Ten Pension Predictions for 2015

1.       A lack of clear and detailed regulation relating to the new pension freedoms.

As April draws near, many will be shouting loudly for clarity on detail, but it won’t arrive. Political parties will be in election mode and the April ‘new start’ will be hindered by poorly thought out regulation.

2.       Increasing pension scams.

Inevitable with the new pension freedoms. And frequent too, until the new systems get bedded in and the new government knows what to do.

3.       Appalling pension headlines.

Probably led by the Daily Mail as usual. People defrauded of pensions. People confused by the new freedoms. Anything to sell a paper.

4.       Quiet success with new products offering good customer value.

Probably won’t make the Daily Mail, but many providers will successfully navigate the new legislation and come up with quality, innovative products at a reasonable cost.

5.       New quality systems.

This has been ongoing since auto-enrolment was announced, but providers are making good strides with new data management tools integrated to pension provision. Again, unlikely to trouble the Daily Mail headline makers.

6.       Covenant worries.

No predictions here on a Russia collapse, Islamic militants and all the rest, but whatever happens in the world affects investments. And with that in mind, trustee covenant concerns regarding the remaining DB plans will increase.

7.       Adverts relating to not cashing in your pension.

As the new freedoms kick in, how long before we see adverts and articles relating to the need to think before you spend?  In Australia (a country we seem to be mimicking re pensions) it’s called ‘double dipping’ - people who spend their pension and then live off the Sate.

8.       Strengthened DC governance.

Whatever government is in power, I expect some firmer legislation around DC governance and management, akin to trustee governance.

9.       Pension Apps that work.

With a continued move to everything being in front of you on a smart phone, pension apps will come of age.

10.   Closure of small and medium pension schemes.

Whether DB or DC, there will be closures, mergers and buy-outs of smaller schemes, as the new legislation and auto-enrolment continue to change the landscape.

Pragmatic Steps Into The Unknown

I welcome the common sense approach adopted by the Treasury in not, after all, trying to fine individuals who take a pension pot and fail to advise earlier pension providers they also have benefits with.

The revised guidance extends the deadline from 31 days to 91 days and that states that only active providers need be contacted. This gets around the problem that individuals may well have pensions with providers that they have simply forgotten about. I know that shouldn’t happen, but not everyone loves pensions as much as me – and you, presumably, as you are reading this.

Common sense has prevailed.

The major problem remains however.  I’m not sure anyone, including the government who introduced the changes, knows exactly what is going to happen when the full freedoms on pensions come into force. Will there be reckless decisions to cash in pensions? Will advice be adequate? How will the government react to those who take, spend and then come back, begging cap in hand?

One thing is for sure. To change the analogy, the genie is out of the bottle and no future government will be able to put him back.

A pragmatic step by the government with regard to individual fines. But nevertheless, it’s pragmatic steps into the unknown.

Pensions Longevity of a Different Kind

A big WELL DONE to Stephanie Hawthorne of Pensions World on achieving twenty-five years longevity as editor. In a pension’s world where longevity is regularly in the headlines, it’s great to see a living example in the Pensions World.

Our world is often one of short termism, so great to see a journalist showing a different example. And winning the special “Award for Outstanding Contribution to Institutional Journalism” from State Street along the way. Here’s to the next twenty-five.

Giving it the Bird

Congratulations Pension Expert. You valiantly resisted birdie jokes alongside the article on the RSPBs underpinning of their pension scheme. Only three were in evidence: The RSPB ‘hatching a plan’ 'broader flightpath' and 'migrating assets'.

However, I have no such qualms. It seems to me the RSPB have avoided nesteggs, shunned feathering their nest, seen the wood from the trees in their flightpath and adopted an early worm approach with regard to the recovery period.

Their approach could act as a beak-on for other plans. I noticed Tom Dines was the author of the article. Trust he's eating chicken tonight. Okay, not the best bird jokes, I know. Guess I may not tweet this one. :-)

NAPMI?

The announcement that the NAPF and PMI are likely to merge is an interesting one.

Both are citing improvements in management, pooling of resources and greater influence in the industry. But I guess it also reflects a decrease in DB schemes, traditionally the ‘bread and butter’ for the NAPF. They came to embrace DC rather late in the day and I’m guessing not so many DC schemes are interested in being part of (and paying a fee for) membership of the NAPF.

Of course, the NAPF gets a lot of support and income from consultants and providers as well, but if they can’t claim to be speaking for company pension schemes as well, there’s a problem.

As for the PMI, they came out of the Chartered Insurance Institute originally and have kept close to their original remit of maintaining and promoting pensions excellence through professional exams. I’m not so sure what’s in a merger for the PMI –unless of course they are low on volunteers which would be pretty essential for their continuation.

All in all, it’s a reflection of a decreasing profile for employer sponsored pension plans. And with auto-enrolment and the new proposed tax changes, that decrease will pick up pace as companies embrace standard industry products.

Not the happiest of backgrounds for the NAPF conference which starts today.

Ninth But Slipping

We’re ninth again. The same as last year. But for how long?

Mercer’s Worldwide Global Pension Index puts the UK behind Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia and Chile among others, but well ahead of France, Italy, China and India.

The warning is though that with the new reforms (the Taxation of Pensions Bill was published today), we will slip down the rankings. More freedom to take a pension in various forms comes with a health warning. If savers can’t manage those savings well and spend their pension pot before they die, then they fall back on the State. It’s happened in Australia (called ‘double dipping') and could happen here.

In the name of freedom, our rankings may fall.

So much depends on good communication and advice. Osborne is enjoying positive pension headlines today with the publishing of the Pensions Bill, but if the government don’t back it up with adequate education and advice, we’ll be slipping down that table.

Why We Provide A Pension

Here's a good reason why we work so hard to ensure there are pensions for people.

 

Seeing Red - The New AHC

I’ve got a soft spot for pensions communication company AHC. Not least because I used to work for them.

So their new web site and relaunch are good news to me. Gone is the over complicated old web site, full of words and hard to follow.

In its place, a new design. Not far off what we have done with Pension Geeks.

I like the cleanness of it. It’s easier to navigate and the messages are clearer.

Having said that, the front page is just plain annoying! I like the video of everyone. Faces I recognise and many I miss. It shows the magnificence of Heath Hall and tells the story well of a young and dynamic workforce. Playing croquet, answering phones, looking busy. A bit too signposted in places, but a good message.

The annoying bit though is the 70 or so words that fill the middle of the screen, so you can’t see the video properly. I found myself wanting to hit the delete button, but there wasn’t one!

The words themselves look like they were manufactured by committee. Pretty much at odds with the clearness of the message elsewhere on the site. Just plain strange.

The other change is the name. Gone is Anthony Hodges Consulting, replaced by plain AHC. And a new logo too. In red. And in a speech bubble.

Red is a bit of an aggressive colour and to put it in a speech bubble seems a little too pushy to me.

But overall, a great new site.

May AHC only ever see red on their logo and never on their balance sheet!

The Left Hand Doesn’t Know What the Right Hand is Doing

This is an oft-used idiom with a Biblical foundation (‘But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing’: Matthew 6:3). In its original context, it’s used positively. But we’re talking  pensions here and I want to use it negatively!

Professional Pensions writes about the decision to have a number of different organisations dealing with pensions guidance. There’s TPAS, the Money Advice Service, a new offshoot of TPAS and a new directly controlled Treasury operation.

Three organisations and four delivery mechanisms.

Back to the quote. On the basis that there will not be enough resource put in place, how long before chaos ensues?!

The True Colours of the NAPF

The true colours of the National Association of Pension Funds are showing through in their latest comments. They are recorded in Professional Pensions Magazine as saying that signposting members to the guidance guarantee could cost: ‘In the case of the largest schemes this could be in excess of £100,000 a year’.

And so, the NAPF is again exposed as thinking about their largest members. If a plan has millions under investment and the company is a multi-million pound enterprise, then £100,000 could be seen as quite reasonable.

What about the small and medium sized employers? Their costs of signposting may be less than £100,000 of course, but in real terms, a much higher percentage of funds under management or of the company’s value.

The NAPF are also recorded as questioning the need to signpost every time pensions are mentioned, especially if the member is ‘many years’ from needing it. Again, this is missing the point. If the member is in a guaranteed Defined Benefit plan, then maybe so. But if it’s Defined Contribution, then the more they can save at an earlier age the better. Again, the NAPF has shown its true colours. Not just a big company bias, but a DB bias.

Instant Society

Yesterday was Pension Awareness Day. The BBC ran a pensions programme called Inside Out, looking at the pension cheats and the need to save. It even had a cameo performance from Steve Webb, chatting to pensioners on a bus.

Joan is 93. In the programme she comments on the cultural shift towards spending now.

'Nowadays, young people don't know how to save - because they've never had to save. It's a throwaway society. They've never had to make do and mend like we had to.'

There's something in that. In our instant, 40,000 googles-a-second society, everything is instant. Saving isn't.

Pension Awareness Day (2)

Today is Pension Awareness Day. What started as a good idea has grown into a great event. Thank you to all those who have sponsored the day. Well done to Jonathan at Pension Geeks in getting it off the ground.

This is just year 1. What can we achieve in the year to come? How can we help people to think about pensions sooner? We’ve got the infrastructure, the products, the tax regime to help. But we still need to communicate the message.

That’s the Pension Awareness Day challenge.

From Ford Model T to Lamborghini

It’s nearly six months since Steve Webb made his controversial Lamborghini comment - that people should be able to use their pension savings to buy a Lamborghini if they want to. 

And it was the extent of the pension changes announced by George Osborne at that time that took us all by surprise. But six months on, with a lot of reflection, and considerable hard work from the pensions industry, we’re getting used to the idea, the flexibility. And to some extent, the increased simplicity and reasonableness of the changes. Annuities will still exist, but gone is the need for an annuity and with it, the effect of the fluctuations in annuity rates from month to month that created a lottery for the approaching retiree.

In its place is a need to communicate like never before. The trustees need to decide how to respond to changes that affect their plans (the Taxation of Pensions Bill is just out). And then they need to act. Members will need that oft-spoken of information that Steve Webb speaks of like never before.

We’ve come a long way from a prescribed defined benefit pension plan (the Ford Model T of pensions) to the Lamborghini type choice that awaits today’s pensioners. I think that’s good. But trustees need to start reviewing the changes early, and then to shout loud those changes to a workforce that still has a mental block the moment you mention the word ‘pension’.

Laughing All The Way FROM The Bank?

A survey from Fidelity, recorded in the Sunday Times, interviewing 500 people due to retire or planning to retire next year makes interesting reading. It suggests most are going to turn their backs on annuities and take all the cash they can. But how wise is this? Cash now, but poverty later?

Unless they are cautious with their new found wealth, they may well find it runs out a long time before they run out. Then what? In Australia, it’s called ‘double dipping’ – ie taking your pension as cash now and then relying on the State when you run out of money.

Is this what we can expect in the UK? Has the government relaxed the laws around pensions too much?

Pension Awareness Day

As likeminds rightly point out in their blog, one of the key messages on Pension Awareness Day is to encourage employers and pension providers to be more innovative in the way they communicate saving for retirement. 

Are we too quick to assume that people will read what we send them? Are we too reliant on words? Do we assume people respond to communications in the same was we do? 

Having been 83 days (and counting.....) without broadband at home (courtesy of BT Openreach incompetence), it's made me read more in print, text more and attempt to download stuff on my phone that I would normally read on a computer screen. It's been enlightening. The smaller screen on the phone means I skip more, just look at the headlines, respond to pictures more as they take up more of the screen.

I'm not suggesting that my one-man experience should be a key driver in our communications, but it does suggest that the particular communications aim of Pensions Awareness Day is the right one. 

Crossing Pension Borders

The idea of a Pensions Passport is not new, but its time has come. To have one location that holds all your pension information from the multiple employers you have worked for, all in the same format and all readily accessible is something that can be done with today's technology- and should be done.

It should hold all the State pension data together with any and every pension from other sources -all held in the same way, in recognisably the same format.

Management of data has come a long way in a short time. This kind of thing is now achievable. Borders between pension schemes in the UK can be crossed easily in this way and the full information available for advisers means they can concentrate on the advice and not spend endless months gathering the information in the first place. There's a growing enthusiasm in the pensions press for a Pensions Passport and it might just promote enough enthusiasm to get the job done.

Grey Gap Years

'.....the idea that people have one job that they do all of their lives is “history” and second careers will become increasingly common for the over fifties.' Here says the Pensions Minister Steve Webb in the Daily Telegraph.

He's right.

The retirement 'cliff' - in work one day, out of work for good the next day - is increasingly uncommon. And a good thing too. The shock of retirement has led to many an early death, due, I think, to a sudden lack of purpose and lack of appreciation.

With the recent pension changes, we are moving towards a Lifetime Savings Account (something I've championed before) and considerably more flexibility in how we take our tax advantaged savings.

It will also allow for the Grey Gap Year, another suggestion from our Pensions Minister. I'm not sure it will look like a student gap year. Shorter and possibly with more purpose to it (!), but a good time to step back from work, assess, prepare and move back in to part time work, or even a different career.

All possible thanks to these changes. And thanks to the internet revolution. So much can be done from home now. Whole careers can be built around access to the World Wide Web (he says, writing this from the local pub due to BTs complete inability to provide broadband at our new house so far!)

Pensions in Unexpected Places

When you talk about pensions, certain pictures come to mind. Stock pictures used by many a journalist. An older couple walking along a sea shore. A piggy bank, preferably pink with a smiley face. Coins in a jar.

They're not bad images. At least it breaks up the text.

But how about pensions in unexpected places? One of the aims of pension awareness day on 15th September  is to try and get the pension wrist band into unexpected places! Maybe you can help? Order your wrist band. Take a photo of you with the wrist band in an unexpected place. Send your 'pensions selfie' to Pension Geeks. The best pictures will be on the site.

And the message? All of us in the pensions industry need to try harder to get pensions out there. And even the unexpected places (and people) need a pension.

House Moves and Pension Moves

Just recovering from moving house, so therefore catching up a bit with all that has been happening in the world of pensions.

(Incidentally, well done to all the various third parties, institutions and providers –and especially the Post Office- for responding so well to our house move. All except BT that is. Did you know you can’t order broadband if there is no recognised house phone? Actually there is a house phone- but it’s been offline with the house being empty. Anyway, BT rant over....)

The main pension move of course has bee CDC’s. Not new, but a new energy for the idea post Queen’s Speech. And Steve Webb linking it to his Defined Ambition project. Is it really DC+ (to use a Webb phrase)? Sort of.

Plus in terms of increased certainty by way of volume. Plus in terms of lower costs, again due to volume. But not plus in terms of additional guarantees. The pot can still go down as well as up. There’s no protection even on pensions in payment.

I remember managing a Dutch CDC for a large international company. The news was not good one year. There were going to have to be reductions in pensions in payment. It was a hard one for the local Dutch company to manage in terms of a news story that could get out to the press. No one wants their pensioners to suffer. The US parent company didn't like it one bit. How did we get to this, they were asking? It was a communications nightmare.

What looks good on paper and works logically for pension professionals is still hard to explain to a member. Especially a pensioner who’s just found out they are getting less in their bank account each week.

Nevertheless, I think it’s a good step forward so long as we can manage the message with the members.

In Modest Praise of the Active Manager

There’s no doubt active managers are under the cosh right now. The Hymans Robertson findings show that active management, after paying fees, has achieved little or nothing for the Local Government funds. Michael Johnson of the Centre for Policy Studies sees no on-going active role in listed assets.

The problem is the solution. The solution seems to be passive management and passive management follows the herd. Down as well as up. The herd aren’t always right.

But it’s a hard job to convince the investor of that. In the age of defined contributions, it’s the member that needs convincing, not so much the company. And the individual investor is cautious. State Street research shows young investors, often new to pensions via auto-enrolment, are averse to risk. They don’t want to see decreases on their benefit statements -and they find it hard to rationalise that they should save at all if they can’t get the money until retirement.

Back to communications here. If the State Street conclusion was to be followed in practice, you end up with extreme caution, cash and bonds, lack of growth and potentially, a lack of pension. The long term investor needs to accept a degree of risk. Not to do so is to live in poverty in retirement. How we need that pension advice and education aimed at the member!

There is a role for the active investor in both defined benefit and defined contribution plans. They can add value, especially when everyone else is doing the same thing. Hymans results are disappointing but not conclusive to the demise of the active manager. Fees can be an issue. And communicating risk positively; even more so. But the demise of the active manger? Not while investment tactics can still produce superior returns when compared to a tracking computer.

Communicating the Brand

Well done to Brafton for coming up with this search engine optimisation infographic. There's a clear need for companies to work with social media if they are serious about growth. And a clear need for that to be driven through blogs and information based articles, not just adverts.

 

A Long Road

It’s pleasing to see the views in the press that the new DC flexibility could increase member savings (Pensions Expert). I agree. There is room for optimism. Fewer restrictions on the pension should result in more willingness to save.

Another article, this time in Professional Pensions, records the latest LV survey. The income of the average retiree is almost 24% less than the minimum wage. There’s a lot of stats behind that statement of course, but one thing is clear, the new flexibility HAS to increase member savings. The savings gap is growing. We’re on the right track, it’s a good start, but (to retain the track analogy), it’s a long road.

The Daily Mail Does It Again

Proof if ever it was needed that the Daily Mail can turn the most encouraging news into something negative. Something it has successfully done with pensions for years.

The ONS have just released their report which shows that life expectancy between the rich and poor is narrowing in the UK. Something to celebrate. We do care for everyone. We are a genuine democracy. We do have the best health service in the world. I could go on.... the message is we have a lot to be thankful for and a lot we are getting right.

So the report is good news, as reflected in the Financial Times headline 'Life Expectancy Gap Between the Rich and Poor Shrinks'. Not the catchiest of headlines- but it is the Financial Times!

Now read the headline in the Daily Mail, covering the same report: 'A fifth of baby boys living in the UK's poorest areas won't live to state pension age - official figures'. I guess they kept looking until they found the suitably negative statistic. I'm sure it's true. I'm sure we can do more. But the overall message is positive. Shame on them (once more) for the ability to whinge louder than the rest of us.

Two Million Reasons to be Cheerful, One Country's Reason to be Careful

NEST has recently announced a landmark, as they passed one million members. Add to that approximately another million from other master trusts such as People’s Pension, NOW and L&G and you have two million reasons to be cheerful. Ian Dury and the Blockheads would be proud.

And it is a cheerful message. A majority of these members may well be new to pensions, thanks to Auto-Enrolment. Pensions that would not have existed had the legislation not changed.

A good start. But not enough.

Figures from Towers Watson Australia highlight the story over there:

 

So why is this relevant? The new announcements in the Budget means we are following the Australia example. Legislated savings but the ability to take cash at retirement.  So this means increased savings for sure, as the chart shows.  But not enough. Nowhere near enough.

And one other worrying slant on the Australia example. Double dipping. The ability to take cash and spend it has been too alluring to many. They spend it and then rely on the State to survive. Double dipping is more likely in the UK than a new Lamborghini. Or maybe it's both.

REPOST: The Pig Has It

In honour of the appalling cover to Professional Pensions, 27 March 2014, here's a repost of an earlier blog:

Go onto Google Images, type in ‘pension’ and then see what comes up. Actually, I can tell you what comes up. Ignoring news stories, in the first 100 or so images there were 10 pictures of cash in a jar, 19 ‘beautiful couples’, 12 eggs in and out of baskets, 4 moneyboxes, 6 road signs and a few deckchairs. And twenty-three piggybanks. That's right. Twenty-three pigs.

Is that the best we can do?! Is that a good summary of our ability to convey ‘pensions’ in pictures? You see, if you go behind the picture on Google, to the sites, they almost all lead to providers, consultants and clients pension funds.

Surely we can be more imaginative than a piggy bank? If a picture paints a thousand words, aren’t we falling a bit short with coins in a jar? So come on AHC, Likeminds, Shilling, Ferrier Pearce and all you other pension communication companies…..not to mention the internal departments in actuarial firms…. where are the new ideas? What can we convey that doesn’t include a piggy bank held in the hands of a beautiful couple in a deckchair under a road sign?!

Pensions Poverty

I welcome the budget changes to pensions. I really do. But the truth is, it’s benefits for the privileged offered by the privileged (to misquote Ed Milliband). Here’s a Facebook message that was posted today by Monika, a lady in my church:

Dear George Osborne,

I'm glad that future pensioners will be able to draw down their annuities and that people with the money to spare can put more of it into ISA's and that, probably those same pensioners can save via a Pensioner's Bond.

But please explain where those pensioners with little, or no, spare cash will be better off.

Personally, when I was a single working mother, I saved what I could in an annuity, only to find out when I retired, that, as it did not amount to £23,000 I was not allowed to withdraw it and had to receive an annuity of, wait for it, £12 a year (!). Even if I live to 100+ I'll never be able to draw out what I put in and now, because I've already retired, it's still locked away.

It seems to me that many pensioners will still not be any better off, despite the media's proclamations, so don't be surprised if you don't get my vote in the next general Election.

Her comments are pretty typical of the real issues we face. Pensions poverty is real.

And what’s worse, according to the Institute of Economic Affairs, we can’t do much about it either. They advise that promises made by successive governments have not been honoured from the existing tax base. So we can’t afford to pay what we’ve promised to pay, and according to IEA’s Philip Booth, ‘it is quite possible that we will not find our way through without serious social breakdown’.

That’s the sobering message behind the mild euphoria in the pensions industry provoked by yesterday’s budget announcements.

Don't Tick the Box, Run the Scheme

Reading Steve Delo’s comments in Professional Pensions Magazine almost brought out an audible shout of ‘yes’ from me. Slightly embarrassing when you’re in the quiet carriage on the East Coast line. But it deserves a ‘shout out’ for its plain common sense.

Delo is saying trustees are getting too caught up in form filling and box ticking so as to lose sight of the bigger picture and the need to concentrate on the really important stuff.

In my experience, the box ticking/compliance led/admin and member gripe led trustee meetings are far too common. In the same article, Richard Butcher suggests some consultants use the box ticking items in the meeting to hide behind. Yes, I’ve seen that too on occasion. Although, in defence of the consultants, it’s often a risk-averse company that insists on discussing the business plan details at every meeting and recording every minutiae in the minutes. Maybe I just worked for some overly detail obsessive employers.

More time is needed on reviewing investments and understanding investment alternatives. Governance reviews and membership analysis needs more of a look in.

What we don’t need (in my humble opinion) is more box ticking initiatives such as the ones proposed by the Pensions Administration Standards Association (PASA), where we are about to get new admin codes of conduct. And they have the temerity to say they are going to release different codes of conduct every year! (Audible groan in the Quiet Coach for that bright idea).

Yes, Mr Delo, I fully agree. Trustees spend far too long on documentation and box ticking. And it’s not helped by well-meaning industry pension types suggesting even more codes and directives.

Don’t tick the box; run the scheme.

Strong and Direct

Great piece in Professional Pensions. Lee Hollingworth of Hymans Robertson is correct in saying ‘people need a strong, direct approach to tell them what ‘adequate’ is, what they need and how they’re doing against that target’.

The comment comes following analysis by Hymans Robertson via their Guided Outcomes platform which shows only 18% of over one hundred thousand defined contribution members are likely to build an adequate retirement income.

Apathy has done well for us. The new auto-enrolment approach relies on it for getting members into pension plans. But that’s just the start. If the employer stops with the minimum, then pensions at retirement will be inadequate, and as Hollingworth says, poor pension results will lead to ‘workforce management issues’.

We are going the right way with UK pensions. Auto-enrolment was needed. But that’s just the start.

I Hate Bland

An excellent article from Robin Ellison in Pensions World says that ‘rules trying to cap costs are almost certain to have adverse unintended consequences by squeezing out competition from start ups, adding further regulatory and compliance costs, and moving costs to less transparent elements of the system.’

Sad but true.

I’m all for reducing costs, but to start to rule on it simply leads to bland same-as investment choices and large anonymous pension schemes.

Or, as Robin suggests, the costs get hidden, becoming less transparent in an age when we are trying to promote clarity.

There has to be room for alternative approaches. And those alternatives come at a cost. There will be small employers who are happy to carry more cost in order to provide a pension plan that is tailored for their staff. Higher costs to the member may well be outweighed by more generous contributions from the employer than would be the case were he to simply ‘abandon’ his staff to one of the big providers. Big providers can be a recipe not just for low costs but average service. And less interest from the member.

There will also be employers that want to offer genuinely different investment choices for what may be a particularly savvy financial group of employees.

To rule against these things in pursuit of low costs is to limit the market, reduce the choice and promote a generation who remain apathetic about pensions. Regulated low costs will lead to a bland pensions market.

And I hate ‘bland’.

Failover or Fallover?

Another new word has just entered the pensions dictionary. Quoted in Pensions Age, Dixons Retail group pensions manager Gerry Phillips, talking of the new Profund Cloud service said “the automatic ‘failover’ capability within the service provides assurance to clients that service continuity will not be compromised”.

Failover? Does he mean the software security? Or is it a misprint and he’s talking about the new systems ability to ‘fallover’ at any moment?!

Google to the rescue on this one. Apparently it’s a technical term for a computer switching to a standby system if the first one fails.

So what happens when my failover fallsover? Good job I’ve got backup then….