Tag Archives: USS

TPR’s impatience with USS’ fibs

Posted on June 15, 2019 by

Phoney deficits The Pensions Regulator’s patience with USS and its Trustees is running short. The FT has got hold of an email from TPR which rebukes USS for overstating its deficit and misrepresenting the views of TPR on discount rates. … Continue reading →

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Thoughts on Jo Grady’s letter to the Trinity dons

Posted on June 1, 2019 by

Here’s Jo Grady’s open letter and I think it’s worth some thinking about. Trinity College Cambridge, the one who’s Great Court is supposed to feature in Chariots of Fire, is rich. It is rich because of endowments given to it … Continue reading →

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Risk-taking , ground-breaking academics in our universities

Posted on May 28, 2019 by

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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Get up, stand up, for your pension rights

Posted on March 7, 2019 by

      Josephine Cumbo has written an important blog in Pensions Expert. If you aren’t registered to see the article, I urge you to do so. Access to the article is free and it pretty well sums up my … Continue reading →

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Is the tide turning in favour of pensions?

Posted on November 26, 2018 by

As we reach the last few weeks of the year, I’ve been looking at the stories that are dominating the pension landscape and increasingly they are positive. Despite UK and global equity markets being down on the year, pensions are … Continue reading →

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Do academics have special rights of pleading?

Posted on October 29, 2018 by

Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people of similar competence to the producers of the work. It constitutes a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review methods … Continue reading →

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Schools staring into a pension “abyss”

Posted on October 2, 2018 by

  Contrary to indications that the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) employer contributions for 2019-20 would be set at 19.1%, schools have now been told  that the figure from September 2019 will be 23.6%. The Teachers Pension Scheme, along with all … Continue reading →

Posted in accountants, pensions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

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

Posted on September 7, 2018 by

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

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

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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