Improved pension management could save £660m per year

The proposals draw on a public call for evidence and a report from city pensions experts, Hymans Robertson, who reported that the cost of investment in England and Wales was £790 million, much higher than previously thought.

The government’s proposals aim to reduce investment management overheads and achieve a higher level of accountability through an improvement in the availability of transparent and comparable data.

The savings outlined in the consultation are comprised of two main elements:

Moving to passive management of listed assets like bonds and shares, accessed through a common investment vehicle; this could save £230 million annually by cutting investment fees and a further £190 million by reducing transaction costs, and; Using a common investment vehicle to invest in alternative assets, ending the use of high cost ‘fund of funds’ to save £240 million a year

According to the government, common investment vehicles will allow authorities to bring together their investments, helping them to take advantage of their combined buying power and to invest more efficiently to deliver savings. In addition, passive management of listed assets will significantly reduce investment fees and transaction costs, without affecting the overall investment returns of the Local Government Pension Scheme.

Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said: “Under the last administration, the cost of town hall pensions almost quadrupled to nearly £6 billion, diverting taxpayers’ money from emptying bins, cleaning the streets and keeping council tax down.

“This government is taking action to reduce the massive and unsustainable cost of state sector pensions. The proposals I am setting out today will help reduce investment costs by £660 million a year. For the first year in recent memory, the cost of town hall pensions to taxpayers is now falling.”

Responding to the consultation, CIPFA pensions panel chair Bob Summers said: “CIPFA welcomes the government’s decision to build upon the excellent work funds are doing in developing a range of collaborative working initiatives across the LGPS and we look forward to continuing our work with DCLG and the shadow LGPS advisory board to help deliver a LGPS that remains sustainable and affordable for employers, taxpayers and members in the long term.”

John Wright, head of public sector pensions at Hymans Robertson, said: “Against the backdrop of poor information, full-scale merger of funds seemed the likeliest route – but now the story is different. Collective Investment Vehicles are now the government’s leading option in this consultation. These can deliver investment scale benefits across the LGPS faster than merger. They also make it possible to preserve local accountability and decision- making that would be lost by merging funds.”

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