Michael is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) and Corporate Affairs and Policy Advisor at Smarterly.  He trained with JP Morgan in New York and, after 21 years in investment banking, joined Towers Watson, the actuarial consultants.  Subsequently he was responsible for the running of David Cameron’s Economic Competitiveness Policy Group.

Michael is the author of more than 40 pensions-related papers published through the CPS, sometimes supported by both Conservative and Labour peers.  A number of his proposals have been implemented, including the scrapping the annuitisation requirement (“freedom and choice”), the pooling of the LGPS’s funds, and the introduction of the Lifetime ISA and bonus.  More recently he detailed proposals for a Workplace ISA to compete with occupational pension products, residing within the Lifetime ISA. 

In April 2018 the Work and Pensions Select Committee endorsed three of Michael’s earlier proposals: there should be a new default decumulation pathway to support the disengaged (“auto-protection”); that NEST should be permitted to provide it; and there should be a single, public, mandatory pension dashboard.

Michael is occasionally consulted on pension reform by serving Ministers, shadow Ministers and the Cabinet Office.  He has given oral and written evidence to Select Committees in both Houses of Parliament.