Investment
Putting longevity risk in perspective
The latest Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI) report in the UK has suggested that mortality improvements will be significantly less than had been expected even last year. Life expectancy for a 65 year-old man has fallen by 1.3% or nearly four months,...
read more
The trouble with discounting pensions (not the problem with using bond yields)
A growing number of commentators are arguing against the use of bond yields to value defined benefit pension liabilities. These objections often focus on the asset allocation of these pension plans, which they assert typically include...
read more
Infrastructure and pension schemes – right asset, wrong time
The subject of pension scheme investment in infrastructure is on the agenda once again, and it is clear why. The United Kingdom needs increased investment in infrastructure, and pension schemes need long-term investments. Many infrastructure...
read more
Endgame portfolios and the role of credit
Last week I gave a couple of talks at the Pensions, Risk and Investment Conference, organised by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. One of them was based on a recent paper I wrote* on pension scheme funding. The talk seemed to strike a chord with many...
read more
The lifetime ISA – what’s it worth?
A lot of attention in the recent UK budget has been focussed on the launch of "lifetime ISAs" (or "LISAs" - yes, that's the reason for the picture...). On the face of it, these seem very tax-efficient. For every £4,000 invested, the Government...
read more