• An Employers story
    Jan 31 2025

    In this episode, we flip from the provider view to the Employer view.

    After nearly 40 years in the workplace pension market, the majority of which was spent working in-house to run pension schemes for some of the UK's biggest employers, my guest Paul Bird has lots of insight into delivering great pension benefits for employees.

    In this podcast, he shares his story—from closing DB schemes to helping colleagues retire early. Paul is proud to have walked the walk rather than just talked the talk and shares his story with us. It's different when you have to walk past colleagues every day for whom you are enacting pension scheme decisions—an extra impetus to get it right!

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    47 mins
  • It's CEO time
    Jan 14 2025

    Yes, kicking off the 2025 series of the Scottish Widows Workplace Savings Podcast, Robert Cochran is joined by Scottish Widows CEO Chira Barua. They discuss Chira's first 18 months in role and his big plans for 2025 and beyond.

    The discussion includes - views on adequacy, digitising pensions, gamifying financial experience, Mansion House Reforms, Chira's love of the guitar and empowering individuals to take control of their own financial future.

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    40 mins
  • Master Trust Unpacked
    Dec 19 2024

    In our final podcast of 2024, Robert Cochran, our Innovation and Engagement Specialist is joined by our very own Master Trust Lead, Sharon Bellingham.

    Sharon shares her invaluable experience and insights, on a journey that takes us from Mansion House and the Secondary Market, through to DE&I and what matters most to our members.

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    53 mins
  • Pension Attention Season 2024
    Nov 27 2024

    Over 60,000 employees have taken part in the Scottish Widows RetireWell Pension Education sessions this year with a big boost for Pay Your Pension Some Attention.

    In this episode, Robert Cochran is joined by Stuart Hopley to discuss exactly what pension scheme members are asking about their pensions, whilst delving into the success of the main Pension Attention campaign too.

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    39 mins
  • Women and Retirement Report 2024
    Nov 20 2024

    The 2024 Women and Retirement report highlights the progress made over the past 20 years in narrowing the gender pension gap.

    This podcast reviews the key milestones reached in the past two decades, delves into this year's findings, and explores why further action is essential to fully close the gender pensions gap.

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    40 mins
  • Financial Wellness – a Talk Money Week special
    Nov 7 2024
    In this podcast, Robert is joined by two Scottish Widows colleagues, Rachel Proudfoot and Chris Smart, as they examine the world beyond workplace pensions. In this episode, they discuss financial wellness, financial resilience, and some of the ways that young people, vulnerable customers, and policyholders alike can manage their finances.
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    40 mins
  • Pensions Dashboard(s)
    Nov 1 2024

    In this special, Robert Cochran is joined by ‘Mr Pension Dashboard’ Richard Smith, who has travelled the length of Europe by train analysing all that European pension dashboards have to offer.

    For the younger perspective, he is also joined by 20-something Oliver Webster as they discuss what the latest announcements from the government mean for pension dashboards– and just how big a revolution for pension engagement the dashboards promise to be.

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    1 hr and 10 mins
  • Graeme Bold - doing good things at scale
    Sep 26 2024

    In this episode, Robert Cochran is joined by Graeme Bold who has led the Workplace Savings Business at Scottish Widows for 5 years and overseen a digital revolution at Scottish Widows - growing the business to over £100 Billion of assets - whilst delivering best in class digital tools for scheme members and employers. We discuss his 5 years at Scottish Widows, his hopes for the next 5 years, pension dashboard and of course his love for Pension Engagement Season - he even dons the t-shirt.

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    45 mins