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| John Ralfe |
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 Updated: 28/6/2010
a Volition site |
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Latest Articles
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Latest Articles
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Time to talk real public sector pension costs John Ralfe, FTfm, 28/6/2010
Summary: "The Treasury, under Gordon Brown, fiddled the annual cost of new public sector pension promises to the tune of £120bn to £150bn."
The Church’s reckless investment gamble John Ralfe, FTfm, 8/2/2010
Summary: "The Church Commissioners are in denial about the real pension liability"
Pensions Commissions Report was flawed John Ralfe, FTfm, 7/9/2009
Summary: "Ignoring equity risk overstates the income personal pension accounts will generate and is wishful thinking on a grand scale."
Pension pothole on GM’s road to recovery John Ralfe, FTfm, 6/7/2009
Summary: "Maintaining GM’s pensions is a hidden transfer of $3.5bn a year from the federal government"
Public and private pensions - Worlds apart , The Economist, 12/6/2009
Summary: "Britain’s pensions apartheid looks unsustainable"
Behind BT’s deep, dark pension deficit John Ralfe, FTfm, 25/5/2009
Summary: "BT’s fundamental approach since privatisation seems to be "keep betting on equities and hope for the best""
Political pensions - the real scandal Sue Cameron, Financial Times, 29/4/2009
Summary: "Never mind MPs’ expenses – the real scandal is their pensions."
Switching to gilts is short-sighted Clr Roy Olham, FT letters, 31/3/2009
Summary: "As chair of the Greater Manchester Local Government Pension Fund for more than 20 years, which is among the most successful in local government, I find John Ralfe’s ideas both unacceptable and an intrusion into the free working of local government."
A refusal to pass on the deficit offers scant comfort John Thurston, Financial Times Letters, 27/3/2009
Summary: "John Healey’s response seemed to be denial exemplified and makes John Ralfe’s case"
Council tax will not rise to meet public pension deficit John Healey, Minister for Local Government, FT letters, 25/3/2009
Summary: "The LGPS remains solvent and well placed to meet its liabilities"
In denial over public pensions John Ralfe, FTfm, 23/3/2009
Summary: "Neither local authorities nor central government recognise the size of the LGPS deficiy and thus have no plan to address it"
Pension calculations have ignored equity risk John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 10/2/2009
Summary: "Personal pension accounts will fail because the Pensions Commission’s underlying analysis is fundamentally flawed and misrepresents the economics of holding equities."
Nortel outlay to reveal cracks in PPF John Ralfe, FTfm, 26/1/2009
Summary: "Because the PPF was not set up to charge an economic rate, it was always going to be under pressure"
Looking Out for the Next Bailout Alan B. Krueger, New York Times, 22/12/2008
Summary: "When the stock market falls P.B.G.C. gets hit by a double whammy.
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Public sector pensions debate requires clarity on costs John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 2/12/2008
Summary: "Getting clarity on public sector pension costs is technically easy, but politically difficult."
Snouts and trotters in the trough Sue Cameron, Financial Times, 12/11/2008
Summary: "The cheating classes just do not get it, do they?"
Clare and present danger Buttonwood, The Economist, 6/11/2008
Summary: "There is a flaw in the belief, widely held in the 1990s, that all one has to do is “buy and hold” equities to ensure a handsome return in the long run."
Clare is taking calculated risk Norman Cumming, Financial Times Letters, 3/11/2008
Summary: "Clare is taking a risk, but a calculated risk, to which the governing body gave much thought."
Did Clare fellows ask the cost of insuring deal? John Ralfe & Prof Alasdair Smith, Financial Times Letters, 30/10/2008
Summary: "The expected long-term outperformance of equities is not a reward for patience or a “loyalty bonus”, but no more or less than a reward for risk."
New PPF rules needed to protect taxpayers John Ralfe, FTfm, 27/10/2008
Summary: "If we do not grasp the pension nettle now we will store up bigger problems for the future with an eventual taxpayer bail-out."
Treasury’s basic mistake about public pensions John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 21/7/2008
Summary: "The Treasury doggedly refuses to recognise that public sector pensions are government debt, the same as issuing index-linked gilts to public sector workers."
Public sector pensions - at what future cost? John Ralfe, FTfm, 14/7/2008
Summary: "The huge payments to government and members from the Coal Board pension schemes are being made from fictitious surpluses."
PPF’s flaws due to quick-fix birth John Ralfe, FTfm, 9/6/2008
Summary: "If there is a bail-out by taxpayers we should not blame the PPF’s board, who have been genuinely robust and pragmatic"
Pension Costs Off by $500 Million, New York City Finds Danny Hakim, New York Times, 3/6/2008
Summary: "An actuary relied upon by the State Legislature to determine the cost of proposals affecting New York City’s pension system underestimated their ultimate cost by at least $500 million.
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To the manor elected , The Economist, 30/5/2008
Summary: "MPs’ plush pensions could be the next controversy"
Nice little earners for Mr Speaker Sue Cameron, Financial Times, 28/5/2008
Summary: "Commons Speaker Michael Martin has a £1.5m pension pot"
SSRB is not concerned with cost of MPs’ pensions Sir John Baker, Financial Times Letters, 11/4/2008
Summary: "Response to JER letter on MPs’ pensions"
Cost of MPs’ pensions to taxpayers grossly understated John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 7/4/2008
Summary: "The real cost of MPs’ annual pensions to taxpayers is 50% of salary not 18%, the official figure"
Pensions still oblivious to bond wisdom Edward Chancellor, FTfm, 3/3/2008
Summary: "It remains a mystery why more CFOs haven’t responded to Black’s brilliant proposal."
US pension body’s shift over equities adds insult to injury Zvi Bodie & John Ralfe, Financial Times Letter (US), 26/2/2008
Summary: "Holding more equities looks like the PBGC trying to bet its way out of a loss."
US pensions safety net takes risky path Pauline Skypala, FTfm, 25/2/2008
Summary: "Organisations like the PBGC surely have a duty to put risk management first and foremost."
Running up the down escalator , The Economist, 21/2/2008
Summary: "
Like the Pensions Regulator’s guidance on longevity the ASB’s proposals inject realism."
PBGC Press Release 08-19, February 18, 2008 , , 18/2/2008
Summary: "The PBGC announces its move to equities."
Clearer view of pension costs in the offing John Ralfe, FTfm, 18/2/2008
Summary: "Given the scale of pensions, BT is the UK’s largest pension scheme that just happens to own a telecoms business"
Pensions Regulator’s Paper on Longevity The Pensions Regulator, , 18/2/2008
Summary: "Sets out guidelines on acceptable longevity assumptions"
BT pension black hole would worsen under ASB rules Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 7/2/2008
Summary: "the proposed rules do not alter the underlying economics of BT’s pensions obligations; they simply make them more transparent.
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BT warned retirement liabilities could hit £46bn David Litterick, Daily Telegraph, 7/2/2008
Summary: "BT’s pension liabilities could balloon to nearly £46bn and its current surplus turn into a deficit to £7.6bn"
Pensions \"can wipe out BT profits\" Phillip Inman, The Guardian, 7/2/2008
Summary: "BT would be one of the worst affected by the rule changes because it supports the largest private sector guaranteed retirement fund."
The Financial Reporting of Pensions Accounting Standards Board, , 31/1/2008
Summary: "ASB Discussion Paper on reforms to pensions accounting"
MPs’ pensions fail transparency test John Ralfe, FTfm, 21/1/2008
Summary: "How has the Senior Salaries Review Body got the cost of MPs’ pensions so wrong?"
What is the real cost of MPs’ pensions? Lisa Buckingham, Mail on Sunday, 20/1/2008
Summary: "Clearly, our elected representatives find numbers something of a challenge.
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Time to vote out MPs’ pension deal Ruth Sunderland, The Observer, 20/1/2008
Summary: "If we are going to have a proper debate on MPs’ pay and pensions we need accurate numbers."
Annual cost of MPs’ pensions triples Chris Hope, Daily Telegraph, 9/1/2008
Summary: "It is very convenient for MPs that the cost of their pensions is understated."
Taxpayers will foot £16m annual bill for MPs’ pensions Alex Barker, Financial Times, 8/1/2008
Summary: "The reported cost to the taxpayer of MP’s pensions is grossly understated."
Postal deal signed but will it deliver? John Ralfe, FTfm, 12/11/2007
Summary: "Is the deal agreed with enough to solve Royal Mail’s pension problems?"
Pension Protection Fund Accounts 2006/7 PPF, , 1/10/2007
Summary: "Shows PPF longevity assumptions & method of valuing liabilities"
House of Commons Accounts 2006-7 , TSO, 24/7/2007
Summary: "Shows the FRS17 cost of MPs’ pensions (p33)"
Testing the UK Pensions Regulator John Ralfe, FTfm, 25/6/2007
Summary: "What does the Alliance Boots deal tell us about the powers of the Pensions Regulator?"
Alliance Boots’ trustees in strong position with KKR John Ralfe, FTfm, 30/4/2007
Summary: "KKR do not want to be seen as barbarians at the gate and must win the goodwill of employees, pension scheme members and the wider public."
Wake up this morning to a longer life? Andrew Clare, Financial Times Letters, 28/2/2007
Summary: "So if actuaries cannot keep up with longevity trends, what can they do?
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No suggestion that actuaries were at fault Stewart Ritchie & Nick Dumbreck, Financial Times Letters, 27/2/2007
Summary: "Letter from the two most senior UK actuaries."
No loose change down the back of the sofa for pensions John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 23/2/2007
Summary: "How to compensate those who have lost their pensions"
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