Who Saves for Retirement? Analysing Incentives for Saving Using the Wealth & Assets Survey

26 Jan 2012: James Lloyd of the Strategic Society Centre and Tim Fassam of the Prudential summarise the results of an extensive survey exploring public attitudes driving pension saving, and draw conclusions in the context of the Government’s new workplace pension auto-enrollment system starting this October.

Insurance Regulation in 2012: Finding Solutions to the “British Dilemma”

11 Jan 2012: Financial Secretary Mark Hoban MP summarises the UK Treasury's latest work in insurance regulation, including the UK regulatory reforms, Solvency II, and response to the European Court's gender ruling. He the UK's dominance in the global insurance markets both retail and wholesale which cannot be underestimated, and any regulatory reforms must be reflective of the unique issues in this sector.

Simon Ashby: Rethinking Risk Managment and Regulation in a post-crisis world .

09 July 2011: The global financial crisis has sparked considerable debate and analysis of its causes and of the lessons to be learned. This paper seeks to make sense of the crisis in terms of its implications for the management of risk. It reflects on the future for the practice of risk management, and provides some recommendations for financial institutions, and their regulators. Many of the recommendations are built around the notion that mangers and regulators should place more emphasis on the micro-level human/social aspects of the crisis.

Barry O'Dwyer: Balancing Risk and Return: Encouraging savings and learning to live with financial risk.

14 July 2011: It may be one challenge getting consumers to save safely and sustainably, but helping them to understand and more importantly live with the concept of financial risk is especially challenging given the setbacks in recent years in the financial markets. In this latest Thinkpiece on pension saving and financial capability, Barry O’Dwyer (Deputy Chief Executive of the Prudential) gives his personal view of some of these challenges.

David Trenner: Banned! Underwriting Annuities by Gender: Where Do We Go From Here?

21 March 2011: The landscape for retirement is changing. The UK Government is in the process of implementing a number of reforms to pensions to try to incentivise long term savings – including abolishing the requirement to annuitise by age 75. Changes are also afoot at the EU level and, on 1 March the European Court of Justice banned underwriting by gender. This thinkpiece considers the potential impacts of this ruling on the UK annuities market and the consumer within the context of the other reforms that are taking place.

Lucian Camp: Wanted: A Visionary Navigator and Innovative Thinker for Retail Financial Distribution

01 February 2011: TThe distribution of financial products has undergone sigificant changes in recent times as firms have begun to ultilise new technologies to reach consumers. In this Thinkpiece, Lucian Camp notes the progress made by what he calls the "D-I-Y driven distribution revolution" but controversially asserts that financial planning is still failing to engage the mass market. Ultimately, he argues, the industry needs a Bill Gates like visionary.

Duncan Minty: Culture and Ethics: A New Crucible for Regulator Thinking?

05 January 2011: In this thinkpiece, corporate responsibility and business conduct consultant Duncan Minty argues that culture could form an important part of the regulatory environment. He then begins to develop a framework for how this could be achieved and reflects on the strides already being made through voluntary market led initiatives.

Steven Cameron: Charging fairly for pensions

20 July 2010: The Head of Business Regulation at AEGON UK summarises the 2012 pension reforms introducing a controversial new charging structure for the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) scheme which will combine a fund management charge with a charge on contributions. Examining both sides of the argument, AEGON concludes that a combination charging structure is a positive move for all parties.

Eric Pan: The Future of International Financial Regulation

8 June 2010: TThe article summarises the challenges confronting attempts to strengthen the global financial regulatory archictecture. Prepared by a prominent regulatory law professor based in New York, the paper helps readers make sense of the various interlocking institutions such as the G20, IMF and European Union, and sets out the key issues and challenges facing them as they deal with the effects of the financial crisis.

Gemma Tetlow and Matthew Wakefield: Comfortable Retirement Goes with a Crunch?/a>

Karl Snowden: Financial Regulation: What Good Really Looks Like?

10 November 2009: how much financial services regulation is appropriate to protect the public while promoting a free market has been a key debate within the industry and government in recent years, especially after the financial crisis and on the eve of a general election. Karl Snowden examines various aspects of regulation, including what can and cannot be done to avert crises and produce the best outcomes.

Women and financial advice: the new model ‘financial health plan’

20 July 2009: Carole Nicholls, past PFS President and herself an experienced adviser, challenges the industry to evolve from the traditional ‘product’ driven offering to one based on ‘outcomes’. Nicholls suggests a model for a ‘financial health plan’ based on the popular WeightWatchers health plan.

Tim Jones: Personal Accounts - encouraging people to save for their retirement

21 August 2009: Tim Jones, Chief Executive of the Personal Account Delivery Authority, provides background to the personal accounts scheme which will be ready for the onset of employer duties in 2012, outlines the role of employer contributions and considers the investment strategy

Jane Vass: Inclusive design: the challenge of an ageing population

3 March 2009: Jane Vass, Financial Services Policy Advisor for Age Concern, examines the industry’s approach to delivering products and services to older people. She argues that there are large gaps in the design of mainstream financial products and services, with many providers ignoring the changing physical, cognitive, social and emotional needs of their older customers, and calls for the industry to take a new approach shaped by principles of inclusive design.

Nick Hurman AEGON Listening to Consumers

27 August 2008: The current retail distribution system is plagued by low financial capability, overly-complex products, and low levels of trust in the industry.  Supported by the findings of their major consumer research project that has spanned 18 months, Nick Hurman of AEGON argues that consumers can become engaged and confident with financial services—if the industry changes how it talks to them.

Mick McAteer - Longevity Challenge

19 June 2008: Financial services consumer advocate Mick McAteer provides a consumerist insight into the challenge of increased longevity on the insurance industry. 

Ros Altmann – Personal accounts and Money Guidance

29 May 2008: Dr Ros Altmann, one the UK’s top pensions experts, takes a critical view of the Government’s proposed Money Guidance service with respect to advice on retirement savings and personal pensions accounts.