Torsten Bell on how we can protect the UK from warfare

The second day of the Pensions UK Conference made the coming and going to Edinburgh worthwhile. Two important speeches from politicians , some relevant discussions on pensions to come and a Gove v Lucas debate on the importance of Environment, Society and Governance in our investment.

In yesterday’s blog I hinted that we had not been served up memorable speaking , nor lively discussions let alone a debate, Wednesday was quite different and made it worth not just the travel but the loss of Cheltenham’s racing (who won?).

I would also reckon this the most sober Conference I’ve been to. It’s been mentioned that the Exhibition is a place of meaningful conversation, if there is delight it’s in smoothies not whiskies.

That said , I spent the main part of the afternoon locked in a room with John Hamilton and Glyn Jenkins discussing the import of CDC to pensioners along with 20 or so union pension officials around the country who entered the Conference via the internet.

I will write separately about my take from Torsten Bell’s speech, but it was delayed to hear the wrapping up of Michael Gove and Caroline Lucas, Lucas argued that Environmental Strategies have a future while Gove said that their import was now fully absorbed in investment thinking and we could shut up about them. There was a post before and after the debate and the numbers remained consistent. There are two delegates voting that ESG is maintained to every one who who voted for scrapping it. This did not alter with the debate suggesting people have firm views.

It was up to me to poke the bear who lurked asleep but who sprang to life towards the end. American fund managers do not talk so much about ESG and I suggested this was out of sensitivity to President Trump’s views. I did not use the word woke , nor did the Chair, Gregg McClymont who was clearly not going to let the discussion descend to using terms like “woke” to characterise Caroline Lucas’ position.

But soon after my interjection there was another questioning whether any strategy or product based around ESG could withstand the arrival of Reform I (and I suspect others) realised that the only political force not represented in the room was that of Richard Dice and the populism of Nigel Farage.

How far Gove is from Reform was illustrated by an example of how Government can influence good governance and social good. When Housing Minister he claimed to have met with Railpen about owning residential freeholds. He mentioned this in the context of Grenfell and the social ill that tower block brought on its community. This blog has noted in the context of freeing leaseholders from freeholder’s ground rent, that Railpen got rid of its freeholds. To me this is an argument that Government can  be an instrument of governance in pensions. I congratulate Gove for being an agent of good and we need to promote good deeds of pension schemes whether they come from withing the trust boards or are brought to its attention.

My rather bland position is that our ESG thinking has not dragged our pensions back. I am in a fossil free pension fund which suffered with the spike in oil prices of late and will benefit from the gradual movement to energy from cleaner sources. We find rises in  fuel prices depress equities and war is behind both. If that doesn’t tell us about the vulnerability of pensions to bad behaviour- what does.

With that I will finish. It’s where Torsten Bell started.and I think it plays to both Lucas and Gove who both appealed to our better natures. Bell did too as I will come on to in another blog.

Om a less positive note we had a rant from shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions where we had to listen to 45 minutes of venom that the Government might have the power in future to mandate investment strategies on pensions that did not invest in accord with the wishes of tax- payers and the people they elect (Government).

The morning debates were  rather better than the final session of the day which saw debate deteriorate into the kind of Westminster politics that has no place in the Pensions UK conference.