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? https://www.cityam.com/uk-economy-has-a-needless-20-billion-dependency-on-us-stablecoins-research-says/
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At this time the U.K. does not have a single approved Stablecoin
The Isle of Man has the pound token, ( mentioned in the above article ), is up and running, but it’s not regulated for use in the U.K.
Stratis are attempting to be the first to launch a Stablecoin in the U.K. and are currently waiting for legislation to receive royal ascent hopefully in the next few weeks.
Then they can apply for registration with the U.K. financial regulator


Triad group plc are partnered with Stratis .

The big takeaway from the above research article is the potential market size.

I personally believe Stratis has some killer advantages, over others, attempting to enter the U.K. Stablecoin arena, in addition to the fact the blockchain platform was specifically built, from the bottom up, for enterprise.

1/ Built using Microsoft C# and running on.NET ( does not use or need Etherum.).
2/ Stratis has been testing its solution in the U.K. Open Banking sandbox for the last 6 months. ( way ahead of others ).
3/ It’s potential clients ,namely banks, have existing systems that require integration, those banks have IT departments, that are familiar with C# and Microsoft.
4/ The banks themselves can then build out applications using Microsoft tools they are used to using on a daily basis.
5/ Stratis is ahead of most, if not all of the competition. ( introduction of a U.K. Stablecoin )
5/ Stratis is British. This is rare, refer to the article above. ( 98% are American)

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-12001987/Is-final-salary-pension-safe-insurers-UKs-schemes.html

Go towards the end of the article and see just how much these so called pension professionals,
managed to lose.

Remember, it’s workers savings that went down the pan, through sheer incompetence !!

Re the directors awarding themselves a Covid bonus.

As a shareholder or a member of staff for that matter, one never likes a Director bonus at the expense of others.
However I get the feeling it was to allow those same directors to buy shares with the proceeds.
I say this because that’s just what they did.!
I have not looked back in the accounts but I think they said it was a “ One Off “

If you have read all the posts your see it’s perhaps of interest to those saving the traditional way for their pension.

I can’t give advice , but I would like to think there is a rather safer, cheaper way to build wealth for retirement.
Plus I have an inbuilt loathing of city types ,and the way they tend to leach the general population.

Of course with any investment one has risk.

My real interest here came when I read of the Stratis / Triad framework agreement announced over 3 years ago .
The thing that blows my mind is the fact the Stratis blockchain is based on Microsoft C# and running on .Net
No one has put any kind of sensible value on that to date. I believe at some stage they will.
One can purchase the Stratis token but it’s not for me personally.

The Microsoft link means absolutely nothing until it comes to implementation.
Only then is it absolutely everything.
Particularly within legacy computer systems that cram this countries established institutions.

The buzz for myself has always been spotting something huge others have not.
I have been fortunate enough to have done this 3 times with shares over my lifetime.
That kind of gives me confidence in myself that perhaps others lack.
It does not guarantee I am correct this time though !!!

It also helps that I have zero aspiration to be wealthy , others just want to make a fast buck. I do want to give a leg up to families we know struggling with children, and paying horrendous rent.
I also have no issue paying up to 45% tax on my pension withdrawals.

Good luck

“Nearly 90% of them are saving less than the roughly 15% of earnings. Almost all of this saving is being made into defined contribution (DC) pensions, leaving the savers, rather than their employers, exposed to risks that may be difficult to manage well.”

My personal take :

This implies that the average worker should save 15% of his earnings for 50 years to produce a decent pension .

How crazy is that, when most of the working population struggles to sustain a simple life for their families, paying 5% or less .

It has to be far more sensible to invest a small lump sum in tiny high growth dividend paying companies when you’re young.

Target 30% compound growth.

Never pay anything more in for the next 50 years

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is launching a multi-year pensions review, in partnership with the Abrdn Financial Fairness Trust.

It will examine the effects of changing economic conditions and public policies on the future of financial security in retirement, including how these effects differ by gender, ethnicity and across the UK.

The IFS directors leading the review will draw on strategic advice from a steering group of former chancellor Alistair Darling, former secretary of state for Work and Pensions David Gauke and Joanne Segars, former chief executive of the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA).

A series of reports will be produced over the next two years on the challenges facing future generations of pensioners. Its main phase will conclude in summer 2025, with the provision of policy recommendations and options for reform.

This announcement came during the IFS’ report, Challenges for the UK pension system: the case for a pensions review, which warned that the future looks “risky at best” for many current workers hoping for a comfortable retirement.

This is due to the continued decline of defined benefit (DB) pensions in the private sector, the abolition of state earnings-related pensions, low interest rates, falling homeownership, low contributions to defined-contribution schemes, a collapse in pension saving among the self-employed and pension freedoms.

Success blinding us to risk

The IFS said that the current generation of pensioners is doing better than its predecessors. It reported that for the first time in history, since 2009, the average income of pensioners has been similar to that of those under state pension age and that pension poverty rates are lower than the population average.

However, it also warned that “this success may be blinding us to the risk that future generations will not fare as well”.

The report’s findings highlighted a number of current pension challenges, including that many employees are saving very little for retirement, as 60% of middle earning private sector employees who are contributing to a pension are saving less than 8% of their earnings.

Nearly 90% of them are saving less than the roughly 15% of earnings. Almost all of this saving is being made into defined contribution (DC) pensions, leaving the savers, rather than their employers, exposed to risks that may be difficult to manage well.

The IFS also found that fewer than one-in-five of the growing number of self-employed workers are saving into a pension, compared with around a third when the Pensions Commission last reported. The decline in pension membership amongst the self-employed is greatest among those who have been self-employed for a long period.

Expensive, insecure, private rented accommodation

The report added that increasing numbers of people approaching retirement are living in “expensive, insecure, private rented accommodation”, the report revealed.

Simon Nixon - 20/4/23:

Dismay at soaring student debt has finally risen to the surface

Rishi Sunak has called for every child in Britain to continue to study mathematics until they are 18. Last week I did my bit to fulfil the prime minister’s vision when I explained to my 18-year-old the most important piece of maths that he needed to know: how compound interest works. It was the same maths lesson that my first boss delivered to me as a trainee analyst in a City bank 30 years ago. The difference was that my boss was trying to explain to me the benefits of starting regular investing at the start of your career, whereas I was trying to explain the mechanics of student debt. How the world has changed.

The sharp rise in inflation and interest rates over the past year or so has made the operation of compound interest highly material to today’s students. Most student debt today is supposed to pay an interest rate of RPI [the retail prices index] plus 3 per cent, but this is capped at 6.9 per cent. At this level, a £50,000 debt, typical for graduates these days, would balloon to £69,800 after five years and £97,442 after ten. Under reforms to the system last year, new loans from September are supposed to be a lower interest rate based solely on the RPI. Given that this was 13.5 per cent last month, one must hope that this is capped, too.

The political and economic consequences of burdening a generation with so much debt has received less attention than it should. One reason may be that politically the issue appears settled. There is no evidence that anxieties over long-term debt are putting young people off going to university, including among those from the poorest households. Most appear still to consider, probably rightly, that a degree will open up career opportunities. Many students may believe that they will never pay off their debt, although under last year’s reforms, which included lowering the earnings threshold for repayments from £27,500 to £25,000 and extending the repayment period to 40 years, most loans will be repaid in full.

But what makes student debt politically and economically problematic is not simply the size of the debts as how they are repaid: a deduction of 9 per cent of all earnings above the threshold, plus an extra deduction of 6 per cent for those with graduate loans. The result is to confront graduates with eyewatering effective marginal tax rates. For someone earning the average starting salary of £30,921 a year, for example, the marginal rate is 41 per cent, rising to 47 per cent for graduates, including national insurance. At the higher-rate threshold of £50,000, this rises to 51 per cent and 57 per cent. If a graduate earning over £50,000 has children, the rate rises to 76 per cent and 82 per cent, as child benefit is clawed back. Above £100,000, it rises back above 70 per cent as the tax-free allowance is withdrawn.

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The poor kids now have automatic pension subs to pay, as well !!!

Another proposal:

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that UK defined-benefit pension funds, company-sponsored plans that promise a specific payment upon retirement, have moved away from UK equities. In 2000, these funds, which collectively manage around 1.6 trillion pounds, invested around 50% of their assets in Britain’s stock market. In 2022, only 2.5% went into UK equities, according to the Pension Protection Fund. By contrast, bond allocations went from 23% to 72% in the same period.

Blair, Hague and Tory want to redress that by consolidating the 5,130 defined-benefit plans into 100 much larger funds and meshing the 27,000 defined-contribution schemes – plans that are primarily funded by employees – into a small set of “master trusts”. To encourage mergers and boost UK investments, they propose a tax incentive. Only members of funds with over 25 billion pounds under management that invest at least 25% of their assets in the UK will be able to retain the current exemption from capital gains tax on the first 25% of their pensions.

https://www.pensions-expert.com/DB-Derisking/Three-quarters-of-UK-adults-are-ignorant-of-their-pension-savings?ct=true

The Triad moat

6/

Microsoft : The connections

Triad Group Plc Gold standard Microsoft partner.

As a certified Microsoft solution provider, Triad now holds eight Gold standard competencies that are a great endorsement of the wide-ranging and practical expertise our consultants apply to clients’ projects daily.

Triad’s work on DevOps, Data platform, Data analytics, Windows and Devices and Application Development have all achieved the Gold standard following reviews and testing by Microsoft. Importantly, assessment focusses on actual projects delivered for customers – how Triad helps turn data into actionable insights.

The other massive connection is Triad Groups partnership with Stratis .

The Stratis blockchain has been built from the bottom up , using Microsoft C# and runs on .NET

In essence, one has a huge advantage over the competition through the credibility and depth of Microsoft.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/apr/16/uk-pensions-best-income-tips-retire-early-advice

Building the moat :

Part 5

Accelerated Capability Environments (ACE)

This is a U.K. government program to bring forward at speed new procurement ideas and innovation, originally for U.K. security forces but now being expanded across all departments.
Triad group have recently been appointed to ACE CORE + to drive expansion along with five other companies.
ACE itself encourages SME’S to grow with it.
The growth rate of ACE is in the process of steep change from its present 20% per year as its offering is expanded across government.
The ACE platform is cutting edge and creates heaps of other avenues for innovation and moving the technology forward to be use for other applications.

The Accelerated Capability Environment is a Home Office unit that takes a highly innovative and disruptive approach to solving technology and data problems facing public sector agencies, primarily in law enforcement and national security.
It is a partnership between public and private sectors, engaging the most advanced and forward-looking technology capabilities from the carefully selected members of its Vivace industry and academic community, the majority of whom are SMEs and start-ups.
ACE has developed ways of working and commercial mechanisms that allow this partnership between public and private sectors to deliver front-line mission impact significantly faster than through traditional routes.
Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE)Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE)

We were delighted to welcome Daintta, Triad Group Plc, Principle One, MMCG Consultancy Services LTD, Experis Project Solutions and Valcon to the ACE Space this week to launch ACE Core+, an initiative created to provide flexible additional team capacity during times of high demand.

UK pension system needs 'big reform' to ensure higher returns - Hunt (Alliance News) - The UK chancellor has suggested the pension system needs reform to ensure ...

(Alliance News) - The UK chancellor has suggested the pension system needs reform to ensure people receive higher returns.
Jeremy Hunt said he is concerned that pensioners are not getting "the returns that they could expect", according to the Daily Telegraph.
The chancellor was speaking in Washington where he is attending the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund with other finance ministers.
The Telegraph reported the chancellor as saying that Britain's pensions industry is in need of "big reform" and could take inspiration from other countries which allow pension funds to seek higher returns, but which potentially take on more risk.
He said: "Countries like Australia and Canada have found a way of making sure that they get better returns by consolidating their pension fund industry in a way that makes it easier for them to invest in unlisted and potentially higher growth vehicles and that's the thing I think needs to be worked on."
Hunt reportedly said that Jonathan Symonds, non-executive chair of GSK PLC, is providing informal advice on how to get higher returns on money invested in defined contribution pension schemes.
The schemes will provide the "biggest opportunities to unlock investment in to high-growth British industries", Hunt reportedly said.
Symonds will join the chancellor's council of economic advisers alongside four other economists, where he will provide advice on pensions on an ongoing basis, the Telegraph reported.
Asked if pension schemes should be forced to invest in the stock market as opposed to lower risk bonds, Hunt reportedly said: "It's not something I would instinctively be comfortable with, because I think one of the strengths of the City is that we give financial institutions complete freedom to invest where they think they will get the best returns for the people whose money they're looking after.
"But we're looking at all these issues. My concern is that pensioners and future pensioners are not getting the returns that they could expect."
The chancellor used his spring budget to abolish the tax-free limit on pensions savings, which had stood at GBP1.07 million.

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My view

At long last I have a minister agreeing with my views that 3%, after inflation, a year growth from a pension is unacceptable.

Bonds are highly unlikely to ever produce anything other than terrible long term results.

Triad Group PLC

Building the moat part 4.

Framework Agreement:

If you want to participate in U.K. government contracts , first you need to win a place on the various framework agreements.
Triad Group PLC is on several, an outstanding achievement in itself, for an SME.
By far the most important is the 4 year RM6263 Framework.
The announced spend is projected to be £4BN.
The framework is split between two lots and Triad Group Plc has been awarded a position on both.
This Framework started a year ago, and already Triad Group refers to it , in its latest interim results.
At this stage one should note that Triads revenue has been around £17M a year.
If Triad group just won the average spend for each supplier on the framework it would be ITRO £90M. (Lot one is twice the size of lot 2).
To sum up, this one framework agreement, could potentially provide 4 years work by itself.
This framework also differs to most, in that competition is limited to a direct award in some instances.
Triad also gains income from the private sector.

Building the moat :

Part 3

Triad Group Plc is the stock I hope will enable me to 100 bag my SIPP portfolio within 20 years.

A few things stand out about this company.
SHARES
Absolutely massive Director holdings
Those same directors have been big consistent buyers of shares in their own company over the last two years.
The company itself is Premium listed ( rare for a low market cap software sector business).
Triad Group Plc has never raised cash since floating over 25 years ago, in fact there are less shares in issue than at that date.
Unlike so many listed companies Triad Group does not come round with the begging bowl on a regular basis . Placing after placing tends to cripple long term holders in many stocks.
AIM market shareholders do not have protection from any possible de listing, that catches so many inexperienced investors out.
Just 16.8 Million shares are in issue that will , over the long term, ( so long as growth is evident) become extremely difficult to purchase. Limited supply with strong buying tends to keep a stock higher than one with billions of shares in issue at the same price.
It also has a magnificent effect on the PE ratio, which in turn values the company at a higher price.

Food for thought.

One in six Britons who are within sight of their retirement still have no private pension savings, and consequently are missing out on the opportunity to make their life after work more comfortable.

At least 17% of people in the UK aged 55 and over admit to having no pension savings (other than the State Pension), which is only slightly better than the average for Brits as a whole – 21% of whom say they have no private pensions.

This is according to research1 by Unbiased.co.uk, which found that an alarming number of people are effectively ‘sleepwalking’ towards their retirement without adequate preparations.

The study also found that nearly half (45%) of all Brits hope for a retirement income of at least £20,000 a year, and 61% hope for at least £10,000 – despite the maximum state pension being just £9,110 a year.

Triad Group Plc , building the moat :

Part Two.

For a tiny company it’s unusual to have your own, in house, hiring team with 30 years experience.
Small but extremely effective, mainly down to its data base of experienced temporary and permanent staff. ( Triad was previously a contractor ).
Most of the staff are security cleared and highly specialised.

Triad staff work predominantly from home or on the clients premises.
This is a huge attraction that large slices of the competition can’t offer.
It also enables nationwide hiring, another advantage.
The hiring process is automated followed by interview which clears out the chaff at an early stage.
It’s extremely satisfying to read in the Triad accounts, staff turnover is low, ( the software sector is high, typically 25% , which is an absolute disaster for client customer service.

Food for thought.

Alongside changes in life expectancy, the number of children people have on average is lower than seen historically and is also lower than at the time of the 2017 State Pension age Review As a result of changes in total fertility rates and continued life expectancy improvements, there are projected to be 5 million more pensioners in the population by 2070 and just 1 million more of working-age

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It’s going to be extremely tough for the average pensioner come 2070.

Unfortunately those in work at that time, will inherit, not only the huge debt built up by population alive today, but also the daily tab for the unfunded pensions being in payment at that time.

These Two Bills are due to become law in the spring

Financial Services and Markets Bill

The Procurement Bill

The are both hugely important for the potential growth of Triad Group Plc.

I have previously discussed in detail the advantages of the Procurement Bill

The Financial Services and Markets Bill , opens the floodgate for adoption of a stable coin from Triads partner, Stratis

Triad Group was chosen by Stratis for implementation of blockchain solutions.

These Bills will enable Triad Group to dig the moat that little bit deeper.

Just before I move on from the subject

https://www.biginnovationcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/APPG-Blockchain-Central-Bank-CBDC.pdf

This is self explanatory , if one has the time go to page 22 , Jonny Fry who is an advisor to Triad Groups partner, Stratis.
They clearly have ambition to be a top tier player in the blockchain space.

Great business and the moat effect.

Most super growth companies require the foundations and ingredients to keep growing at 20% plus per annum.
I believe my SIPP pension selection has these qualities
Today I will discuss one strand of that moat.
Triad Group Plc has formed a partnership with Blockchain company Stratis Group Ltd.
Stratis is the only blockchain protocol built on Microsoft C#
This was entirely down to C# being the computer language used widely when the platform was designed. Modern languages require converting back before they can be integrated into existing systems. ( The issue here is not knowing where a bug is hiding, ) is it in the platform , or the conversion?
That’s a massive advantage that only comes into its own as blockchain adoption becomes widely accepted within the financial space.
Another advantage is it’s not run on the ETH platform.
It’s run on Microsoft.Net.
One can never rule out a Microsoft bid for Stratis
Finally it’s British unlike the competition that’s American
The opportunities are ongoing and endless.
What the market, in my opinion has not recognised to date is : at this stage, no value what so ever has been attributed to the Triad share price..
By example : Triad has a market cap of £24M or £20M after the cash on the books is deducted.

I like to look at a potential opportunity from the users point of view.
The gold mine would obviously be a U.K. BOE digital currency (CBDC).
I accept the chances of that are probably not enormous. ( competition is intense)..
Assuming the top prize is not won I still firmly believe there is ample room for the partnership to thrive within the enterprise segment.
ETH is the Google of Blockchain for enterprise, but I can’t help thinking that some governments and businesses will want more control, not least for security.

I will post the other sections of Triads moat in the next few days.