Posted on
27th January 2012 by
John Griffin
None of the above has had a great press recently.
Take Diane Abbott – if you dare. Diane was this country’s first black woman MP and has a reputation of being a bit of a maverick – in other words, she often says things worth listening to and doesn’t always toe the party line. Given that she’s been an MP for almost 25 years it was surprising that she made a bit of a faux pas recently by claiming that “white people” liked to play “divide and rule”. Read more »
Posted in: Blog
Tags: Pensions, Public Sector Pensions, Retirement
Posted on
19th January 2012 by
John Griffin
There has been much chatter in recent days about the Government’s effort to crack down on excessive boardroom pay. Coincidentally (or conveniently?), we’re also approaching the annual bonus season at the big banks. Now, I’m not suggesting that the inevitably lower banker bonuses will be claimed by the Government as evidence that it has found a way to tame the excesses of executive pay, however … Read more »
Posted in: Blog
Tags: Investment, Pensions
Posted on
11th August 2011 by
John Griffin
I was momentarily startled yesterday to read that S&P could be responsible for the meltdown of the US economy – I hadn’t realised that the reach of Spence & Partners stretched so far. I then realised, of course, that they were referring to the “other” S&P.
Standard & Poor’s, one of the three main credit rating agencies had decided to downgrade its ratings for US debt because it felt that the recently agreed debt-reduction plan, forced on President Obama by the US Tea Party, wasn’t going to do the trick.
The stance taken by S&P (the ‘other’ one), however, may not be well-founded. For instance, the other two of the three main agencies – Moody’s, and Fitch – are less pessimistic, and the yield on US 10-year Treasury bills is still lower than almost all other nations that still retain the AAA-rating, so lending to the US is still perceived to be a safe investment.
This put me in mind of the American US satirist, P J O’Rourke, who, loosely translated, once described economics as an entire scientific discipline of not knowing what you’re talking about. Who really is in a position to predict the future? Read more »
Posted in: Blog
Tags: Economy, Investment, Retirement
Posted on
23rd March 2011 by
John Griffin
1 October 2012 may seem like a long way away, but it is a date that should be etched in the calendar of employers of all sizes. From that date, employers will begin to be obliged to automatically enrol their eligible workers into a workplace pension arrangement.
The first employers to be affected will be the largest employers (those with at least 120,00 workers) but this will relatively quickly taper down to medium-sized employers so that, by October 2013, employers with only 800 workers will be obliged to comply with the new requirements.
Some of the issues employers will need to face include:
- Associated increased costs
- The position of existing pension arrangements or schemes
- Views on different arrangements for different grades of workers
- Comparing their overall remuneration package with that of competitors
- The views of owners or shareholders
Combined with the reduction of the Annual Allowance from £255,000 to £50,000 from 6 April 2011, this makes it vital for all employers to review their pension arrangements.
Any employers ready to meet this challenge should contact Spence & Partners, whose consultants are highly qualified and proficient at providing advice and solutions to all pensions-related challenges that employers may face. Working with the employer, we will be able to construct a plan which is fit for purpose and will ensure compliance with the new requirements.
In the first instance, you should contact Alan Collins, head of employer advisory services on 0141 331 9970 or email alan_collins@spenceandparnters.co.uk
Posted in: Blog
Tags: Employer issue, NEST, Pensions Reform
