Tag Archives: USS

Why are the future costs of USS membership linked to the gilt yield?

Posted on May 20, 2023 by henry tapper

In this Guest post ,  Jackie Grant and Mark Taylor-Batty wonder why estimates of USS future service costs go up and down in line with the gilt yield. Jackie and Mark have expressed thanks to Con Keating for his expertise … Continue reading →

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USS – rosy headlines for now- thorny details to come.

Posted on May 19, 2023 by henry tapper

There cannot be a university teacher in the land who is not pleased to hear news that their pension scheme is in rude health. Not only is the DB plan that provides the vast majority of retirement income to the … Continue reading →

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Capita admits 470,000 academics’ pension data hacked

Posted on May 12, 2023 by henry tapper

Three of Capita’s servers were hacked in March of this year. The Sunday Times put the hack on its front page in April and since then Capita has been reporting on its  cyber incident.  You can read the details on … Continue reading →

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Benefits will be restored at USS but will common sense?

Posted on April 18, 2023 by henry tapper

UCU members in their tens of thousands have voted overwhelmingly to move forward with pension proposals agreed with employers which will pave the way for the restoration of benefits. When we launched our pensions dispute, university vice chancellors doubted us, … Continue reading →

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USS and Exhaustion – Con Keating

Posted on March 25, 2023 by henry tapper

  Shortly after it was published in early March by USS, I was asked to review their note “USS briefing: Capital funding and exhaustion risk – distribution of outcomes”. The stated reason for it was: “This briefing note provides details … Continue reading →

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USS – you’ve never had it so good/bad – (delete as necessary)

Posted on February 14, 2023 by henry tapper

How USS sees itself and how others see it. I have just read an article that relates the views of Simon Pilcher on the success of USS’ investment strategy in the 12 months to September 2022. The Universities Superannuation Scheme, … Continue reading →

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USS – Con Keating

Posted on January 5, 2023 by henry tapper

    I do not envy the task of the new CEO of USS, though I must state that I have no insight who this might be. Over the past decade, the governance of USS has degenerated into a disgrace, … Continue reading →

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USS Pensions: Time for Agreement ; Michael Bromwich

Posted on August 12, 2022 by henry tapper

The 2020 valuation of this Scheme with a deficit of £14bn led to sweeping cuts in benefits and a substantial strengthening of the financial backing (additional covenant support) provided by employers to the revised Scheme which commenced on 1 April … Continue reading →

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USS disclosure- in need of a “deus ex machina”.

Posted on June 20, 2022 by henry tapper

  Reading the latest acrimonious exchanges between the University Employers and the staff union UCU is a depressing business. UUK, who say they are taking their lead from the  USS pension scheme stand accused of underestimating the scale of the … Continue reading →

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The reckless prudence of DB funding is immoral.

Posted on June 1, 2022 by henry tapper

There are obviously complications and nuances with any pension scheme. But the fact that an erroneous, ill-timed valuation made #USS benefits unaffordable due to unnecessary deficit recovery payments is as black-and-white as any matter of pensions can get https://t.co/H7RJnnObXS — … Continue reading →

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