V-FM: The Pensions Podcast

V-FM Pensions #71: Alison Hatcher

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico chat to independent consultant and TPR non-exec director Alison Hatcher.
In an episode that was recorded on the morning after England's win against the Netherlands we chat about the Euros, including a tweet from King Charles 'commanding' the nation to win against Spain on Sunday. 
We talk about Taylor Swift causing the Bank of England an interest rate headache, politics, pensions and productive finance, and the need to join up pensions with other forms of assets and savings (especially housing). We also hear about Alison's career and, of course, what value for money means to her.

V-FM Pensions #70: V-FM meets Jasper

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren chat to Jorik van Zanden and John Mitchem.
During lockdown, Jorik and John founded the 'Jasper forum' - a community of like-minded international pensions and investment folk who regularly come together to discuss common issues and learnings. A great initiative!
This is the first episode in a two part series. In this episode we do the traditional VFM thing of discussing the news, hearing a bit about John and Jorik's careers and discussing what value for money means to them.
Part two will drop later in the summer where we'll be diving a little deeper into the key learnings that John and Jorik have gained from hosting the Jasper forum, looking at commonalties, but also differences, between country's retirement systems.

V-FM Pensions #69: Smart Pension's Eve Read

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico chat to Smart Pension's Director of Strategic Delivery Eve Read. Eve has seen it all when it coms to pensions having done every role going at Mercer, before joining NEST and now Smart Pension.
A fantastic chat where we cover the Euros, fine wine, singing, renting in retirement, pension consolidation, transfers, conflicts of interest, politics, governance.... the list goes on and on!
Eve also talks about the need for pension role models and we, of course, chat about what value for money means to her.

V-FM Pensions #68: Standard Life's Mike Ambery

In this episode of V-FM Pensions co-hosts Darren and Nico chat to Standard Life's Mike Ambery. Mike is a pensions industry stalwart who has recently joined Standard Life after a long and illustrious career at Hymans Robertson.
Mike is an Arsenal fan (he promised Darren use of his season ticket...) so he slots straight in to a quality chat about Arsenal, even pondering how England hero Jude Bellingham could fit into the Arsenal team....
Amongst the usual pensions and VFM chatter, we cover politics and the Labour manifesto, social media and pensions, and campaign finance in the US. We also discuss what value for money means to Mike.
Enjoy!
 
 

V-FM Pensions #67: Pensions Expert's Nick Reeve

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren chat to fellow Gooner and editor of Pensions Expert Nick Reeve.
Nick joins us supping water (not Pina Colada) from a pineapple shaped glass from sunny Barbados for a great chat about pensions, journalism and, of course, value for money. It was nice to turn the tables on Nick and be asking the questions, but he did manage to ask us a few searching questions... that journo instinct never goes away...
Topics discussed this week include pensions dashboards, the Pensions Regulator's Corporate plan, conflicts in professional trusteeship, the Lib Dem manifesto, and pension transfers.
Another great guest, another great chat!
 
 

V-FM Pensions #66: Pensions mischief with the Pensions Monkey (Tom McPhail)

In this episode of V-FM Pensions hosts Darren and Nico chat to pensions industry legend and all round PR and policy superstar Tom McPhail. Tom is Director of Public Affairs at the Langcat and also is an external adviser at Guiide.
 
This episode covers tax relief and the IFS proposals for the LTA, a good discussion about politics and pensions, fiduciary duty as a barrier to investing for the good of people and the planet... and a whole host more. We discuss the Barbie movie and Tom's new AI generated X (Twitter) picture, why he decided to self brand as the Pensions Monkey and, of course, we find out what value for money means to Tom.
 
A cracking chat!

V-FM Pensions #65: John Greenwood talks about Corporate Advisers latest Master Trust and GPP defaults report

In this episode of V-FM Pensions hosts Darren and Nico chat to the editor of Corporate Adviser, John Greenwood.
John returns to the V-FM podcast to chat about Corporate Advisers' latest Master Trust and GPP defaults report - an amazing piece of annual research that looks at performance of default funds and picks up on some key industry trends.
We also discuss what value for money means to John.

V-FM Pensions #64: Pangea's Nick Stoop

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Nico and Darren talk to Pangea founder Nick Stoop. 
As well as the usual V-FM chat we talk about the election, shareholder resolutions, pensions regulation, and the recent IMF report on the UK economy.
We have a great discussion about what Nick is trying to achieve with Pangea - a pension that considers everything through an impact lens.

V-FM Pensions #63: Work and Pensions Committee Chair Stephen Timms

In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico chat to the Labour MP for East Ham and Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee Stephen Timms. Stephen has been an MP for over 30 years and shares his experiences and views on pensions and a whole lot more.
In a V-FM Podcast first, this episode was recorded with a live audience at the DG Publishing DC Strategic Summit. 

V-FM Pensions #62: Pentech guru Martin Freeman

In this episode of V-FM: the pensions podcast, hosts Darren and Nico chat to Pentech guru Martin Freeman. Martin has seen it all when it comes to pensions technology and administration and has recently set up his own company to help schemes and providers deal with the considerable administration and systems challenges that the pensions industry faces. 
We talk pension dashboards, pensions uprating, CDC, coffee, fountain pens and Manchester City (we wanted to get Martin on before the end of the season so he couldn't gloat....). We also, of course, ask Martin what value for money means to him...
Another fantastic guest on the podcast!