Sir, – Martin Wolf is absolutely right (“The strange death of corporate Britain – pension and insurance companies have dumped UK equities, reducing the ability of companies to raise capital and expand”, Economics, October 18th). Pension funds, which should be paragons of long-term investing, are fixated on the short term and invest far too little in assets that deliver real value for members. He is also right that it is too late to undo the damage for defined-benefit pensions, but the Irish Government can avoid making the same mistake for auto-enrolled pensions.
Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys has rightly stopped the clock on the plan for auto-enrolment. The draft heads of Bill would have needlessly transferred older workers’ savings to low-yielding bonds just when they had accrued sufficient to earn good returns if invested well.
In April last, she asked the Pensions Council to prioritise an independent evaluation of an alternative approach, which would deliver double the value for money by investing members’ funds in real assets from cradle to grave, and at minimal cost by cutting out middlepersons and institutions, especially at retirement. I understand that the Pensions Council has received the evaluation. The Government should ask for it to be published immediately. – Yours, etc,
COLM FAGAN,
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(Past President of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland),
Bray,
Co Wicklow.