Explore every episode of the podcast Financial Services Unplugged with Tom McPhail

Nick drops in to talk about the platform sector, technology, Soderberg and doing things differently and about the new Platform Association

7IM's Ben Kumar talks with me about geopolitics, investment risk management, regulatory change and lots more

The Government has BIG PLANS for pensions, after the Chancellor's Mansion House speech we got to see a clearer picture of where they want to take us. Redington's brilliant Russell Wright joins me to reflect on the Value for Money framework and how it intersects with this next round of consultations...

Alex Funk of Portfoliometrix and I discuss the world of DFMs and MPS, and the implications of the Budget and the US Trumpquake

A quick round up of all the many current retail financial services policy initiatives and a chat with IFA and cash-flow modelling aficionado Nicola Ellis of Wellington Wealth 

Nathan Long of HL joins me for a rich feast of pension news: party conferences, the Value for Money framework, the government pensions review, the latest FCA data and a look ahead to the Budget.

Ryan Murphy of Morningstar talks through with me behavioural theory and some of the practical insights that can lead to better investing outcomes

...in which Catriona McInally of M&G Wealth and I discuss Consumer Duty, Lifestyle planning, vulnerable customers, segmentation, ponies and the Scottish Highlands

James Slevin of Target (targetprofessional.co.uk) joins me to discuss the challenges of pension scheme data management, the pension dashboard, member identification and...how to get a false passport...

The excellent Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown talks through with me the Government's pension review, retirement adequacy and its complexities, financial resilience and the work they've done tracking it and we finish with a look ahead to the Budget on 30th October. 

HL Savings and Resilience Barometer | July 2024 | HL

Mike Ambery from Standard Life joins me to talk about what the new government is up to and what he learned on his recent research trip to Australia

The 2024 Advice Gap report is the definitive guide to the advice market, the dynamics of the sector and the impact of the FCA's Consumer Duty. Co-author and colleague Mike Barrett is here to explain all. You can download a copy of the report here The Advice Gap 2024 - The Lang Cat

Michael Johnson sets out a radical and thought-provoking vision for reform of the UK's state, workplace and individual pensions, with a view to simplicity and long-term sustainability. Pensions: a vision for the future - Social Market Foundation. (smf.co.uk)

My colleague Alison Gay and I review the party manifestos published to date and consider the key personal finance promises

Scott Phillips of the Pension Lab joins me to talk about Dashboards, the surprisingly dysfunctional LOA system and what some in the industry are trying to do about it

Rachel Vahey of AJ Bell talks with me about the Triple Lock, the LTA, Pension Freedoms and the advice/guidance boundary review

FT Adviser editor Simoney Kyriakou and the future for financial advice firms

What should have been simple has proved to be anything but; HMRC has created a new way to inflict misery on unsuspecting pension savers. Jon Greer from Quilter gently explains everything we need to know. We also discuss what a new Labour government might do with the rules.

Adrian Boulding makes a compelling case, not just why CDC schemes are a good idea but also, crucially how they are actually going to happen

Tom Selby and I unpick the political, fiscal and personal finance fun and games of the Budget

In which Robert and Charlie from Money Guided talk about how to help people manage their money better

Andrew Tully from Nucleus on why we need a long-term savings commission

...in Which Dave Henderson of Penny https://pennypension.com and I offer a couple of suggestions for how to make pension transfers work better

...in which Gregg talks to me about pension investments in infrastructure and politics from the viewpoint of an ex-shadow pensions minister.

The FCA's proposed solutions and consultation questions analysed with expert help from Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown and Michael Lawrence of Bovill. You can also read Michael's thoughts here Advice Guidance Boundary Review puts transformative change on horizon - Bovill

Richard Smith gives the expert's view on where we're at with the development of pension dashboards, drawing on years of experience in the UK and fresh insights from across Europe. 

Andy Tully joins me to talk through the Nucleus research on retirement confidence; who's confident, who isn't and the factors that affect confidence. Clue: it's really important to have a plan...

Another big week for pensions policy, James Dowling helps me pick out the highlights.

Tom Selby of AJ Bell helps me try and make sense of the mother of all reshuffles and we make some moderately well-informed predictions about the forthcoming Autumn Statement

What's happening with the FCA's review of advice and guidance and where might it take us? We're expecting an announcement in the near future; in the meantime, expert insight is provided by Michael Lawrence of Bovill | financial services regulatory consultancy in UK, Asia & Americas and Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown | ISAs, pensions, funds and shares (hl.co.uk).

'...the most bruising quarter we've ever seen for advised platforms', was how my colleague Rich described the latest update on platforms. So here we talk through what's going on...

As part of the solution to the small pots problem, the DWP is interested in Pot for Life. This has worked well in Australia and could lead to Auto-enrolment 2.0. This episode looks at what it is, how it could work and some of the challenges that would need to be dealt with.

A quick review of some of the highlights from the multiple policy papers on pension reform published by the government this week.

A quick roundup of expected pensions policy announcements, a run through of the FCA's retirement advice review and the ongoing problems with pension transfers

Investing in the Future: Boosting Savings and Prosperity for the UK (institute.global)

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigberry/p/is-it-time-to-let-the-pension-investment?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigberry/p/is-it-time-to-let-the-pension-investment-1f4?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web 

What are Labour's plans for pensions and are we going to see a big bang scheme consolidation initiative? Tom Frackowiak from Cicero joins me to discuss these questions and also to talk about the alternative reality of political party conferences.

AJ Bell are lobbying for a radical simplification of ISAs. Tom Selby explains why, and how it could work. You can also read more about it here AJ Bell calls for ISA overhaul in radical simplification of UK savings system | AJ Bell

Stuart McDonald of LCP takes us on a brilliant canter through what's happening with life expectancy and longevity and the implications for pension provision.

Link to Stuart's report, referenced in the podcast: https://www.lcp.uk.com/pensions-benefits/publications/longevity-report-2023-a-new-era-for-longevity-insights-to-tailor-your-journey/

Mike Barrett and I explore the barriers to people getting more financial advice and we look at hybrid advice with Chet Velani of EV.

You can download Mike's report here ADVICE GAP REPORT - the lang cat (langcatfinancial.co.uk)

The FCA is looking at Equity Release advice this year, as part of its retirement advice review. Jon Dunckley has written an independent review of the Equity Release market, looking at how the sector can evolve from here…

...in which my colleague Alison Gay explains why the FCA is consulting on SMCR; she also reveals a handy hack for consultation responses and we discuss PIMFAs recent suggestions for rethinking the disclosures regime.

Not one but two really knowledgeable and thoughtful individuals join me to reflect on workplace pension reforms: Philip Brown of the People's Pension and Nathan Long of Hargreaves Lansdown. 

Pension Dashboards are delayed, the government still doesn’t know what to do about small pots and people aren’t engaging with their pensions. Fintech and pensions expert Dave Henderson of Penny pensions and I discuss whether or not everything is fine…

A follow up Budget episode, digging into some of the financial planning questions thrown up by Jeremy Hunt's changes with the help of Alice Guy from Interactive Investor

Unpicking the Budget pensions announcements with Tom Selby from AJ Bell

Andrew Tully of Canada Life joins me to discuss the FCA's retirement income thematic review; the forthcoming Budget and what it might mean for pensions; and a bit of a reflection on what a Labour government could mean.

The Pensions Policy Institute has produced a brilliant analysis of the UK's pensions system, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of dozens of underlying components, and the trade-offs across the competing high-level objectives.

One of the few real product innovations post pension freedom is Just's Secure Lifetime Income. Peter Ellis talks to me about how it works and about the FCA's latest post-pension freedom regulatory review

Right at the end of 2022, I recorded this conversation with Jim Boyd, the CEO of the Equity Release Council. We talk about the role of housing wealth in later life, regulation, the state of the market and what needs to change.

Everyone in the industry wants to stamp out scams and fraud, however the delays in transferring customers' money are themselves costing everyone a lot of time and money. Phil Warner from Hargreaves Lansdown talks through the issues (NB apologies for the sub-optimal sound quality on this episode)

Corporate Adviser editor and award-winning journalist John Greenwood and I talk about some of the highlights of 2022, including the problem with net-zero; price caps and illiquid investments and consolidation. We also take a look at 2023, decumulation and whether early access to pensions is a good idea.