Actuarial Post: New savers need simple products

By Tom Murray, Head of Product Strategy, Exaxe.

The death of Margaret Thatcher and her funeral has meant that there has been a huge amount of reviews of the 1980s on TV and radio. I was living in London during the 80s and clearly remember the sense of massive change that was in the air at that time and the heated debates that were constantly taking place in workplaces and pubs about the various measures that were being enacted by the government.

In terms of the financial sector, the biggest social change came when the government opened up shareholding to the masses by privatising public institutions and positioning the privatisation to maximise the number of small shareholders. The privatisations of British Telecom and British Gas created millions of new shareholders, people who never owned shares directly before. Although many sold the shares for a quick profit, buying and selling shares suddenly became something that the man in the street could do and was no longer seen as an activity reserved for the mysterious brokers in the city. A new huge market had been opened up for the stockbrokers. It was an exciting time and there was a mood among all the people I was working with that life had dramatically changed; new possibilities were opening up and the staid settled approach to life as most people understood it was now gone forever. To quote another hero of the time – Del Boy – ‘He who dares wins’ – and people felt more in control of their own future than ever before...

Read the full article in the Actuarial Post: Actuarial Post - Edition 24

Actuarial Post is an online publication offering actuaries insight into the market, an extensive library, news and the latest job listings. With a dedicated comment section; the most talked about topics in the actuarial market are discussed by actuaries dealing with the issues on a daily basis. Articles focus on the latest trends changes in regulation and the areas of pensions, investment, life and insurance.