In this episode of V-FM Pensions, hosts Darren and Nico put themselves at the mercy of listener questions in this Q+A special (part one...) that lays bare some of the current and emerging fault lines in UK pensions...

Listeners’ questions push Darren and Nico to discuss whether VFM is about member outcomes, system outcomes, or society at large? Pensions exist to pay money in retirement, and anything else is a bonus only if it doesn’t cost members.... discuss?

From net zero to DB schemes quietly propping up government debt, the episode surfaces a deeper tension that is at the heart of the system... are pensions private savings vehicles or instruments of public policy?

The hosts are critical of the current VFM framework as being too focused on inputs, blind to real-world outcomes, and ill-equipped to judge a 60-year savings journey. Meanwhile, engagement remains superficial, policymaking short-term, and adequacy the elephant in the room.

And hanging over it all, a bigger doubt: what if the long-term equity growth story the whole system relies on doesn’t hold?