THE DAY PENSIONS GOT EDGY
Yesterday, over 200 pension-world glitterati gathered at Peterborough Showground in front of a sterling cast to debate the big issue in pensions today: DB to DC transfers. It was absolutely roasting. There was energy in the room. There were arguments. People were wearing shorts. I wished I was wearing shorts. Before I go any further, […]
DataViz: A fresh look at financial services
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, then financial services has gone well and truly mad. Having joined the industry around two months ago, this has been my overwhelming impression of the tired-old lines and scary figures that the industry constantly churns out […]
PS16/12 and the mystery of the cover photos
Another week, another chunky missive from the FCA. Although happily, PS16/12: Pensions reforms, feedback on CP15/30 and final rules and guidance didn’t make me feel like turning green and smashing stuff. So that’s a good start. PS16/12 follows on from CP15/30: Pensions reform, proposed changes to our rules and guidance. It looked at whether consumers […]
Booting ISAs in the baws – tax year end 2015/16
Well now, the IA has just put out its stats for tax year end (TYE) 2015/16 and it’s not nice reading. The full release is here but this table which I nabbed from the release tells quite a story. 2014/15 was generally reckoned to be a relatively sucky year for the ISA season, which has […]
UFPLS NO MORE?
There’s a new endangered species to add to the ever growing list. Never mind your black rhinos or your Sumatran orangutans. No, the one we need to worry about is UFPLS. The ABI has called time on pensions jargon. It’s consulting on a new guide to pensions language which will clear away the confusing in […]
E-I-E-I-Oh, not that kind of FAMR then
We’ve already taken a light touch (ahem) look at the FAMR report overall but, in among all the consultations and not consultations and the stuff that is actually going to happen but will take time and the fact that aspects might get upended by MiFID II at some point over the next 18 months, lies […]
Indebted to technology
One of the housekeeping points I chatted through recently with @theactualpolson was the matter of company expenses. As much as I left my old job on good terms I had to relinquish my beloved old company credit card, so I needed to apply for a new one to cater for the massive Lang Cat expense […]
Elven safety at #langcatlive
So we’ve had Mr Polson’s version of the #langcatlive experience. A perspective largely from behind a camera which, after a little cross-London sprint and some highly educational narrative, was happily attached to a tripod. (There’s a lesson in there: checklists are great as long as you remember to put stuff on them.) We’ve also had […]
What I learned at #langcatlive
Well, that was a blast. Our first ever solo event went pretty damn well, we exceeded our expectations on numbers, all the speakers were ace and Henry Cobbe of Birthstar stole the show with a blow-up doll joke. I say consider that day seized. As much for my remembrance as anyone else’s, here are a […]
A dam fine retirement guide
Having spent the last couple of months SWIMMING in the pool of change that is the UK at retirement market – not just DIPPING A TOE, you understand but DIVING right on in there – a couple of things struck me. First, that freedom can be a pyrrhic victory. Old King Pyrrus of Epirus might […]
