Just when it was all going so well, the pensions levy might be about to ruin the auto enrolment party Stop the clock: the DWP’s consultation on the pensions levy ended this morning. So far, so boring. Well – boring but important for things like fairness, competition and the state not interfering in the private sector or distorting markets… those sorts of mundane things. The situation: The Pensions Regulator collects a flat annual “pensions levy” per [...]
Show me the money: How to complete a fundraising round in a post-Brexit vote world In this post Brexit vote world, we’ve heard a lot about the forthcoming apocalypse but, thus far, the sky hasn’t fallen on our economic heads. Sure, sterling has taken a pounding against the mighty dollar (less so against the rather feeble euro) but it seems tourism may have surged as a result, Arm is under offer (though [...]
Will Brexit affect my pension? All your post-referendum questions answered While it was always expected to be close, the fact that the UK has voted to leave the European Union is a genuine shock for most people. With the vote exposing divides between England and Scotland/Northern Ireland, London and the rest of the UK and younger and older members of society, what will it mean for [...]
Workplace pensions: In praise of the humble master trust May 18, 2016 I woke up this weekend to a series of vaguely apocalyptic headlines about workplace pensions, master trusts in particular. And today none other than the country's most revered pensioner, Her Majesty The Queen, has opined on the topic. Being managing director of Smart Pension, a provider of workplace pensions via our own secure master trust, I must speak [...]
Is Workie, the government’s psychedelic embodiment of the workplace pension, a hit with audiences – or is it P45 time? November 19, 2015 Eyebrows have been raised at his £8.5m price tag; Baroness Altmann, the pensions minister, has taken to her government blog to defend him and he's been described (somewhat uncharitably) as an "outrageously condescending supersized gonk". So the question is…is "Workie", the government's psychedelic embodiment of workplace pensions, working? It's clear something had to be done to get the message [...]