Category Archives: USS

USS; are UCU and UUK missing the big picture?

Posted on November 15, 2020 by henry tapper

This is nonsense. If universities can’t pay the required #USS DB contribution, then simply move to DC, which was of course the original plan. Universities backed down in the face of strikes https://t.co/rYtU1azGjM via @timeshighered — John Ralfe (@JohnRalfe1) November … Continue reading →

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Sam Marsh’s response to TPR’s DB Funding Code

Posted on September 4, 2020 by henry tapper

Sam Marsh is a lecturer and branch president of the Sheffield UCU. He has responded on his own behalf to TPR’s consultation. Continue reading →

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The USS needs a 2021 Valuation- Michael Bromwich

Posted on April 30, 2020 by henry tapper

In finalising the 2018 valuation the USS committed to a further out of cycle valuation as at the 31 st March 2020. This allows consideration of the recommendations of second report of the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) and the incorporation … Continue reading →

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How will USS value itself today?

Posted on April 2, 2020 by henry tapper

  News has come in that the University Superannuation Scheme (USS) is going to press ahead with a valuation of its assets and liabilities as at the 31st March 2020. It reasons for it in a public statement. I had … Continue reading →

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UCU and UUK “please pack it in!”

Posted on February 17, 2020 by henry tapper

My view is simple, the Joint Expert Panel was set up to prevent further disruption, please don’t disrupt further. Continue reading →

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The trouble with conformity – USS latest

Posted on June 28, 2019 by henry tapper

  The dissenting voice has long been upheld in British Universities. Minority opinions are valued as an antidote to received wisdom which all too often degenerates into herd-like conformity. So I worry when I read the justification that the USS … Continue reading →

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Risk-taking , ground-breaking academics in our universities

Posted on May 28, 2019 by henry tapper

I have been impressed by the way academics , through their unions, took on university employers and the received wisdom of the pension industry and refused to let their defined benefit scheme close to future accrual. I’m pleased that one … Continue reading →

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The public debate on USS is elevated by King and Kay.

Posted on September 7, 2018 by henry tapper

Exclamation: Master @JohnRalfe1! Mervyn King has now joined UCU and is spouting what you call “#USS #smokescreen and pure #UCU #bollocks“! Calling Bazooka @mikeotsuka and Plowman @henryhtapper https://t.co/OFuewk3ER7 — John Ralfebot (@Ralfebot) September 6, 2018 One of the joys of … Continue reading →

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“The way we were” – Mike Otsuka calls for USS to return to Topper form.

Posted on August 27, 2018 by henry tapper

Here I distill my threads of the past few days into a single message: the @FirstActuarial & @ucu approach to the investment and valuation of #USS is not some radical new theory. Rather, it’s in line with the way #USS … Continue reading →

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#beetroots, #biscuits – how the battle for truth @USS is being won.

Posted on August 3, 2018 by henry tapper

I find myself embedded in a bizarre discussion on #transparency between some of the brightest bods on twitter. This ill becomes me, I am out of my depth, a TUC cracker in the posh biscuit barrel. #beetroot #biscuits pic.twitter.com/Hywkpf8U2W — … Continue reading →

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