Government needs ‘do-ers’ to solve London’s market malaise, says Research Review chief

It would be good to do something about some of the problems that amount to a market malaise

It would be good to provide a restitution scheme for the steelworkers talked out of their BSPS pensions

It would be good to provide a wage for life solution to the Royal Mail postal workers still waiting for their CDC plans

It would be good to see the Mansion House Reforms evidenced through actual investment by the Compact in DC workplace pensions

It would be good to see superfunds providing a run on solution for DB plans

It would be good to see investment companies being used as an investment vehicles providing productive finance to otherwise unlisted companies

It would be good to see private equity deployed to allow DB plans looking to run on, to do so, with improved support to the sponsor

It would be good to see ailing companies with large DB surpluses supported to put the surplus capital in the pension scheme to work getting the sponsor back on its feet

It would be good to see people being paid pensions into their bank accounts rather than hoarding wealth to pay inheritance tax bills

It would be good to be at the PLSA investment conference in February knowing that I was doing at least some of these things.

Can we?

For me and my colleagues at AgeWage and related companies, there is a clear vision of what needs to be done , who should do it and how good ideas become good practice by sound marketing and strong sales.

But these things can only be done with the determination that the doers will not be prevented from doing by the risk-prevention brigade for whom a decision to do is another line on the risk register.

If we can’t…

At a breakfast event last month to welcome the City minister Bim Afolami to his new brief, the Quoted Companies Alliance painted a stark picture to the room.

In the 12 months prior to the meeting, more than 100 companies left the London Stock Exchange. In the previous month alone 14 had gone. One was even snapped up on the morning itself.

City minister Bim Afolami told City A.M. on Friday his priority was “strengthening” the UK as a listing’s destination and “taking forward reforms to make it quicker to list”.

Jeremy Hunt yesterday called in some of the City’s top figures for a summit on how best to get cash flowing into the public markets. A British ISA was reportedly top of the agenda to give retail investors tax breaks for backing British firms

There are great new ideas, but what of the old ideas which can be revived and repurposed. Isn’t it time we made the best of what we had rather than waiting for the wheels of regulation to grind?