Paper: Producing decent returns for pensioners in turbulent times

Share ownership for the 21st century

Paper: Producing decent returns for pensioners in turbulent times

A newly published paper by Sir John Banham, 'Producing decent returns for pensioners in turbulent times',  blames the poor performance of the UK fund management industry on Britons’ propensity for risk avoidance, ‘little Englander’ attitudes to investment fund allocation, and ineffective regulation for. The paper urges institutions to put themselves in the shoes of their ultimate client: people saving for retirement.

Idea in Brief

  • The dismal performance of the UK fund management industry is one of the main reasons why the outlook for pensions and pensioners is distinctly cloudy.
  • The underlying cause of the problem includes seeking to avoid risk, compounded by the way investment funds are allocated to different classes of assets and ineffective regulation of Britain’s major financial institutions
  • This has created a gap between the ultimate owners of UK public companies and their managements, and perverse incentives for those managing other people’s money.
  • The recent financial turmoil has made it more critical that all the institutions concerned abandon their conspiracy of silence and denial, and put themselves in the shoes of their ultimate client: People saving for their retirement.


Solution: World class asset management, Global asset allocation, Smart Indexation, Bridge the ownership gap, and Positive incentives for fund managers.

Download the full paper: Producing decent returns for pensioners in turbulent times (PDF, 229KB)