Reading Time: 7 minutes So this is about strategies and tactics to understand and get past I am right you are wrong type situations and get to better outcomes. Specifically I am going to address this through three vignettes. But before we start I’d like to ask you to picture a recent example of a disagreement. I’m sure you can … More I am right, you are wrong…
Reading Time: 6 minutes What I read this summer Stumbling on Happiness The pursuit of happiness is built into the very definition of human desire. We treat our future selves as though they were our children, spending most of the hours of most of our days… volatilityviewpoint.w… The Inevitable From one of our leading technology thinkers and writers, … More What I’m reading summer 2017
Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s good to reflect, like many of you I spend a lot of time looking forwards, setting goals, moving forward, thinking about what we’re going to achieve. That’s what gets you far, but I’ve learnt it’s also important to look back, see how far you’ve come. That gives motivation, helps push on through the inevitable … More Five years as part of a small team doing important work
Reading Time: 5 minutes I really enjoyed this fantastic article which featured in the March issue of Harvard Business Review, and explores the Deloitte Business Chemistry model in relation to trying to understand differing work styles and team dynamics. I’d definitely recommend reading the article in full if you haven’t already. Pensions It got me wondering – how might … More Why a Focus on Personality Matters for a Better Pensions Team
Reading Time: 10 minutes The Work & Pensions Select Committee (WPSC) Pension Protection Fund and Pensions Regulator inquiry consultation certainly attracted a good number of responses. I count almost a hundred in that list and presumably not all are yet published! Most of the major investment & actuarial advisory firms are represented there, as well as PPF and The Pensions … More Consulting firms reply to the WPSC Inquiry
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Expected returns don’t pay benefits, cash does” Anthony Hilton recently wrote a stinging attack on pension consultants -like myself- who advise defined benefit pension schemes to measure, and hedge, their liabilities with reference to gilt yields. Here’s one (of several) reasons why he’s wrong. His argument – that you could fund based on the much … More Why Anthony Hilton is Wrong on Pensions
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s not been a good summer for the financial health of UK DB pension funds. Data released by the PPF in September underlined a summer of bad news for schemes and scheme sponsors. A continued trend of falling gilt yields have seen liability values increase dramatically – adding more than £200bn to the aggregate deficit … More Grim Summer for DB Pensions
Reading Time: < 1 minute DB Pensions News September 2016
Reading Time: 4 minutes Just back from a couple of great (sunny!) days in Edinburgh for the institute of actuaries conference which importantly this year incorporated pensions, investment and risk components together for the first time. Quite a lot of interesting takeaways and observations from around the industry. As Marian Elliott said in the first session “To the worm … More Two Days Among Actuaries
Reading Time: 5 minutes This article first appeared in the May 2016 edition of The Actuary magazine (here) The past 10 years have been a uniquely challenging, volatile and uncertain period for UK defined benefit pension schemes. How well have they weathered the storm? We found out by analysing data published by the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) in its … More Taming Pension Risk?
