'Ludicrous': Consultant savages Vanguard value-of-advice research

In the late 1980s, at the outset of the HIV/AIDs epidemic, the Institute of Actuaries produced a paper that resulted in term premiums increasing by around 150%. The paper consisted of page after page of Greek letters in long formulae. However, the whole case was based on one, finger in the air, assumption. This was that 25% of the ‘at risk' population would contract the disease. The assumption was, thank goodness, hopelessly wrong. The Vanguard paper [which argues financial advisers could be worth up to 3% a year in net returns to clients, compared to what they could achieve on the...