All articles by Ian Smith
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Opinion
Why information is key – and government needs to plan for GenX
Pensions Expert 20th Anniversary: Two former editors look back at their tenure and reveal what they think the future will hold for pensions, members and the industry.
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Opinion
Editorial: Lessons learned
This is my last editorial for Pensions Expert and the last edition in which I have played a part, as I have moved on to fellow FT title Investors Chronicle.
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OpinionEditorial: Covering the gaps
Every good rugby team needs a full-back to watch for holes in the defensive line and, where breaches are made, to plug that gap – because breaches are inevitably made, even in the top teams.
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OpinionEditorial: Well, in theory...
Some of the best minds in the pensions industry have spent the past 10 months trying to redesign defined contribution scheme investment. But some of that thinking is based on a faulty premise.
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News
Why three in four say they will shun guidance guarantee
Only one in four over-55s intend to use the government’s free retirement guidance service, falling below one in 10 for women approaching retirement, in another sign of the challenge facing the system.
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OpinionEditorial: Flying the Nest
Spare a thought for our colleagues across the road from FT towers, who work in the strange and wonderful world of Nest.
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OpinionEditorial: Adding pages to the rulebook
"Clearer, perhaps tougher... governance is not automatically more effective," wrote Richard Butcher in last week's Informed Comment. Bad decisions can still be made within a decent structure.
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OpinionEditorial: Everything can be improved
This week we lead with two stories on communication, and how to learn when things don’t go so well.
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News
Civil Service scheme looks to widen comms after payment delays
The Civil Service Pension Scheme plans to turn to Instagram and mobile technology to communicate with members as it recovers from the fallout of its administration transfer in September.
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Opinion
Does Saudi Arabia's succession planning put your scheme to shame?
Industry experts have warned that schemes are not putting enough thought into what would happen should they need to replace their trustee chair or pension director, leaving themselves open to administrative risk.
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OpinionEditorial: Making yourself heard
Once again, the country’s leading pension funds have stood up for responsible investment, and pressure is building on asset managers to be more forthcoming in their reporting on the matter.
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OpinionEditorial: Pensions fortune-telling
A hot topic of conversation last week was Channel 4’s Dispatches programme on the impact of the imminent pension freedoms, as the government launched its Pension Wise guidance service.
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OpinionEditorial: Unsolved problems
Ah, the fading hope of a new year. Inevitably, despite the equity market recovery in December, volatility had never left global markets.
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News
Invensys blitzes liabilities with cash, PIE and closure plans
Invensys Pension Scheme has launched a three-pronged attack on its liabilities by offering defined benefit members cash for smaller pensions and the option of trading in pension increases on larger pots – while planning to cease all accrual.
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Opinion
Five entirely depressing findings from the DC charges audit
If the workplace pensions industry should be judged by how it treats its existing customers, then today's revelations on scheme charges find it at best unfair and at worst extortionate.
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OpinionEditorial: The neverending story
How time flies. In print and on the iPad, Monday saw the 45th edition of the relaunched Pensions Expert, and the last of the year.
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Opinion
Why the FCA's piecemeal action could push people back towards annuities
Will the Financial Conduct Authority's investigation of the annuities market never end? Even today's market study, and accompanying review of sales practices, will preface further work – by providers this time.
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Features
Off on a Christmas jolly? How to keep on the safe side of industry hospitality
Whether the 'good old days' of corporate hospitality provided important relationship building, or were symbolic of an overly cosy relationship between pension funds and their providers, the consensus is that times have changed.
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OpinionEditorial: blessed relief or missed opportunity?
For the pensions journalists following last week's Autumn Statement, there was almost an anticlimactic feeling once it became apparent that the industry would not be turned on its head again.
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Opinion
How the Autumn Statement will affect your scheme (not hugely)
Today's statement from chancellor George Osborne was like a cold flannel to the forehead of the pensions industry, compared with the madness of March. That the taxation of dependants' pensions was a central talking point is probably telling.