by Paul Sweeting | Nov 3, 2009 | All, Industry News
It seems that the nationalised UK banks are due to be broken up in response to a perceived lack of competition. This is a sensible move, and could also have a further benefit: it could reduce the number of financial organisations that are “too big to...
by Paul Sweeting | Oct 22, 2009 | All, Industry News
It is reported today that the highest earning employees of US banks in receipt of government aid will have their salaries slashed and remaining remuneration paid in stock that must be held for years. These are both ways in which the significant agency risks present in...
by Paul Sweeting | Oct 6, 2009 | All, Longevity
The Conservatives announced today that they would bring forward a proposed rise in the State Pension Age for men. Thank goodness for that. When life expectancy is rising – as it has been for years – there are only two choices you have if you want to avoid...
by Paul Sweeting | Oct 2, 2009 | All, Longevity
Danish researchers have reported that projecting past life expectancy forward suggests that half of the babies being born now can expect to live to 100. Perhaps. Making projections over that sort of timescale are very difficult, and it is dangerous to give information...
by Paul Sweeting | Sep 24, 2009 | All, Industry News
It is dangerous to equate the complexity of some financial products with social uselessness, which is essentially what Lord Turner has done. Collateralised debt obligations (CDOs) are a good example. These instruments allow a single type of investment to be packaged...
by Paul Sweeting | Sep 23, 2009 | All, Pensions
The recent RSA-sponsored article on pensions sets out a proposal combining inexpensive, compulsory investment and shareholder activism. However, as well-meaning as it is, it over-simplifies many important issues and misses several more. It is based on the personal...
by Paul Sweeting | Sep 11, 2009 | All, Longevity
Research published today in the British Medical Journal shows that people living in deprived areas are as susceptible to higher mortality rates today as they were a century ago. It also points out the changes in the causes of this mortality. In the early 1900’s,...
