by Paul Sweeting | Jun 24, 2016 | All
I found the result of the EU referendum deeply troubling. This is partly because we’re turning our back on Europe. We’re rejecting an institution which, despite its faults, has meant that we’ve had peace across the Channel for more than seventy...
by Paul Sweeting | Jun 20, 2016 | All
The referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU is now only a few days away. This means that there is more focus than ever on the opinion polls. But as well as these polls, we also have the odds on the referendum being quoted by a large number of bookmakers –...
by Paul Sweeting | Jun 7, 2016 | All, Investment, Pensions
Last week I gave a couple of talks at the Pensions, Risk and Investment Conference, organised by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. One of them was based on a recent paper I wrote* on pension scheme funding. The talk seemed to strike a chord with many of the...
by Paul Sweeting | Mar 21, 2016 | All, Investment
A lot of attention in the recent UK budget has been focussed on the launch of “lifetime ISAs” (or “LISAs” – yes, that’s the reason for the picture…). On the face of it, these seem very tax-efficient. For every £4,000 invested,...
by Paul Sweeting | Feb 24, 2016 | All, Industry News
Although inflation seems to be edging up, there are still fears the UK will slip into deflation. This is important because deflation can be bad for the economy. However, one of the key reasons given for this assertion is that “if prices are falling, then people...
by Paul Sweeting | Feb 11, 2016 | All, Longevity
Since the start of the twentieth century, we’ve seen huge improvements in life expectancy. As the chart below for England and Wales shows, a boy born in 1900 might have expected to live for 43.3 years, whilst a girl could expect to have 47.3 years. By 2013, the...
by Paul Sweeting | Feb 2, 2016 | All, Longevity
The United Kingdom is an ageing country. This doesn’t just mean that people are living longer, which they are; it also means that the birth rate has dropped significantly in recent decades. These two factors are important when considering issues like state...
