As far as i am aware the life/pensions industry is still left pretty untouched after the financial crisis in that people are still earning very high salaries on the back of peoples funds even after their proven failure to manage the money any better than a monkey throwing darts at a board , is the government making any strides to address this ?
I know that there are many overpaid accountants,IT and actuarial staff in that area essentially on the back of taking their cut from the citizens whether they do a good job or not.
This is not to mention the sales staff who took exorbitant commissions and as well as high salaries tended to go on trips all over the world , the rugby and soccer jollies essentially at the pension and life assurance policy holders expense.
This is another example of a financial elite who get their pound of flesh no matter what.
one sample article from the indo (not my recommended source )
The absolute last thing we need is the Government doing something about this! If you don’t like you pension company, change it! it is that simple. Under EU law, you have access to any pension fund anywhere in Europe.
Do you really want some gob shite like Patrick Neary as the pensions industry regulator. Ahhh, sure isn’t he a sound fellow. He did a great job looking after the banks. Sound Fellow!!
I get a pretty good deal. I work in the industry and it affords me a lavish lifestyle. I, for one, welcome the apathy of the investors in these schemes. Whether that apathy means that they don’t shop around or don’t bother applying pressure to scheme trustees for more options/funds that are price competitive*.
Common market regulations, means that you can avail of financial products anywhere within the EU. From a legal point of view, gaining access to pension pension products is no different than opening a bank account. I mean, you can go to France and open a bank account with no trouble. It is also possible to open a pension account anywhere in the EU.
But the point I was trying to make, was that if people aren’t happy with their current provider, trusties, etc. do something about it. Change it! Don’t think the Government will/should come along and fix things for you. And it is not just a case of changing to another Irish provider.
Biggest pension shock of all is the fact that the government has raised the old age pension age to 68, last week. Heard it on drivetime today. I don’t know if it is being discussed elsewhere, but could have mega implications if what some commentators said was true.
One may have to leave work at 65, then find a new job for 3 years until the OAP kicks in. There was some uncertainty as to whether public service pensions were going to be postponed until the recipient was 68
I know that the government has announced a lot of things and fudged many of them. They have actually passed legislation on this without much opposition and I got the impression that they pushed this through without thinking about the full implications. Apparently, it will affect everybody under 49.
I realise that many people have a lot on their plate at this moment in time, but this measure will push out the misery for many from 65 to 68. Maybe the government hope to reverse or modify this measure if/when the economy picks up. In my opinion this will cause most pain to most people when this whole sorry show is viewed in its totality.
The government pushing the age of public pension up and the .6% levy is all the more reason to ensure the charges are lower on money already in people private pot.
It is notable that Irish Life is still very profitable and that is why it is being floated soon …even though people funds have performed abysmally in the last 5 years they still pull in their exorbitant fees …
The problem in the past was we had bad regulation ala patrick neary and co …what we need is good regulation …and access to those other european products …
A state or public option should be available which pay no saleman commission and minimum fees and at least give that option to people …
