It’s time to get pensions investing in Britain
Pensions may be a thorny subject, but it is important to recognise that we have the potential for the UK to accelerate growth and productivity and reverse the negative impact of the policies of the last 20+ years, says Charles Hall
Pensions have moved from being a technical backwater to a mainstream debate, as demonstrated by the profile given to Reform UK’s ambition to pool the local government schemes and create a British Sovereign Wealth Fund. This is at least a decade too late but better late than never! The narrative is sometimes ‘hands off our pensions’ as they are sacrosanct. However, that ignores the reality that many other countries have pension markets where the outcome for pensioners and the country is materially better. We also must remember that pensions are not only funded by the individual but also by the taxpayer (to the tune of £60bn every year) and by companies.
A key issue is that pension funds used to support investment, employment and growth across the UK, with 53 per cent of funds invested in UK equities in 1997. These assets have largely been sold with UK equity investment down to a paltry four per cent today. This has been replaced largely by bonds and investments overseas. This consistent selling is a core reason for the long-term underperformance of the UK equity market and it is not a coincidence that the UK has started to outperform as we near the end of the massive selling pressure. Other notable features of the UK is the plethora of pension funds – scale matters in this market as it reduces cost and increases the ability to invest across a variety of assets. Combined with risk aversion, this is a core reason for the lack of investments in private capital. We now have the extraordinary situation that overseas pension funds invest considerably more in UK private assets than our own pension funds!
There are four main pension pots in the UK – defined benefit (DB), defined contribution (DC), local government and SIPPS and each of them needs to be addressed differently given different profiles of individuals and regulatory requirements. Most DB funds are closed to new members and need to have a more conservative investment process given the guaranteed income provided. However there would be a material benefit from creating superfunds to enhance returns for savers and have a greater weighting to risk assets. The recent focus has been on DC funds which are now over c£650bn. Given that many of these are relatively young (as auto-enrolment only started in 2012), these should be heavily weighted to equities and risk assets. However, even where they are weighted to equities this is heavily biased to the leading US companies. This is far from risk free given the substantial exposure to the dollar and to a small number of jumbo companies. It also means that the UK taxpayer and UK companies are funding overseas investments rather than domestic businesses.
The recent Mansion House Accord is a step in the right direction with a commitment of 10 per cent of assets to be invested in private markets and at least five per cent in the UK by 2030. However, we need to go further and faster as well as incorporate public companies given the strategic importance of the LSE and its constituent companies to the UK. The scale of feeling was demonstrated by the recent letter to the Chancellor, which was signed by over 300 leaders of companies from founders to FTSE100 CEOs. This letter urged the Chancellor to be bold by providing a remit for DC funds to allocate a minimum 25 per cent of their default fund assets to UK investments in return for the benefit they receive. This would turbocharge investment in both public and private markets in the UK, stimulate economic growth and deliver returns to savers. It would not be mandation as individuals could choose to opt out of the default fund without losing any of their pension entitlements. If this proves too hard to deliver by agreement, then mandation remains an option.
Growing assets, not pet projects
As to the c£450bn of local government pension schemes, the latest data shows the allocation to UK equities is now only seven per cent, UK infrastructure five per cent and UK private equity 1.5 per cent. Scale is also beneficial in this area and encouragement to invest at home is positive both for domestic economic growth and recipients of the pensions. It’s important that investments are focused on growing assets rather than any pet projects, to ensure that pensions are well funded and increasing and local authorities contributions are affordable.
Pensions may be a thorny subject, but it is important to recognise that we have the potential for the UK to accelerate growth and productivity and reverse the negative impact of the policies of the last 20+ years. The prize is large – we do not have a shortage of innovation and great companies, with many highly impressive listed companies and over 200 unicorns created right here in the UK. The issue we have is a shortage of domestic capital. It’s time to back and invest in ourselves – after all we all want a stronger domestic economy that can afford essential public services, particularly as we age.
Charles Hall is Head of Research at Peel Hunt