In yesterday’s Times business editor Ian King commented on the success of overseas pension plans which have been investing in British assets, bemoaning the fact that the Hutton report was not prepared to look at the question of how UK pension funds invest their money & so failed to recommend that, for example, the UK Teachers’ Pension Scheme be equally adventurous, thus avoiding the need for the much-protested forthcoming rise in pension contributions payable by members.
As someone who is old enough to remember when pension funds were exhorted to follow the example of the British Rail Pension Fund & invest in works of art, but nevertheless knows very little about the subject except that it is complicated, I should want to be particularly cautious about joining the UK commercial property bandwagon, though I like the idea of infrastructure – especially power lines etc – being locally owned.
And I should really, really, like to understand enough about mark-to-market to form a view on how that affects the question of pension funds
