Financial Services Unplugged with Tom McPhail

Pensions and politics geekery WITH NO BEER

In this first half of what turned into a two part recording, I talk with Darren Philp, a man with whom I’ve shared a few beers over the years, we talk about his time working in the Treasury which is where I first met him when he was working in Drawdown policy, we also talk about the pension dashboard and about the world of workplace pensions. With his experience in the public sector, at a trade body and now at a commercial provider, Darren has an amazing breadth and depth of experience. If you’re at all interested in pensions policy and politics, then you’ll enjoy listening to him.

COP26 and the tears of Alok Sharma

This week it’s the turn of Parmenion senior investment manager and all-round ESG guru Mollie Thornton. We talk to Mollie about what next after COP26, and whether the conference can be judged as a success or a failure.

As you’d expect, we also look at how the world of ESG investing is evolving, plus the various policy initiatives at play and the specific developments advisers and planners should be paying attention to.

For due diligence support, market insight from the lang cat and more, visit https://platformanalyser.thelangcat.com/blog. Go premium for full Platform Analyser access.

Presented by Tom McPhail. Produced by Ross Burns.

The challenges of an ageing population

Shifting demographics and the nature of our ageing population pose some particular social challenges. In this episode, Aviva head of savings and retirement Alistair McQueen explores some of these issues, and why Aviva is looking to champion the interests of older workers (a subject close to the heart of 50-something podcast host Tom McPhail).

Alistair and Tom also reflect on the changing dynamics between people, their employer and the state, as well as some of the ways we can start to close the advice gap.

For due diligence support, market insight from the lang cat and more, visit https://platformanalyser.thelangcat.com/blog. Go premium for full Platform Analyser access.

Presented by Tom McPhail. Produced by Ross Burns.

Pensions, platforms and the Treasury’s ‘reverse ferret’

In our launch episode, we chat to AJ Bell head of retirement policy Tom Selby about what it’s like to work for a big platform business, the gender pay and investment gap and the Budget and pension tax reform.

We also discuss the Treasury’s back and forth (aka the ‘reverse ferret’) on the normal minimum pension age, and touch on what came out of COP26 for financial services firms.

Check out Tom McPhail’s Platform Analyser article on the implications of the age 57 rules:

https://platformanalyser.thelangcat.com/blog/how-the-new-age-57-rules-will-change-pensions

Presented by Tom McPhail. Produced by Ross Burns.