Henry Tapper

Actuaries and accountants on the state of our NI fund I am glad I started a blog as a conversation between Prem and Dan  about the state of the national insurance fund. I would not let two accountants have the last word. Here are two comments from ven…

Here is Bryn Davies who sits with Prem Sikka in the House of Lords and like Young is an actuary.

I won’t side with Andy Young or Bryn Davies but I will repeat that my heart is with Prem and so with Bryn.

The value your money pot’s buying now – or tomorrow – as pension Can you compare the master trust pensions with what you can do yourself? Background AgeWage’s has fully developed its at retirement (“Immediate Pension – IP”) comparison engine. It tells you …

The value your money pot's buying now - or tomorrow - as pension henrytapper.com/2025/08/05/t... We think the pension dashboard will be a sound start, but it will need some help – so will the millions who use it!

Debate on the Pension Commission’s value -10.30 today – entry link inside Tuesday August 5th (today) Roundtable chaired by Bryn, Lord Davies of Brixton. Joined by Tom McPhail, Margaret Snowdon OBE and Arun Muralidhar. Join the meeting here Copy the link to your diary if …

Debate on the Pension Commission's value -10.30 today - entry link inside henrytapper.com/2025/08/05/d... Roundtable chaired by Bryn, Lord Davies of Brixton -joined by Tom McPhail, Margaret Snowdon OBE and Arun Muralidhar. I'll be the devil asking "can we afford LA LA solutions?"

Debate on the Pension Commission’s value -10.30 today – entry link inside Tuesday August 5th (today) Roundtable chaired by Bryn, Lord Davies of Brixton. Joined by Tom McPhail, Margaret Snowdon OBE and Arun Muralidhar. Join the meeting here Copy the link to your diary if you prefer Last week we had the launch of the Pension Commission. At the Pension Playpen I was chatting with Steve Goddard and the crew before Jon turned up and - filling the space - Steve asked me if I was looking forward to the next 18 months of Commission .

Debate on the Pension Commission’s value -10.30 today – entry link inside

Tuesday August 5th (today) Roundtable chaired by Bryn, Lord Davies of Brixton. Joined by Tom McPhail, Margaret Snowdon OBE and Arun Muralidhar. Join the meeting here Copy the link to your diary if you prefer Last week we had…

The value your money pot’s buying now – or tomorrow – as pension Can you compare the master trust pensions with what you can do yourself? Background AgeWage’s has fully developed its at retirement (“Immediate Pension - IP”) comparison engine. It tells you how the retirement income you are being offered by a mastertrust compares with the best annuity  you are being offered. But most people looking at what's going to be available will have to make a decision based on a projection, they will have an estimated retirement income (ERI) from the dashboard from October 2026.

The value your money pot’s buying now – or tomorrow – as pension

Can you compare the master trust pensions with what you can do yourself? Background AgeWage’s has fully developed its at retirement (“Immediate Pension - IP”) comparison engine. It tells you how the retirement income you are being…

Rebalance Earth appoints Ruston Smith as chair Report from Jonathan Stapleton first appeared in Professional Pensions. Move comes as asset manager looks to scale nature-based infrastructure Investment Smith has more than 40 years in the pension fund and investment industry including experience of chairing large pension funds, asset managers and private market companies. His appointment comes shortly after the West Yorkshire Pension Fund committed £25m to the cornerstone portfolio of Rebalance Earth's forthcoming nature-based infrastructure fund…

Rebalance Earth appoints Ruston Smith as chair

Report from Jonathan Stapleton first appeared in Professional Pensions. Move comes as asset manager looks to scale nature-based infrastructure Investment Smith has more than 40 years in the pension fund and investment industry including experience of…

Actuaries and accountants on the state of our NI fund I am glad I started a blog as a conversation between Prem and Dan  about the state of the national insurance fund. I would not let two accountants have the last word. Here are two comments from venerable actuaries. I got a comment from my friend Andy Young who was the Government Actuary for the DWP (DHS, DSS or whatever). He had this to say after reading my blog…

Actuaries and accountants on the state of our NI fund

I am glad I started a blog as a conversation between Prem and Dan  about the state of the national insurance fund. I would not let two accountants have the last word. Here are two comments from venerable actuaries. I got a comment from my…

Wonderful cricket – productivity low this morning! I seem incapable of doing the simplest thing , like making an appointment, I will restrict myself to this thank you to cricket for making us all remember one of the best series there can ever have …

Wonderful cricket - productivity low this morning! henrytapper.com/2025/08/04/w... It is nearly lunchtime and I hope that after letting my brain reset itself, I can get back to work. Right now, writing this blog and sending our Indian team congratulations – is all I’m up to!

Wonderful cricket – productivity low this morning! I seem incapable of doing the simplest thing , like making an appointment, I will restrict myself to this thank you to cricket for making us all remember one of the best series there can ever have been. With 7 wickets left, with Root and Brook making it look easy and India looking like they'd lost the plot - you could get any price on India to win.

Wonderful cricket – productivity low this morning!

I seem incapable of doing the simplest thing , like making an appointment, I will restrict myself to this thank you to cricket for making us all remember one of the best series there can ever have been. With 7 wickets left, with Root and Brook…

Dan Neidle or Prem Sikka’s plans for the DWP budget? There are two ways of looking at the national insurance fund. Prem’s tweet has a lot of fun photos but not much sensible comment. I am pleased this rebuff is coming from Dan Neidle. This is t…

Dan Neidle or Prem Sikka's plans for the DWP budget? henrytapper.com/2025/08/04/d... This is a real debate, the kind of debate between a conservative accountant and a socialist Professor of accounting. I can see where both are coming from.

DWP’s on how we’re saving – not what we’ll get- yet! The DWP’s big message is that private pensions are confined to those who’ve been in defined pension plans. 95%, of the 12.8 million individuals in receipt of a private pension pa…

What we have is a collective effort by British employers to make saving for retirement part of employment and it is working – even without compulsion

DWP’s on how we’re saving – not what we’ll get- yet! The DWP's big message is that private pensions are confined to those who've been in defined pension plans. 95%, of the 12.8 million individuals in receipt of a private pension payment in 2024 to 2025 are in receipt of a Defined Benefit or an annuity. They're the ones who know what they're getting , the rest just know we're saving!

DWP’s on how we’re saving – not what we’ll get- yet!

The DWP's big message is that private pensions are confined to those who've been in defined pension plans. 95%, of the 12.8 million individuals in receipt of a private pension payment in 2024 to 2025 are in receipt of a Defined Benefit or an…

Protecting the seller and the customer when finance is the product. Anyone who has sold financial products in the pension sector prior to 2012 will remember commissions negotiated between salesforces and product providers. Most of these commissions were discretiona…

Protecting the seller and the customer when finance is the product. henrytapper.com/2025/08/04/p... When money is the retail product there will always be a commission based threat to customers and salesmen. The FCA are right to go at the banks, the money is at the top of the pyramid.

Dan Neidle or Prem Sikka’s plans for the DWP budget? There are two ways of looking at the national insurance fund. Prem's tweet has a lot of fun photos but not much sensible comment. I am pleased this rebuff is coming from Dan Neidle. This is the kind of issue that should be on the agenda of the Pension Commission and I am neither totally with Prem or Dan. Here's Prem's reaction to the NI fund accounts…

Dan Neidle or Prem Sikka’s plans for the DWP budget?

There are two ways of looking at the national insurance fund. Prem's tweet has a lot of fun photos but not much sensible comment. I am pleased this rebuff is coming from Dan Neidle. This is the kind of issue that should be on the agenda of the…

Protecting the seller and the customer when finance is the product. Anyone who has sold financial products in the pension sector prior to 2012 will remember commissions negotiated between salesforces and product providers. Most of these commissions were discretionary. Once a payment had been agreed , it was possible to upgrade the customer's deal by rebating commission. The FCA are now stopping car salesmen doing what they did to financial salesmen (or more properly - insurance salesmen).

Protecting the seller and the customer when finance is the product.

Anyone who has sold financial products in the pension sector prior to 2012 will remember commissions negotiated between salesforces and product providers. Most of these commissions were discretionary. Once a payment had been…

Buy-backs, dividends or going private. “Just” for pensions. Pension Oldie responds to Brookfield/ Just deal I think the private capital versus listed issue equity goes wider than Just Insurance. Listed companies are increasingly releasing surplus cash by sh…

To get across their preferences on dividend and share repurchase policies, pensions need to recognise this competition with other shareholders, of the short-term and/or passive variety.

Buy-backs, dividends +going private. Accountant Trustees explain Just sale for pensions. Pension Oldie responds to Brookfield/ Just deal I think the private capital versus listed issue equity goes wider than Just Insurance. Listed companies are increasingly releasing surplus cash by share buy-backs designed to bolster their share price and thereby reducing funds that would be otherwise invested in future developments in the Company, e.g. R&D, acquisitions etc. but also increasing p/e ratios.

Buy-backs, dividends +going private. Accountant Trustees explain Just sale for pensions.

Pension Oldie responds to Brookfield/ Just deal I think the private capital versus listed issue equity goes wider than Just Insurance. Listed companies are increasingly releasing surplus cash by share…

Why is Brookfield’s purchase of Just getting so much attention? I look at the stats on my blogs at the end of the working week. This week’s were strange; the two blogs on Brookfield taking over Just had twice the reads of any other. I thought it might be …

Why is Brookfield's purchase of Just getting so much attention? henrytapper.com/2025/08/02/w... @FT show earnings were recycled into the portfolio in a circular flow of cash that is attracting scrutiny of Brookfield’s accounting and how it juggles its vast portfolio of real estate.

So you want a company pension that pays you later on? There is something very important about the company pension . It used to be referred to as “deferred pay” and may still be in some Government backed schemes. It was not unusual f…

So you want a company pension that pays you later on? henrytapper.com/2025/08/03/s... The blogs and comments from others, show their are Trustees and Executives who believe in a "shared ambition" where employees and companies work towards collective company pensions as deferred pay!

So you want a company pension that pays you later on? There is something very important about the company pension . It used to be referred to as "deferred pay" and may still be in some Government backed schemes. It was not unusual for the pension to be considered a mark of the company's long-term investment in an employee's future and many people did think of their retirement age as a change from being paid to work, to being paid as a reward.

So you want a company pension that pays you later on?

There is something very important about the company pension . It used to be referred to as "deferred pay" and may still be in some Government backed schemes. It was not unusual for the pension to be considered a mark of the company's long-term…

Is the pension transfer process fit for purpose? – Rob O’ Sullivan Rob O’Sullivan, member of the Pension Scams Industry Group board, director of financial crime compliance, Freetrade. This blog has been published on Mallowstreet and Linked in Pension saver engag…

Is the pension transfer process fit for purpose? - Rob O' Sullivan henrytapper.com/2025/08/03/i... Transfers matter. It’s time we built a system that works for pension savers and brought pension transfers into the digital age.

Is the pension transfer process fit for purpose? – Rob O’ Sullivan   Rob O’Sullivan, member of the Pension Scams Industry Group board, director of financial crime compliance, Freetrade. This blog has been published on Mallowstreet and Linked in Pension saver engagement: A shared goal Everyone in the pensions world, from providers to policymakers, says the same thing: we want people to be more engaged with their retirement savings. That’s the foundation of the new pension schemes bill and the rationale behind small pots consolidation.

Is the pension transfer process fit for purpose? – Rob O’ Sullivan

  Rob O’Sullivan, member of the Pension Scams Industry Group board, director of financial crime compliance, Freetrade. This blog has been published on Mallowstreet and Linked in Pension saver engagement: A shared goal Everyone in…

“Float and fix” Good enough for Nest – good enough for most of us? Paul Todd sort of said “float and fix” is sort of good enough for most people. This blog doubts it - the devil is in the detail. Money builds up in pots in different ways but without anyone able to compare what they  have  compared with others. The same will not be said of those who are taking their pots as pensions.

“Float and fix” Good enough for Nest – good enough for most of us?

Paul Todd sort of said “float and fix” is sort of good enough for most people. This blog doubts it - the devil is in the detail. Money builds up in pots in different ways but without anyone able to compare what they  have  compared…

Can we have a peer to peer debate from the BVCA? I read this advert not today – 4 days on – but 4 days ago- the day of posting – perhaps the hour. I checked my diary , at the time I had a free morning and could go. I asked to go…

Can we have a peer to peer debate from the BVCA? henrytapper.com/2025/08/02/c... The chances of the BVCA reaching out regarding open books in due course is slim. You're either a buyer, a seller or out of there!

Can we have a peer to peer debate from the BVCA? I read this advert not today - 4 days on - but 4 days ago- the day of posting - perhaps the hour. I checked my diary , at the time I had a free morning and could go. I asked to go and put the time in my diary. 3 days later I got this message by email from BVCA.

Can we have a peer to peer debate from the BVCA?

I read this advert not today - 4 days on - but 4 days ago- the day of posting - perhaps the hour. I checked my diary , at the time I had a free morning and could go. I asked to go and put the time in my diary. 3 days later I got this message by…

NEST- the irrefutable case for “Scheme Pensions”. A blog written 15 years ago That we have spent no time discussing the deaccumulation of NEST funds is a scandal. It is time for this subject to be put on the public agenda – if it is not, then NEST should be branded a h…

NEST- the irrefutable case for "Scheme Pensions". A blog written 15 years ago henrytapper.com/2025/08/02/n... "With less than 6 months till the launch of NEST, I find the reticence of the NEST Corporation to make any statement on how NEST pensions will be paid, to be surprising".

NEST- the irrefutable case for “Scheme Pensions”. A blog written 15 years ago That we have spent no time discussing the deaccumulation of NEST funds is a scandal. It is time for this subject to be put on the public agenda - if it is not, then NEST should be branded a half-baked project.

NEST- the irrefutable case for “Scheme Pensions”. A blog written 15 years ago

That we have spent no time discussing the deaccumulation of NEST funds is a scandal. It is time for this subject to be put on the public agenda - if it is not, then NEST should be branded a half-baked project.

Why is Brookfield’s purchase of Just getting so much attention? I look at the stats on my blogs at the end of the working week. This week’s were strange; the two blogs on Brookfield taking over Just had twice the reads of any other. I thought it mi…

Why is Brookfield's purchase of Just getting so much attention? henrytapper.com/2025/08/02/w... “a life and annuity company, with its very long-term promises, should be prudent . . . with its clients’ money”.

Why is Brookfield’s purchase of Just getting so much attention? I look at the stats on my blogs at the end of the working week. This week's were strange; the two blogs on Brookfield taking over Just had twice the reads of any other. I thought it might be of some interest, PIC being bought by Apollo was of some interest, but nothing like this. I am an ignoramus on investment conglomerates.

Why is Brookfield’s purchase of Just getting so much attention?

I look at the stats on my blogs at the end of the working week. This week's were strange; the two blogs on Brookfield taking over Just had twice the reads of any other. I thought it might be of some interest, PIC being bought by…

Richard Smith; puzzled by pension returns? You need artificial intelligence mate! I spoke to Richard Smith after I heard this to find out what he knew, which is that his Aviva pot goes back to when he was in Britain's then "best GPP in the country" - gold plated by PWC where he worked. Nest is the good young pension that he has been recently and guess what, Nest is the one that's doing best.

Richard Smith; puzzled by pension returns? You need artificial intelligence mate!

I spoke to Richard Smith after I heard this to find out what he knew, which is that his Aviva pot goes back to when he was in Britain's then "best GPP in the country" - gold plated by PWC where he worked. Nest is the…