Mark Locke

Nice to meet you, albeit briefly, yesterday. And congratulations on your award.

In Scotland, Just Doo It, works too!

If you’re still kicking around Edinburgh after the PLSA, come on down to Leith for a coffee.

One thing the pensions industry has a lot of is… conferences. A busy morning yesterday setting out this government’s vision for reforming the UK’s pension landscape. Delighted to speak to the Eversheds Sutherland Annual Pensions Conference, and an event convened by NatWest Cushon at Mansion House.

A Trump-Putin pact is emerging – and Europe is its target | Rafael Behr US betrayal of Ukraine is the rehearsal for a grander bargain with Moscow and an assault on continental solidarity, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

A Trump-Putin pact is emerging – and Europe is its target | Rafael Behr

words I never imagined writing in my lifetime.....

General Sir Richard Shirreff, the former Nato deputy supreme allied commander in Europe, has told Times Radio:

"I think we have to assume, after the events of the last 10 days, that we cannot in any way count on America as an ally"

America has no right to claim their president is the leader of the free world. After that spectacle, he is a complete embarrassment to the free world.

Fantastic news @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com 👏

Excuse me…. Can I have my face back please? 😂

Year on year we measure where business owners feel they are headed in the next five years. In Wave 7 of #SOTAN we saw a moderate uptick year on year in consolidation expectations and a dip in succession planning.

#langcatlive

Our full #SOTAN report is now live. If you'd like to find out more about the research, there's more information over on our website: https://buff.ly/3SEPgaO

#langcatlive

We couldn't put these events on without the generosity of our sponsors. Thank you to Quilter, abrdn, Fundment, Aegon, Morningstar Wealth and Wesleyan.

#langcatlive

Divide & Conquer is all about exploring the relationships between the advice profession, providers and the regulator. Mark Polson says in a perfect world, they should all work in balance, but in reality, there's always an imbalance. But are we actually holding each other to account?

#langcatlive

We're also proudly supporting Samaritans as our charity partner for this event.

#langcatlive

On tomo's #WakeUpToMoney we will be Tackling The Thorny Issue of Growth. So thorny. Much difficult.
So I want to hear what industry you work in, and what one thing the government could do or change that would encourage growth in that industry. Let me know.

Good pensions stuff here.

I struggle as an adviser, and as someone who has studied financial economics, to convince myself that the government view on DB surpluses has any legs at all.

Will remain open-minded to debate though.

Context does not matter. Sorry.

You’ve EITHER got to be really stupid and not realise what this action means to everyone around the world

OR

be smart enough to know exactly what you’re doing and be happy to be seen doing it.

You can’t be both of these things.

Lovely crisp morning for a walk with the dog.

Bloody good thread, this. Thanks Felicity. HNY!

Hat tip to @harrietmeyer.bsky.social for giving us a good proper AI schooling.

My three Nicholas Cage phases of AI learning during 2024 as a Comms person:
1. Nope. Take it away. It’s the Devil’s work.
2. What? It can do that? Hmm, that sounds quite helpful. Tell me more.
3. Whoa. Hold the bus. That’s f#*$€¥g awesome.

Looking forward to more fearless AI learning in 2025.

It’s not a size thing. Double Deckers are just a bit crap compared to the other delicious heroes!

Here’s what’s left of the office Heroes. I mean…. Does ANYONE actually like double deckers?

Value pensions by what you get! (thx Tom and Joe) Average LGPS pension is about 5k p.a - wouldn’t say that is particularly gold plated. If the Government were to move to DC it’d be reasonable to expect it would match larger employers - which often are 15% plus…. — Joe Dabrowski (@JoeDabrowski1) December 26, 2024 Many people will be at work today, I am off work and sick but I am fascinated by my 2025 challenge.

Value pensions by what you get! (thx Tom and Joe)

Average LGPS pension is about 5k p.a - wouldn’t say that is particularly gold plated. If the Government were to move to DC it’d be reasonable to expect it would match larger employers - which often are 15% plus…. — Joe Dabrowski (@JoeDabrowski1)…

Pretty Christmas Eve sunset in the Scottish Borders.

If they were ALL to receive “the pension they thought was coming to them” (regardless if they knew about the changes or not) that cost would be many tens of billions more than the ombudsman’s suggestion. Can you clarify what you believe ALL WASPI women should receive from current taxpayers pockets?

All of them? Even the ones who were aware of the changes and made plans?

Reeves puts phase 2 of pensions review on ice Rachel Reeves has reportedly hit the pause button on phase two of the pensions review due to fears it may force employers to increase their contributions to staff retirement pots.

Reeves puts phase 2 of pensions review on ice

www.ftadviser.com/pension-refo...

Rachel Reeves puts pensions review on hold to avoid extra burden on UK business Some experts argue current savings rates will leave people without adequate retirement pots

Rachel Reeves puts pensions review on hold to avoid extra burden on UK business www.ft.com/content/d102... @financialtimes.com