John Ralfe
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John Ralfe Consulting
 
See FT letter "Money-raising plan looks like PFI all over again" (March 2012)

Listen to interview with Robert Peston on "The Today Programme" discussing JER's analysis of public sector pension costs (Jan 2012)

See FTfm article, by Pauline Skypala, “The Boots’ bonds architect on the merits of switching” (Nov 2011)

Listen to second interview on BBC R4 "The Today Programme" on public sector pensions (July 2011)

Listen to Interview on BBC R4 "The Today Programme" on public sector pensions (Apr 2011)
I set up John Ralfe Consulting in 2003 to help companies & trustees to address pension issues in a clear, focused & practical way.

Until 2002 I was Head of Corporate Finance at Boots and was instrumental in moving the £2.3bn Boots Pension Fund to 100% AAA long dated sterling bonds, followed by a Company share buyback, described by The Economist in 2006 as a “landmark”.

My clients include several FTSE100 & FTSE350 companies, with pension liabilities from £200m to £2.5bn, as well as non-quoted companies, and the Trustees of one of the UK’s largest University schemes.

Following a report to Ofcom in 2010, in 2011 I wrote an expert witness report on BT’s pensions for the Competition Commission, on behalf of BSkyB and TalkTalk.

I have written over 70 research notes and articles on all aspects of pensions, including a series of 50 notes sponsored by RBC Capital Markets. I am a regular contributor to the Financial Times and the BBC Today Programme, as well as appearing on the BBC News at Ten and Channel 4 News.

I was also a consultant to the Accounting Standards Board on FRS17 and the International Accounting Standards Board on share options.

As well as pensions, I have 20 years capital markets, treasury & transactional experience, both as a corporate and banker.

My practical & pragmatic approach is underpinned by a rigorous framework of economics and I have worked with leading US academics, including working with Harvard Business School to turn Boots Pensions into a Case Study.

Before joining Boots in 1991 I spent 11 years in banking & consulting with Chase Manhattan, Warburgs, Swiss Bank Corporation and Ernst & Young Corporate Finance.

From Grammar School in York I went as an Open Scholar to Balliol College, Oxford, where I got a First in PPE in 1978 & then studied economics at King's College, Cambridge. See biography.

I am available for conference speeches, with the rate depending on the type of engagement.


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The site contains nearly 1,000 papers & articles on pensions, ranging from academic journals, to Government Papers to newspapers. Copyright for all articles remains with the author & original publication. There is a search facility. Registration is required to minimise auto-spam mail.

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Since August 2005 the FT has obliged the removal of all articles written by its journalists, including those covering my research notes.



"If DB pensions didn’t exist, would we invent them?" FTfm "Thoughts on the end (or not) of the DB era" January 2012



"The correct discount rate to measure the cost of new public sector pension promises must be the yield on long-dated ILGs, since both are contractually committments of the UK government & both are inflation-linked" The correct public sector discount rate FTfm March 2011



"If USS operates as "cash-in, cash-out" it is a massive pyramid selling scheme" FTfm "Robbing Peter to pay Paul?s pension" January 2011



"There is a £100bn hole in the Local Government Pension Scheme, according to an authoritative survey of accounts filed by local authorities" Robert Peston blog December 2010



"The real total pension cost for 2009, using the market ILG gilt rate, is about £30bn, double the £15bn official cash cost" FTfm "Time to talk real public sector pension costs" June 2010



"The Church Commissioners are in denial about their real pension liability" FTfm "The Church?s reckless investment gamble" February 2010



"Maintaining GM’s pension plans is a hidden transfer of $3.5bn a year from the federal government" FTfm "Pension pothole on GM’s road to recovery" June 2009



" BT’s fundamental approach since privatisation seems to be "keep on betting on equities and hope for the best"" FTfm "BT’s deep, dark pension deficit" May 2009



"If the PPF does not make an economic charge for the risk it is running, sooner or later it will fail" FTfm "Holes spotted in the pension safety net" January 2006



" Simply to match the pensions in payment today, UK pension schemes need to make a material - 20% or £125bn - switch from equities to bonds. " FTfm "UK pensions still taking risks with equities" September 2005



"The Report’s analysis of the advantages of a funded pension system, with individuals holding equities and bonds, over a PAYG system, is incomplete at best and flawed at worst." RBC Capital Markets Open Forum Note 13 "Is the Pensions Commission Report flawed?" January 2005



"Surely the days of whistling in the dark, hoping that the financial markets will plug deficits, are gone?" RBC Capital Markets Open Forum Note 9 "Are Company Contributions Big Enough?" July 2004



"Company pension funds are not self-contained entities, like the funds of private individuals, but are simply part of the sponsoring company." Financial Times "The world has moved on, so should pension funds" October 2003



"If you could wave a magic wand & go back two years when everybody had a surplus and lock that in through bonds, that would be fantastic, wouldn’t it? "  Financial Times "The drugstore maverick" by Tony Tassell March 2003



"Fear & greed are the twin drivers of financial markets. With weak equity markets, fear is now getting the better of greed. "  Financial Times "A challenge to the equity cult" March 2003