V-FM: The Pensions Podcast

V-FM Pensions #151: LCP's Sam Cobley

In this episode of V-FM, hosts Darren and Nico chat to LCP’s Sam Cobley discussing the role of Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) in the UK pensions system. Sitting between DC and DB, CDC pools members with the aim of delivering a more stable retirement income, but requires savers to give up some of the flexibility offered by DC. The discussion centres on whether the potential income uplift is large enough to justify that trade-off.
Sam challenges some of the more optimistic claims about CDC outcomes, with Nico coining the term “CDC washing” to describe estimates of 50–75% higher incomes based on outdated comparisons with annuity-targeting DC strategies. Sam’s recent analysis suggests a more realistic improvement of around 15–25% compared with modern income-drawdown DC approaches, reflecting how rapidly DC investment strategies have evolved.
The conversation explores how CDC could work in practice from cohorting and buffers, to which retirees it may suit best. While CDC could offer better value for certain cohorts, particularly those seeking income stability, its success will depend on careful design, fair pricing, and how it competes alongside an increasingly sophisticated DC market.

V-FM Pensions #150: now:pensions' Samantha Gould

In this episode of V-FM Pensions hosts Darren and Nico chat to Now: Pensions' Samantha Gould. Samantha heads up Now's PR and campaigns and has been particularly vocal in campaigning about pensions inequality.
We explore the structural drivers of the gender pensions gap and the wider challenge of under-pensioned groups. Samantha discusses her campaigning work since the first gender pensions gap report in 2019 (with the Pensions Policy Institute), which has since expanded to identify eight groups most at risk of pension poverty.
A key theme is women’s “squiggly careers”, where time out of the workforce for childcare or elder care, combined with the design of auto enrolment, prevents millions from building adequate pension savings. Samantha argues that reforms such as amending the auto enrolment rules, mandating pension sharing orders in divorce and improving childcare and maternity pension contributions could materially narrow the gap.
The discussion touches on pension dashboards, the balance between income security and access to capital in retirement, and the meaning of value for money. For Samantha, it ultimately comes down to fairness... ensuring the pensions system works for people regardless of gender, background or career path.

V-FM Pensions #149: Nico and Darren discuss the news

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico take a meander through some recent pension news stories.
The pair discuss:
Reform’s proposal to consolidate the LGPS into a single UK-focused sovereign wealth fund and shift new entrants from DB to DC, questioning both the investment logic and the politics;
the government’s VFM framework, highlighting a core tension between a system measuring capital growth with policy prioritising retirement income outcomes;
the unintended consequences of policy in motion; from salary sacrifice reforms that may disproportionately affect lower-paid workers, to scale tests in the Pension Schemes Bill that could shut out innovators.

V-FM Pensions #148: David Butcher revisited

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren welcome their first-ever podcast guest back to the show: David Butcher.
They catch up with David to hear how his mindfulness coaching through Positively Aware is going and to get his thoughts on V-FM, trusteeship, and the insight he has gained from recent trustee experiences.
David also shares a brilliant story about gatecrashing a festival… a moment that somehow didn’t make it into his first appearance (and, honestly, the real reason we invited him back...).
And to round things off, David leads listeners through a short meditation at the end of the episode.

V-FM Pensions #147: The podcast's response to CP26/1

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, Darren and Nico chat through their thoughts on the FCA and TPR's latest consultation on value for money (CP 26/1).
In a must listen episode for anyone developing their response to the consultation, the duo's personal thoughts (not those of their employers...) include:
This isn’t Value for Money it’s a performance regime: The consultation has morphed into a capital-performance test with a costs add-on. Most of the “value” bits (service, engagement, member outcomes) have been kicked into the long grass.
It risks sabotaging the retirement-income agenda: Government wants schemes to deliver better retirement outcomes, but the VFM framework measures success like everyone’s just cashing out. That’s a recipe for schemes doing the wrong thing in the run-up to retirement.
The penalties are so harsh they’ll force providers to copy each other: Nobody is going to take investment risk, innovate, or deviate from the herd. The safest strategy becomes: hug the benchmark
Mansion House and VFM are pulling in opposite directions: Policy says: invest in private markets and the UK economy. VFM says: don’t you dare underperform your peers. Put those together and you get one outcome: providers won’t touch the assets government wants them to buy.
Costs and charges are still a mess, just with nicer spreadsheets: The consultation tries to build credibility through multiple “net” performance numbers, but exemptions, hidden costs, and inconsistent definitions mean the figures still won’t add up in the real world.
The whole thing dodges the real problem... people aren’t saving enough: VFM is starting to look like the policy equivalent of jangling keys in front of a baby, distracting everyone from the uncomfortable truth that adequacy and contributions matter more than almost anything in the framework.

V-FM Pensions #146: Pan's Nicholas Chadha

In this episode of V-FM Pensions hosts Darren and Nico chat to Pan Trustees' Nicholas Chadha to explore what value for money means in modern trusteeship.
Nick reflects on his journey from actuarial adviser to professional trustee, and shares insight into schemes at very different ends of the spectrum, from those entering the PPF with recovery plans acting as a drag on sponsors, to schemes managing surplus and difficult decisions around how it should be shared between members and employers.
We discuss the ins and outs of the innovative Aberdeen Stagecoach deal as part of a wider conversation about future options for DB schemes. We also chat about barriers for schemes moving to superfunds and conflicts of interest within professional trustee firms.
Nick makes the case that true value for money isn’t about defaulting to industry orthodoxy... it’s about spending wisely, challenging assumptions, and ultimately improving outcomes for members.

V-FM Pensions #145: Standard Life's Claire Altman

In this episode of VFM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren are joined by Claire Altman, who leads Standard Life’s work across pensions risk transfer and individual retirement solutions. Claire shares her brilliantly unconventional journey into pensions, from lawyer to trustee to commercial innovator.
We explore what it really means to deliver value for money in retirement, why emotional certainty often matters as much as mathematical optimisation, and how a growing web of regulation is shaping the future of both DB endgames and DC pension outcomes.

V-FM Pensions #144: Trustee and Trade Unionist, Rory Murphy

In this episode of VFM Pensions, Nico and Darren are joined by "Red" Rory Murphy,  trustee chair, board adviser, pensions commentator and lifelong trade unionist.
Rory brings a refreshingly different perspective to the pensions debate, shaped by decades in the trade union movement and hands-on experience of running smaller schemes.
In a typically wide-ranging conversation we touch on the role of trustees and why they are too cautious when it comes to delivering better outcomes for members. We look at the role of trusteeship in a world dominated by master trusts and professional trustees, the importance of the member voice, and whether fiduciary duty has been interpreted far too narrowly, acting as a barrier to innovation.
At its heart, this episode asks a simple (but maybe) uncomfortable question: who is the pensions system really for and what would it take for trustees to be braver in acting for members?

V-FM Pensions #143: Admin supremo Kim Gubler

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren chat to Kim Gubler. Kim wears many hats in the pensions industry, among them Managing Director of KGC Associates, President of PASA, and is an independent trustee Director of the Smart Pension mastertrust.
Another wide ranging conversation that, as well as talking about horses and pigeons (only on the V-FM podcast....), focuses on the importance of elevating administration to the same level as investments when it comes to assessing value for money, treating it as central to member outcomes rather than something that happens in the background.
We talk about the evolution of KGC, PASA, and problems in relying on SLAs to assess value for money. We also chat about Kim's work on small pots and the recent feasibility study looking at quick ways of addressing what is an increasingly pressing issue.

V-FM Pensions #142: SuperRatings' Kirby Rappell

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico chat to SuperRatings' Kirby Rappell.
SuperRatings has been conducting value for money assessments in Australia for 17 years, starting out as the first firm dedicated to super fund research.
We hear from Kirby about how the Aussie's do V-FM and look at learnings and insights that could benefit UK thinking.
And we discuss the Pound for Pound initiative that SuperRatings has been leading with a number of large UK schemes.