversation with Jim Boyd, the CEO of the Equity Release Council. We talk about the role of housing wealth in later life, regulation, the state of the market and what needs to change.

James Slevin of Target (targetprofessional.co.uk) joins me to discuss the challenges of pension scheme data management, the pension dashboard, member identification and...how to get a false passport...

A quick round up of all the many current retail financial services policy initiatives and a chat with IFA and cash-flow modelling aficionado Nicola Ellis of Wellington Wealth 

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. 

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.

This week’s podcast is part two of an excellent conversation with Darren Philp, in which we talk about CDC schemes, pension tax reform, DWP legislation plans and the vexatious problem of small pension pots, including what should be done about overseas workers. Given the subject matter we can only apologise for inexplicably missing a golden opportunity to make a dad joke about Grecian earns.

Pension Dashboards are delayed, the government still doesn’t know what to do about small pots and people aren’t engaging with their pensions. Fintech and pensions expert Dave Henderson of Penny pensions and I discuss whether or not everything is fine…

Now the dust has settled, Steven Cameron and I revisit the Autumn Statement, the state pension, social care and the in-trays for the new Pensions and Treasury Ministers

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.

As part of the solution to the small pots problem, the DWP is interested in Pot for Life. This has worked well in Australia and could lead to Auto-enrolment 2.0. This episode looks at what it is, how it could work and some of the challenges that would need to be dealt with.

Another big week for pensions policy, James Dowling helps me pick out the highlights.

This episode explores whether CDC could be the solution to the retirement income challenges posed by pension freedom. Simon Eagle explains how and why he thinks it could work.

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.

Simon Harrington from PIMFA and the Lang Cat's own Mike Barrett have both done the hard yards and read the papers so you don't have to. In this episode we talk about the FCA's Consumer Duty, what it is, why they are introducing it, who it will affect and whether it will make any difference.

Nick drops in to talk about the platform sector, technology, Soderberg and doing things differently and about the new Platform Association

A quick roundup of expected pensions policy announcements, a run through of the FCA's retirement advice review and the ongoing problems with pension transfers

Investing in the Future: Boosting Savings and Prosperity for the UK (institute.global)

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigberry/p/is-it-time-to-let-the-pension-investment?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigberry/p/is-it-time-to-let-the-pension-investment-1f4?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web 

Mike Barrett and I explore the barriers to people getting more financial advice and we look at hybrid advice with Chet Velani of EV.

You can download Mike's report here ADVICE GAP REPORT - the lang cat (langcatfinancial.co.uk)

Ryan Murphy of Morningstar talks through with me behavioural theory and some of the practical insights that can lead to better investing outcomes

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.

...in which Gregg talks to me about pension investments in infrastructure and politics from the viewpoint of an ex-shadow pensions minister.

Andrew Tully from Nucleus on why we need a long-term savings commission

There's a lot packed into this 40 minute conversation with Guy: He talks about Pension Awareness Week; the Midlife MOT; Pension Dashboards; consolidation of pots, pensions and regulators; the role of trustees; Value for Money; Pension Freedom and decumulation; and he talks about Pension Credit. He's also not shy with his praise and his criticism.

A quick review of some of the highlights from the multiple policy papers on pension reform published by the government this week.

A follow up Budget episode, digging into some of the financial planning questions thrown up by Jeremy Hunt's changes with the help of Alice Guy from Interactive Investor

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. 

'...the most bruising quarter we've ever seen for advised platforms', was how my colleague Rich described the latest update on platforms. So here we talk through what's going on...