V-FM: The Pensions Podcast

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico are back with more from the World Pension Summit in The Hague... two fascinating conversations that, in very different ways, put people at the heart of the discussion.
🇨🇦 First up, we chat to Celine Chiovitti, Chief Pension Officer at OMERS, about the demographic challenges facing pension systems around the world. With people living longer, birth rates falling and working lives changing, are we still relying on pension systems designed for a world that no longer exists?
We explore the future of defined benefit pensions, intergenerational fairness, trust and engagement, and what different countries can learn from each other. We also get into housing, AI and the role pensions can play in supporting wider society. And we discover that OMERS has members ranging in age from just 14 to 107! 👶👴
🕵️ Then we change gears and talk to Guido Palazzo, business ethics expert and co-author of The Dark Pattern, about the darker side of corporate behaviour.
Why do apparently ordinary people end up doing terrible things in the workplace? What can corporate scandals teach us about corporate culture, leadership and incentives? And, crucially for pension investors, are the warning signs of corporate failure hiding in plain sight? 👀
We explore the role of institutional investors, the dangers of short-term thinking, and how AI 🤖 might help identify human risks before they turn into financial disasters.
💰 We, of course, also ask both guests our usual value for money question.
Two very different conversations, plenty of food for thought, and another reminder of why it's worth getting out of the UK pensions bubble every now and again.
🎧 Enjoy!

In this special episode of V-FM Pensions, the first in a series recorded at the World Pension Summit in The Hague, hosts Darren and Nico chat to Chris Jeffery, Chief Investment Strategist at LGIM, fresh from his keynote speech, and Mark Delaney, former CIO and Deputy CEO of AustralianSuper.
We start, as always, with a quick pensions news catch-up, including a busy run of consultations on retirement CDC, guided retirement, pension illustrations and fiduciary duty (watch out for specials on each of those). There’s also a dashboard update from Darren: all four of his pensions have now turned up, but one is still keeping its estimated income to itself....
We cover:
📈 Chris’ keynote: Are markets really more uncertain than usual? We discuss inflation, long-term investing and what history can tell us about today’s AI investment boom.
🤖 AI and investment: The scale of data-centre spending is striking. Chris compares today’s investment cycle with earlier waves of significant investment, including the railways, and explores what that history might teach investors.
🇦🇺 Lessons from down under: Mark reflects on consolidation, scale and the shift towards member choice, as well as private markets, liquidity and how pension funds can prepare for stress.
⚖️ Performance tests and value for money: What can Australia’s experience teach the UK? We discuss the potential to lift standards, and how detailed benchmarks can shape investment decisions and encourage herding.
🌱 Retirement and inflation: Mark explains why retirement solutions and protecting savings from inflation will become increasingly important as pension systems mature.
And, of course, we ask Chris and Mark what value for money means to them.
Thanks to Sophie Baker and Mirjam Guldemond for having us at the Summit. Enjoy!

 
On this episode of V-FM, Darren and Nico chat to Callum Stewart from XPS about value for money, DC investment and the future of pensions. We also reflect on the non-event that was the Budget... a bit of a “Whatever” moment... with markets "not looking back in anger".
 
🤔 "Some might say" value for money is all about charges, but what should it really mean for pension savers?
📈 Are providers moving towards similar DC investment strategies, and is that a good thing?
🏗️ What’s holding back investment in private assets?
💬 How should we talk about CDC, and what are the risks when these products are marketed to savers?
📜 Does the industry need a pensions and savings "Masterplan"? And should retirement planning focus on income alone, or on the wider needs of people and their households?
We also find out how Callum got into pensions and hear his answer to our usual V-FM question. Nico has an Oasis-themed answer of his own.

On this weeks podcast, hosts Darren and Nico are joined by Emily Boxall, co-founder of 2Mins, the financial education app that's on a mission to make money matters fun, engaging and accessible to everyone.
We talk about Emily's journey into financial education, what it's like setting up a business with her dad, and how games, humour and a cast of animal characters (including Petal the Hippo) might just succeed where traditional financial education has struggled.
We cover:
🏛️ Mansion House Accord: is the latest progress update bit too much spin?
🦛 Making finance fun: how is 2Mins using games, animals and a bit of creativity to bring financial education to life?
🎓 Financial literacy: why do we make money and pensions so complicated, and are we getting the basics badly wrong?
🎮 Engagement and education: can gamification and bite-sized learning succeed where traditional pensions communications have failed?
🤖 AI and innovation: how is technology changing financial education, and what are the opportunities and risks?
👟 Value for money: what have a trusty pair of trainers got to do with financial confidence?
We find out which 2Mins character Nico is, revisit the infamous Workie pension monster, and ponder whether the pensions industry could learn a thing or two from a cartoon hippo.
And, of course, Darren provides his latest pensions dashboard update.... still no Civil Service Pension on the dashboard and the clock is ticking...
It's a fun episode. Enjoy!
Find out more about 2Mins at www.2minsapp.co.uk

In this weeks episode, hosts Darren and Nico reflect on a busy few days at the Pensions UK Annual Conference in Liverpool.
From ministerial speeches to some lively debates on and off stage, there's plenty to get our teeth into.
We cover:
🏛️ Politics and pensions: what did Torsten Bell and Helen Whately have to say?
⚖️ Value for money: could the new framework drive herding, stifle innovation and create more problems than it solves?
📏 Scale and consolidation: do we really need a scale test if we've got a functioning VFM framework?
💷 Pensions adequacy: is the industry ready to tackle the big questions on contributions, tax and retirement outcomes?
🔎 Pensions dashboards: Darren gets his hands on a live dashboard. But where's his Civil Service pension?
We also reflect on the Beyond the Bottom Line fringe event hosted by Untamed Consulting and Moore Squared, question whether there's enough genuine debate at industry conferences, and wonder whether the pensions industry needs to get better at speaking truth to power.
And, as Nico asks, why don't things just work? 🤷‍♂️
Enjoy!

It's just hosts Darren and Nico this week as we take a look at what's happening in the world of pensions.
With the Pensions UK Annual Conference just around the corner, we look ahead to Liverpool and also discuss some of the big issues facing the industry.
We cover:
Politics and pensions: are new dividing lines emerging?
Value for money: are we missing the bigger picture?
Retirement defaults: can we really deliver good outcomes without understanding what people want?
Private markets: are we backing Britain or backing the wrong horses?
Inheritance tax: another complication in an already complicated retirement landscape.
Plus, there's plenty of banter, a bit of a rant about private markets, and an unexpected appearance from Feargal Sharkey.
All aboard!
 

In this episode of V-FM Pensions hosts Darren and Nico talk to WTW Senior Director and Chair of the IFoA Pensions Board, Glyn Bradley.
We start with the big news of the week... the triple lock and the question of what the state pension is actually for, before getting stuck into retirement income.
Is an income really sustainable if it lasts for life but buys you less every year? Are pension illustrations anchoring people to the wrong numbers? And what does all this mean for guided retirement, CDC and the way we think about value for money?
We also somehow manage to cover cricket, philosophy, Gödel's incompleteness theorem, and ship money. And, of course, we find out how Glyn got into pensions and what value for money means to him.

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico chat to Will Sandbrook, CEO of the Centre for Inclusive Money (previously NEST Insight).
An expectedly wide-ranging conversation where we chat pensions for the self employed, adequacy, side car savings, joining up pensions and housing, hopes for the Pensions Commission and a whole lot more.
We also found out how Will got into pensions, the origins of NEST Insight, and also find out what value for money means to him.

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren chat to Brian Henderson, who last appeared on the podcast back in its early days in May 2023 (episode #19).
Brian returns to discuss his recent series of essays exploring the thorny question of how the pensions industry develops, and compares, retirement solutions.
Nico's news story is about ‘P(doom)’, sparking an in-depth conversation about AI in which we even venture into the possibility of time travel...
We then get into Brian's essays: what prompted him to write them and the conclusions he has drawn. At the heart of the discussion is a deceptively simple question: do we actually know what ‘good’ looks like when it comes to retirement solutions?
There are lots of proposed solutions with considerable merits, but all involve trade-offs. Are we properly understanding, testing and discussing those trade-offs? And are we doing enough to understand what people actually want and need from retirement?
We also catch up on what Brian's been up to since he last joined us. But if you want to know what value for money means to Brian, you'll have to go back and listen to episode #19...

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico chat with the Founder of Nexum Pensions, Joao Cabral.
The podcast focuses on the work that Nexum is doing to enable people to have a pension pot for life, giving choice to where people send their pension contributions. Joao is a true innovator - having been part of the Octopus Money team - and is developing technology solutions to help make this a reality.
We also discuss industry pushback against the Government's general levy that funds pensions regulation, find out how Joao got into pensions and, of course, discover what value for money means to him.