Mark Tennant has written a great letter in the FT defending the investment company (Trust) as the means to deliver the Government’s stated aims to make pension more productive.
I agree with everything that Mark says, other than the final sentence. There is a need to deliver illiquid assets to Pension Funds and the means of delivery varies from fund to fund.
The fund is a layer of intermediation necessary to get things done. Direct investment into investment companies creates a set of problems for trustees and funders of our DC and DB pension schemes that they currently have insufficient resource to deal with.
It is absolutely essential that funds invest in investment companies and that the problems investment companies are having with discounted valuations are eased by changes in disclosure. I’ve written on this and this blog has housed important statements on this by Ros Altmann , Sharon Bowles and others.
There are opportunities for pension funds to make things happen in our economy and they are going a-begging, because of disorganisation at this delivery level. It is a relatively easy win for Government to sort. It should have been sorted by now.
Step up the FCA to change the disclosure rules, step up the investment companies to sell their wares and step up the pension funds to better understand how to provide productive finance with the help of the admirable Mark Tennant.