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| John Ralfe |
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 Updated: 9/6/2008
a Volition site |
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JER Articles
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JER Articles
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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"
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"
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."
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 \"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."
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"
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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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?"
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"
PPF is in better shape than many pension schemes Lawrence Churchill & Partha Dasgupta, Financial Times Letters, 25/1/2007
Summary: "John Ralfe fails to acknowledge a number of important points about the PPPF."
Strains of protecting pensions increases John Ralfe, FTfm, 22/1/2007
Summary: "The levy charged by the PPF to DB schemes has risen sharply and is likely to continue rising"
Increase in pension protection levy may force schemes to close Philip Inman, The Guardian, 16/1/2007
Summary: "Employers face a fourfold increase in PPF contributions
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Is the National Pensions Saving Scheme just wishful thinking? John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum Note, 12/12/2006
Summary: "The Pensions White Paper takes account of the expected returns from holding equities, but ignores the risk."
More foresight is needed on longevity John Ralfe, FTfm, 27/11/2006
Summary: "The scale of longevity risk for BT and other large pension schemes such as BA is breathtaking"
Longer lives pose £3bn threat to BT pension fund Patrcick Hosking, The Times, 8/11/2006
Summary: "BT Group may have to inject more into its pension fund after one independent expert suggested soaring life expectancy may add £3 billion to its liabilities."
BT caught up in row over using the wrong numbers Russell Hotten, The Daily Telegraph, 8/11/2006
Summary: "While shareholders have focused on investment risk, they have ignored the way companies assess longevity risk."
BT pension fund ’still has huge gap’ despite stock market rally Philip Inman, The Guardian, 8/11/2006
Summary: "Life expectancy has become a key issue for pension funds, which under existing accounting rules can rely on their own measure.
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BT pension deficit ’may be £3bn more than estimated’ Michael Harrison, The Independent, 8/11/2006
Summary: "The assumptions of life expectancy used by Royal Mail were the same as the benchmark recommended by the PPF.
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Consultant warns on longevity risk to BT pensions Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 8/11/2006
Summary: "Even small changes in longevity assumptions can dramatically affect liability costs.
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How Corus bid put pension trustees on the spot Lombard (Andew Hill), Financial Times, 21/10/2006
Summary: "The British Steel pensioners’ covenant with the employer looks to have been weakened and, although the regulator’s powers extend abroad, it would be difficult to chase Tata if something went badly wrong."
Trustees in talks to safeguard Corus pensions Patrick Hosking, The Times, 21/10/2006
Summary: "The pension funds of 170,000 past and present Corus workers are negotiating to prevent retirement benefits being put in jeopardy by the Tata deal."
Labour’s finances John Plender, Financial Times, 25/9/2006
Summary: "Controversy over the Labour party’s finances is set to take a new twist."
Retirement scheme is Labour’s biggest creditor Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 25/9/2006
Summary: "The Labour party’s pension scheme has emerged as its biggest single creditor amid mounting fiscal woes.
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Pension watchdog to test Labour fund Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 25/9/2006
Summary: "Labour, which has put pension reform high on its agenda, has a significant pension fund deficit and will be among the first funds to be tested by regulators."
Testing times for those fearing ineligibility Pauline Skypala, FTfm, 7/8/2006
Summary: "The 31,000 members of the £1.2bn Kvaerner pension fund have had an anxious few weeks as doubts have been raised about the deal on the fund’s future.
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Kvaerner pension deal under threat from bondholders David Prosser, The Independent, 5/8/2006
Summary: "Members of the Kvaerner pension scheme reacted with horror as it emerged that a deal to save their pensions has still not been finalised, almost four months after it was first announced.
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Bondholders pose threat to Kvaerner deal on fund Russell Hotten, Daily Telegraph, 4/8/2006
Summary: "A controversial agreement to save the Kvaerner pension fund is not the done deal that many people thought and could yet run into serious problems."
TH Global pension deal faces bond threat - expert Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 3/8/2006
Summary: "A deal by TH Global to sever its links with its 32,000-member pension fund could be derailed if bond-holders refuse to take a loss on their debt and force the business into insolvency"
Pension funds play for high stakes Barry Riley, FTfm, 17/7/2006
Summary: "Should pension scheme members accept reduced, but secure, benefits or go along with the attempts to chase a rainbow?"
Kvaerner Pension Fund Bob Howard, BBC Radio 4 Money Box broacast, 8/7/2006
Summary: ""It looks as though the Pensions Regulator has let Kvaerner plc off the hook"."
Pension watchdog’s secrecy challenged Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 6/7/2006
Summary: "The UK Pension Regulator must open up to public scrutiny."
Pension guru considers Kvaerner Fund’s prop-up deal too ri Russell Hotten, Daily Telegraph, 6/7/2006
Summary: "The Kvaerner Pension Fund will have around 27pc of its assets in hedge funds and private equity, a far higher proportion than most other schemes.
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Kvaerner pension deal criticised James Daley, The Independent, 6/7/2006
Summary: ""The PPF should not have to underwrite risky investment bets by a scheme with no proper sponsor."
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“NAPF is lobbying for powers companies aready have” John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 19/6/2006
Summary: "Comment on NAPF’s lobbying to allow changes to past pension benefits"
Universities are not in an a “financial fog” over future of pens Edwin Topper, Financial Times Letters, 1/6/2006
Summary: "John Plender’s article on the deficit in USS makes a number of inaccurate statements and reaches conclusions that cannot go unchallenged.
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Big pension fund too equity-heavy Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 30/5/2006
Summary: "USS, the country’s second-biggest pension plan, has a major deficit and is more exposed to stocks than many rival funds, a leading consultant said.
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How a pension fund punt could undermine UK univer John Plender, Financial Times, 30/5/2006
Summary: "Facing a £6.6bn black hole in its superannuation scheme, academe is in a financial fog about the real cost of providing for lecturers’ old age
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A dangerous pensions precedent Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph, 30/4/2006
Summary: "The pension fund now becomes a stand-alone entity, with no company or sponsor behind it - a most unusual situation for a final salary scheme.
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BT to clear air over deficit chaos Russell Hotten, The Daily Telegraph, 24/4/2006
Summary: "News that more than half of BT’s deficit may have a Crown guarantee has surprised many shareholders and pensions experts."
BT may face hefty bill from pension regulator Philip Inman, The Guardian, 24/4/2006
Summary: "BT could be forced to pay a hefty bill to the pensions regulator despite a "crown guarantee" dating back to privatisation."
BT pensions Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 24/4/2006
Summary: "The cost of buying annuities for BT pension members -- known as the buyout cost -- is around 46 billion pounds"
BT faces concerns over scheme’s deficit Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 24/4/2006
Summary: "BT’s pension scheme has been running a deficit since at least 1997 and has remained in deficit since then, even through the peak years of the stock market boom.
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’Government liable for £3bn of BT pension gap’ Saeed Shah, The Independent, 24/4/2006
Summary: " A spokesman for BT said: "It’s no secret that BT has a Crown guarantee for part of the pensions liabilities of its defined benefit scheme""
’BT pension guarantee £12bn’ Christine Seib, The Times, 24/4/2006
Summary: "THE pensions guarantee at the centre of a wrangle between BT, the telecoms giant, and the Government is worth as much as £12 billion, according to new research.
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Sticky mess doesn’t promise jam tomorrow Philip Coggan, Financial Times, 18/3/2006
Summary: "Final pension schemes are gradually dying."
Sainsbury’s pension shock Lisa Buckingham, Mail on Sunday, 12/3/2006
Summary: "Sainsbury’s staff could see their expected pensions slashed by more than half if they opt for a ’cash balance’ scheme, according to independent experts."
Sainsbury’s scheme Lombard (Alison Smith), Financial Times, 8/3/2006
Summary: "If most Sainsbury’s members decide not to increase contributions, then the move will go a long way towards closing the current defined benefit schemes."
Sainsbury accused as union seeks talks on pension change Christine Seib, The Times, 8/3/2006
Summary: "John Ralfe, the pensions consultant, said that Sainsbury’s was “passing the scheme off as something it clearly isn’t”.
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Sainsbury brings risk with balance scheme Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 8/3/2006
Summary: " Sainsbury’s employees unwilling to make a significant increase in contributions to the defined benefit pension scheme will be placed in a riskier "cash balance" scheme"
Benefit, or otherwise, of funded pension system John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 16/2/2006
Summary: "Is a funded system better than straightforward PAYG, with the working generation taxed to pay for the pensions of the retired generation?
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Holes spotted in the pension safety net John Ralfe, FTfm, 23/1/2006
Summary: "If the Pension Protection Fund does not make an economic charge for the risk it is running, sooner or later it will fail"
Pensions lifeboat could sink weak firms Patience Wheatcroft, The Times, 17/12/2005
Summary: "John Ralfe argues that just taking the 30 schemes already in assessment and Turner & Newall, the PPF’s losses are already somewhere between £600 million and £700 million."
Pension deficit could clip BA’s wings John Ralfe, The Times, 5/11/2005
Summary: "Mr Ralfe suggests that BA will be paying the largest levy of any company into the new Pension Protection Fund next year."
BA boss vows to tackle £1.4billion pension hole Alistair Osborne, Daily Telegraph, 5/11/2005
Summary: ""Although BA’s pension contributions have doubled from 2003 to 2005, they were not sufficient to make any dent in the underlying deficit. Like it or not, only a big increase in company contributions will shift the underlying deficit."
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BA’s baggage Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 5/11/2005
Summary: "The trustees are large unsecured creditors of their companies and have just been given muscle to push for the elimination of the deficits.
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BA seen under new pressure to fill pension gap Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 3/11/2005
Summary: "BA is likely to face mounting pressure from a new regulator to plug a yawning pension fund deficit."
Beware any pension fund offering a government guarantee John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 26/9/2005
Summary: "The Pension Commission’s logic is deeply flawed."
UK pensions still taking risks with equities John Ralfe, FTfm, 19/9/2005
Summary: "If investment in bonds should match at least match pensions in payment, FTSE100 pension schemes are short £74bn
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Big rise urged in levy for pension safety net Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 10/8/2005
Summary: "John Ralfe concludes that the much higher sum would be re-quired if the PPF were to charge underfunded schemes a rate of interest in line with charges they would have to pay for bank borrowing.
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Pension Protection Fund levy Tom Burroughes, Reuters, 10/8/2005
Summary: "Britain’s PPF must raise enough money from companies now in setting a new levy as it may not have a second chance to get its finances right, a leading pension expert said.
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Give us chastity - but not too much or soon Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 10/8/2005
Summary: "John Ralfe, the independent consultant, points to a fourth factor in a research paper on the new Pension Protection Fund published by RBC Capital Markets."
Politics,the flaw in Labour’s pensions lifeline Lisa Buckingham, Mail on Sunday, 17/7/2005
Summary: "The Pension Protection Fund was the creation of politicians."
Companies still failing to fill the funding gap Lucy Warwick Ching, Financial Times, 16/7/2005
Summary: "The dire state of Britain’s pensions system was highlighted this week as new figures revealed that the black hole in company pension schemes is getting deeper in spite of a steady rise in equity markets"
Bond shortfall John Plender, Financial Times, 11/7/2005
Summary: "Ralfe has tried to quantify how much of a shift from equities to bonds would be needed if the FTSE100 matched the present level of payments to pensioners with investment in bonds."
Companies fail to dent pension deficits Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 11/7/2005
Summary: "Britain’s largest companies made little or no dent in their pension scheme deficits last year, in spite of a rise in equity markets and increased company contributions."
Little light shed on Heath Lambert agreement John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 16/6/2005
Summary: "The National Audit Office, which scrutinises the PPF on behalf of parliament, should be invited to investigate the deal."
Funny rating John Plender, Financial Times, 29/5/2005
Summary: "Are the credit rating agencies weighing up UK pension deficits correctly?"
Big company casualties may sink PPF John Ralfe, FTfm, 4/4/2005
Summary: "If the PPF does keep its head above water, this will be good luck not good management"
Pension lifeboat’s £225m T&N load Christine Seib, The Times, 18/3/2005
Summary: "Because the PPF offers less generous inflation-proofing than T&N, Mr Ralfe said that T&N scheme members would lose almost 30 per cent of the pensions they were promised.
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Pensioners at T&N will still lose out Dominic White, The Daily Telegraph, 18/3/2005
Summary: "A leading pensions expert has estimated that members of the Turner & Newall scheme will lose almost 30pc of their pensions promises even after it receives compensation from the PPF."
Boots’ trustees must demonstrate more transparency John Ralfe & 56 other members of the Boots pension scheme, Financial Times Letters, 26/2/2005
Summary: "We remain concerned about the trustees’ lack of openness, transparency and accountability in refusing the request by 162 members to make available the independent investment advice.
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London Market Tony Tassell, Financial Times, 19/2/2005
Summary: "It has been a good week for pensioners but far less so for holders of unsecured corporate bonds.
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Boots trustees do not accept their strategy increases risk John Watson, Financial Times Letters, 19/2/2005
Summary: "Your report and comments on the Boots pension scheme and the decision to switch some of the fund from bonds into other asset classes should be placed in context."
Benefit, or otherwise, of funded pension system John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 16/2/2005
Summary: "Is a funded system better than straightforward PAYG, with the working generation taxed to pay for the pensions of the retired generation?
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Burden shared Patience Wheatcroft, The Times, 16/2/2005
Summary: "Comment on change to pension law"
Legislative Briefing Note John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum Note, 15/2/2005
Summary: "The value of liquidated assets will be spread more thinly and unsecured creditors, including bondholders, will lose out."
Ex-Boots executive challenges pension trustees Alex Jolliffe, Financial Times, 12/2/2005
Summary: "John Ralfe said the trustees had not fully explained the advice process that led to big changes to the fund’s investment strategy.
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Boots loosens laces Jane Fuller, Financial Times, 12/2/2005
Summary: "Of course, the gamble may not pay off and then Boots will be in a worse position.
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Ralfe challenges Turner report Pauline Skypala, FTfm, 31/1/2005
Summary: "John Ralfe has called into question the thinking behind Adair Turner’s Pensions Commission report, and said the analysis was incomplete at best and flawed at worst.
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No Free Lunch Alistair Blair, Investors Chronicle, 28/1/2005
Summary: "The tale of your pension in 4 parts""
In the dark John Plender, Financial Times, 20/12/2004
Summary: "Any failure to provide this reassurance will raise suspicions about the decision-making process.
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Turner & Newall John Ralfe & Greg Wood, Today Programme Radio 4, 7/12/2004
Summary: "Discussion on Turner & Newall Pension Scheme"
Turner & Newall Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 18/11/2004
Summary: "Since T&N’s PPF shortfall is around £500m, will the fund open its doors in 2005 with a deficit of at least this size?
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Turner & Newall Jeremy Warner, The Independent, 18/11/2004
Summary: "The implications of Government proposals for an industry funded pensions protection fund (PPF) grow more alarming by the day."
Turner & Newall Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 18/11/2004
Summary: "Wicks new position is that the insolvency of a parent may not be a barrier provided the pension fund itself is not being wound up.
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"Rent review debate would be redundant with better accounti John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 29/10/2004
Summary: "Signing a long-term property lease is a big capital investment that the tenant finances through a series of post-dated cheques to the landlord."
Humpty Dumpty Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 19/10/2004
Summary: "There is a long way to go before the days of the “actuary as alchemist” - to use Mr Ralfe’s phrase - or as Humpty Dumpty are over.
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Sainsbury warned over pension fund By Kate Burgess, Norma Cohen and Alexander Jolliffe, Financial Times, 18/10/2004
Summary: "J. Sainsbury has increased the risk in its pension fund in a move that allows it to shrink its deficit and lower its contribution, says a leading pension consultant.
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J Sainsbury Revisited - the actuarial challenge John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum Note, 18/10/2004
Summary: "Analysis of Sainsbury’s recent actuarial valuation"
File on 4 Pensions Crisis Liz Carney and Michael Robinson, BBC Radio 4 Website, 3/8/2004
Summary: "Examination of the UK pensions crisis, including JER interview"
T&N casts a long shadow on pensions policy John Ralfe, Financial Times, 26/7/2004
Summary: "The government was a reluctant convert to the idea of a pension protection fund… Unless set up properly, it could make things worse"
Pensions: Liam Halligan, Sunday Telegraph, 25/7/2004
Summary: "n Channel 4 News last week, Malcolm Wicks described coverage of Britain’s final salary pension schemes as ’gloomy’"
It's not the economy, stupid. It's pensions. Lisa Buckingham, Mail on Sunday, 25/7/2004
Summary: " The past week has thrown up yet more evidence that the pensions crisis has gone well beyond being a problem for a handful of employees."
Shedding light on pensions holes Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 22/7/2004
Summary: "So while there has been a steady increase in corporate contributions over the past couple of years, companies are running hard to stand still, as Mr Ralfe points out."
No easy answers on pensions gap Patience Wheatcroft, The Times, 22/7/2004
Summary: "John Ralfe, that assiduous chronicler of the state of the nation’s pensions, has been doing his sums again and produced some frightening results."
Companies Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 22/7/2004
Summary: " "Surely the days of whistling in the dark, hoping that the financial markets will plug pension deficits are gone?""
Are Company Contributions Big Enough? John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets, 22/7/2004
Summary: "Are the cheques companies are now writing for their pension schemes big enough to plug deficits?"
Pension threat for 40,000 T&N staff Tessa Thorniley, Daily Telegraph, 10/7/2004
Summary: "The pensions of 40,000 members of the £1.2 billion scheme of car parts supplier Turner & Newhall (T&N) are under threat.
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Boots under fire for ’casual’ move out of bonds , IPE.com, 21/6/2004
Summary: "William Mercer "did not advise Boots on the switch away from bonds."
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Boots’ latest switch raises calls to cut employers’ Phil Davis, Financial Times, 6/6/2004
Summary: "Boots was widely criticised following the recent reversal of its 2001 decision to switch its pension fund entirely into long-dated bonds."
Risk-taking trustees John Plender, Financial Times, 31/5/2004
Summary: "Intriguing to note that the trustees of the Boots pension fund have chosen to take on more risk."
Boots and bondage Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 28/5/2004
Summary: "Has Boots’ pension fund taken leave of its senses?"
Pension U-turn dismays strategist Antonia Senior, The Times, 28/5/2004
Summary: "BOOTS yesterday unveiled an unexpected U-turn on its ground-breaking strategy of investing its entire £2.8 billion pension fund in bonds."
Boots’ strange pension decision Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 28/5/2004
Summary: "BOOTS’ decision to move part of its its pension fund out of bonds must count as one of the more bizarre financial decisions of recent times."
Boots pension scheme cuts bond allocation Daniel Brooksbank, IPE.com, 27/5/2004
Summary: "The £2.8bn pension scheme of retailer Boots is to cut its allocation to bonds.
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Ministers warned on pension funding Alex Jolliffe, Financial Times, 17/5/2004
Summary: "Plans for a pensions safety net will be "just a comfort blanket" unless ministers force companies to pay enough cash into pension schemes, an expert will warn today.
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Pension relief is on its way Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 14/5/2004
Summary: "THE pensions debate is bubbling up nicely."
Bruising pensions debate John Plender, Financial Times, 10/5/2004
Summary: "The UK Government’s review of progress on compliance with the Myners’ report on institutional investment must be a lively affair."
Britain must learn from US pensions pain John Ralfe, The Times, 12/4/2004
Summary: "JOHN RALFE warns against papering over the funding cracks in US pensions"
Benefits boost via bonds for Boots John Ralfe, Financial Times Letters, 10/4/2004
Summary: "Comments on Boots Pensions"
In a tangle on pension ’promises’ Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 26/3/2004
Summary: "JOHN RALFE once remarked that the lessons of Equitable Life as outlined in the Penrose Report were more applicable to defined pension funds than to insurance companies."
The real lessons of the Penrose Report John Ralfe, Financial Times, 15/3/2004
Summary: "The conclusions from the Equitable Life affair have serious implications for company pension schemes
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Ralfe’s sums Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 21/2/2004
Summary: "Faced with such calculations, the government might just aim for a less rigorous yardstick and pray that no large employer goes belly up.
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Pension sums don’t add up Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 20/2/2004
Summary: "If the scheme is affordable to pension funds it will not work, but if it is designed to work, it will not be affordable.
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Can the Pension Protection Fund work? John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum, 19/2/2004
Summary: "Looks at how the PPF should work in practice, particularly the “risk-based” levy it will charge employers."
“GM ’profits’ from boosting its pension fund” John Ralfe, The Times, 22/1/2004
Summary: "Borrowing to inject cash into the pension plan has no economic substance; GM is just moving money from its treasury pocket to its pension pocket.
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At last we see a clever Boots Patience Wheatcroft, The Times, 16/1/2004
Summary: "Today’s numbers from Boots may also be flattered by the results of another cute financial move."
FRS 17 can open up pension truths John Ralfe, Financial Times, 23/12/2003
Summary: "Accounting has given the impression that investing in equities reduces the cost of final salary schemes and that a pension fund can have the higher expected return of equities with none of the risk."
Shrinking pensions Martin Dickson, Financial Times, 18/12/2003
Summary: "John Ralfe, the independent pensions consultant, has just issued a paper that highlights the extraordinary flexibility available to actuaries in valuing pension funds.
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Adding up pension funds Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 16/12/2003
Summary: "It has often seemed to me that the cheapest way for a company to solve a pension fund deficit is to change the actuary.
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GM pension is smoke and mirrors John Ralfe, BBC Radio 4 “Today” Programme, 15/12/2003
Summary: "For GM shareholders nothing has changed. The underlying asset value of GM hasn’t increased by a single dollar.
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General Motors Conference Call: Not let off the pension hook John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum, 15/12/2003
Summary: "GM’s US pension funding has improved not because of asset performance, but because of GM’s $18.5bn contribution. Without the contribution the deficit would have increased during 2003.
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The Actuaries’ Magic Pencil BA, BT and Invensys John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum, 11/12/2003
Summary: "This note looks at the recently completed actuarial valuations of Invensys, BT and British Airways, all with serious pension issues."
GM Briefing Note: Let off the pension hook? John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum, 11/12/2003
Summary: "GM is holding a conference call on December 12th to update investors on its pension position."
Corporate pension funds : The case for bonds John Ralfe, RBC Capital Markets Open Forum, 19/11/2003
Summary: "What are the challenges to conventional wisdom?"
How Boots led the way from shares to bonds John Ralfe, The Sunday Times, 2/11/2003
Summary: "The apparent success of defined-benefit pension schemes has been based on the illusion that the expected long-term outperformance of equities over bonds reduces pension costs.
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The world has moved on, so should pension funds John Ralfe, Financial Times, 26/10/2003
Summary: "Boots reminded everyone of the self-evident truth forgotten in recent years: ‘the job of the pension fund is to pay pensions’.
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Pensions facing a domino effect John Ralfe, Daily Mail, 20/10/2003
Summary: "The Labour Government has increased the likelihood of workers losing their pensions by gradually weakening pension fund regulation.
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The hunt for better returns Janet Kersnar, CFO Europe, 18/10/2003
Summary: "Interview with John Ralfe on the second anniversary of Boots’s announcement"
The hidden risks of the Treasury’s equity exposure John Ralfe, Financial Times, 1/10/2003
Summary: "The scale of the British government’s investment through pension fund assets is staggering- a quarter of the largest 100 pension funds are backed by either central or local government.
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Corporate Pensions: The Case of BT Group and General Motors John Ralfe, Open Forum Notes, Volume 1, 18/8/2003
Summary: "This note looks at the company with the largest pension fund in the UK and US - BT Group in the UK, with £30bn of pension liabilities and General Motors in the US, with pension and healthcare liabilities of $150bn."
Paying the price of pension mistakes Patience Wheatcroft, The Times, 5/8/2003
Summary: "BY THE end of 2002, Boots was the only company in the FTSE 100 index not to have a deficit on its pension fund."
Britain’s least favourite pension plan John Ralfe, Financial Times, 1/8/2003
Summary: "The recent strike action by BA’s employees may have endangered the pensions of some of its 100,000 pension scheme members."
GONE but not forgotten Martin Waller, The Times, 25/7/2003
Summary: "Chairman John McGrath grated:“The person you have referred to has obtained an enormous amount of personal publicity, which I’m sure has helped him in his new career.”"
Overhaul, from Boots-straps up Patience Wheatcroft, The Times, 6/6/2003
Summary: "Selling the pension fund’s equities at the top of the market was certainly the cleverest thing that Boots did in the last five years."
Poor pension insurance is worse than none John Ralfe, Financial Times, 5/6/2003
Summary: "What can be done to help pension scheme members who lose their promised pension when their employer goes bust? The obvious unfairness of such cases has prompted calls for Britain to set up a compulsory pension insurance system to protect individual member"
“Death of equity” Ralfe starts up pension firm Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 3/6/2003
Summary: "John Ralfe, the former head of corporate finance at Boots the Chemist who signalled the “death of equity” with his now famous conversion of the company’s entire £2.4bn scheme to bond investment, has set up a consulting firm specialising in pensions.
"
Letters: Boots unlikely to move fund back to equities John Ralfe, Financial Times, 13/5/2003
Summary: "Boots’ pension fund has ruled out speculation that it might move back into equities from its current position of 100 per cent long-dated AAA fixed and inflation-linked bonds."
Faith in trustees John Watson, Professional Pensions, 1/5/2003
Summary: "I was interested in your article, Boots ponders “timely” switch back to equities."
The drugstore maverick Tony Tassell, Financial Times, 24/3/2003
Summary: "John Ralfe has been called many things. Rogue outsider, an evangelist driven by dangerous ideology and the bête noire of equities are among the labels critics have sought to pin on him."
Pensions switch pioneer sets up consultancy Tony Tassell, Financial Times, 24/3/2003
Summary: "John Ralfe, who shook up the UK pension industry when he led a switch by Boots’ pension fund out of equities into bonds, has set up his own independent consulting company."
A challenge to the equity cult John Ralfe, Financial Times, 1/3/2003
Summary: "It is just over a year since boring Boots shocked the pensions world by switching all of its £2.3bn pension scheme from equities into long-dated matching bonds - challenging the cult of the equity head-on."
Warning on supervision of pension funds Norma Cohen, Financial Times, 25/2/2003
Summary: "The overseeing of employee pensions in the UK is so poor that it is likely to be a matter of time before a large company scheme collapses, a pensions conference will hear tomorrow."
BBC 10 O’Clock News John Ralfe, , 25/2/2003
Summary: "Most members of pension schemes are unaware of the precise nature of the legal framework. They don`t realise they can be paying in, perhaps, 5% of their pensions over forty years and if the company goes bust they may well then be left high and dry."
John Plender, Financial Times, 18/1/2003
Summary: "Over the past three years an astonishing £1,730bn has been wiped off the value of pension fund assets across the world."
Sorry footnote John Plender, Financial Times, 23/12/2002
Summary: "John Ralfe, the former head of corporate finance at UK retailer Boots, may have lost his job, but his place as in the history books is secure."
Perils of going against the grain Barry Riley, Financial Times, 16/12/2002
Summary: "Defying conventional investment wisdom can be a lonely occupation. John Ralfe abandoned conventional fund manager realtionships."
Pensions supremo walks out at Boots Ruth Sunderland, Daily Mail, 10/12/2002
Summary: "John Ralfe, the highly respected Boots’ pension fund supremo, is leaving the retailer after a dispute with new finance director Howard Dodd."
Ralfe quits Boots Alistair Graham, Financial News, 9/12/2002
Summary: "John Ralfe, the Boots head of corporate finance who pioneered the recent shift into fixed-income investments by UK pension funds, has left the company suddenly."
Author of Boots pension shift departs Tony Tassell, Financial Times, 7/12/2002
Summary: "John Ralfe, who shook up the UK pension industry when he switched Boots’s pension fund out of equities into bonds, is to leave the retailer."
Boots’ Pensions: One Year On John Ralfe, The Treasurer, 1/12/2002
Summary: "John Ralfe of Boots provides an update to their pension funds’s revolutionary switch from equities to bonds, announced in November 2001.
"
Boots revises FRS 17 decision Alistair Graham, Financial News, 25/11/2002
Summary: "Boots, the UK retail chemist, has backtracked on plans to adopt early FRS 17, the controversial accounting standard, which the group has publicly championed."
Property: The loose accounting of leases Norma Cohen, Financial, 22/11/2002
Summary: "Cable and Wireless, the telecommunications provider, this week announced a restructuring plan and, in the process, unveiled some £2.2bn in lease commitments that almost nobody knew about."
What a coup John Plender, Financial Times, 14/10/2002
Summary: "There are not many pension funds that can say that the market value of their assets went up last year. So there should not be many pension fund managers who begrudge UK retailer Boots its award last week for running the European pension scheme of the year"
Adding to the pyramid of risk Barry Riley, Financial News, 12/10/2002
Summary: "The usual UK pension scheme mix, with 70% equities, is highly volatile. Near-bankrupt British Energy was last week the latest in a long line of UK companies to reveal holes in its pension fund accounts."
They’re playing our song - well, maybe Adam Jay, The Daily Telegraph, 11/10/2002
Summary: "These Boots Were Made For Walking played when John Ralfe at Boots collected a gong for pension scheme of the year.
"
The reward of rejecting the cult of equities John Ralfe, Pensions & Investments, 16/9/2002
Summary: "It’s been a year since The Boots Co. shocked the UK financial world by announcing its £2.3bn ($3.5bn) pension fund – one of the UK’s 50 largest- had quietly sold all its equities and moved its assets into long-dated AAA/Aaa sterling bonds."
No more easy answers on assets Philip Coggan, Financial Times, 24/6/2002
Summary: "What is the most appropriate asset for a pension fund to hold? The easy answer is: one that most closely matches its liabilities.
But that answer, of course, only begs the question."
Time to come clean on the big pensions problem Anthony Hilton, Evening Standard, 2/5/2002
Summary: "Boots caused turmoil in the pensions world earlier this year when it became known that the retailer’s pension scheme was no longer invested in equities."
Letters: Pension scheme members’ only legal protection is MFR John Ralfe, Financial Times, 28/2/2002
Summary: "Sir, You report the government’s plans to weaken the MFR for company pension funds as though it were merely a technical change."
Letters: Current accounting papers over the pension cracks John Ralfe, Financial Times, 12/2/2002
Summary: "At last - some sensible and moderate comments on FRS17, the new pension accounting standard! Transparent and consistent accounting, including pensions, is crucial to the international capital markets."
Letters: Boots pension move out of equities not about accounting John Ralfe, Financial Times, 14/1/2002
Summary: "Many commentators have suggested that the move by the £2.3bn Boots pension scheme out of equities into 100 per cent matching bonds was driven by FRS 17, the new accounting standard that values pension assets and liabilities on a market basis."
Why did Boots move to bonds? John Ralfe, Global Pensions, 1/1/2002
Summary: "The move by the £2.3bn Boots Pension Scheme from 75 per cent equities to 100 per cent bonds was to minimise investment risks by matching pension liabilities and assets."
Shares: Why Boots walked John Ralfe, Boots, 16/12/2001
Summary: "Why did the £2.3 billion Boots Pensions Fund move its assets from 75 per cent equities to 100 per cent bonds? The move was not based on a view of the relative performance of bonds versus equities – we were not trying to “outguess” the financial markets."
Boots’ response to "The MFR; The next stage of reform John Ralfe, , 10/12/2001
Summary: "Boots’ response to "The Minimum Funding Requirement. The next stage of reform""
Letters: Boots pension fund move helped reduce investor risk John Ralfe, The Times, 29/11/2001
Summary: " Tony Watson, Chief Investment Officer at Hermes, suggests that Boots will look “extremely silly” if the stock market enjoyed a ten-year bull run."
Letters: Boots pensioners and index-linked bonds John Ralfe, Financial Times, 27/11/2001
Summary: "Mr John Ross took Pauline Skypala to task for ignoring the risk of inflation faced by members of Boots pension scheme, following the ground-breaking move from equities to matching bonds."
Promise becomes a gamble John Ralfe, Financial Times, 24/11/2001
Summary: "John Ralfe sees a threat to retirement incomes in plans to replace the MFR."
Final sally Observer column, Financial Times, 23/11/2001
Summary: "John Ralfe - the whiz-kid corporate financier who masterminded the switch of the Boots pension fund from equities into bonds - spent his formative years at Oxbridge’s leftwing bastions, Balliol and King’s."
Letters: Rest easy, Boots pensioners John Ralfe, Financial Times, 5/11/2001
Summary: "Members of the Boots pension scheme need not worry about the credit risk of the £2.3bn sterling bond portfolio securing their pension rights."
Boots changes pension prescription Pauline Skypala, Financial Times, 3/11/2001
Summary: "The final salary fund has switched from equities to bonds - a bold and radical move that would not suit all funds or prospective pensioners"
Boots finds a safe pension prescription Barry Riley, Financial Times, 1/11/2001
Summary: "Boots Pension Scheme’s decision to sell all its equities and concentrate its Pounds 2.3bn of assets in bonds has been explained in terms of improved security and the reduction of investment risks."
Letters: No time to scrap the MFR John Ralfe, The Times, 25/9/2001
Summary: "The Government plans to weaken and then scrap the MFR for company pension funds, believing that it distorts investment behaviour."
Young Guns John Ralfe, Pensions Week, 19/3/2001
Summary: "Professor David Blake attacks the use of bond yields to value pension liabilities, both for actuarial purposes and accounting purposes, under the new FRS17."
Boot's Response to DSS/ Treasury Consultation Document John Ralfe, , 31/1/2001
Summary: "On behalf of The Boots Company and The Boots Pension Scheme we are pleased to provide a response to the DSS/ Treasury consultation document and the interim report of the Myners’ review of institutional investment.
"
Letters: MFR proposal is consistent with corporate finance theor Paul Myners, Financial Times, 23/11/2000
Summary: "I am not sure why John Ralfe (Letters, November 21) believes that my proposals on the MFR are inconsistent with corporate finance theory. The approach to which he refers discounts a stream of liabilities back to a single present value, to be compared with"
Letters: Pension funding rule proposals would be unworkable John Ralfe, Financial Times, 21/11/2000
Summary: "Mr Paul Myners proposes to scrap the MFR and replace it with more member and public scrutiny. These proposals are unsound in theory and unworkable in practice."
Mixed response to new pensions report Barry Riley, Financial Times, 15/11/2000
Summary: "Last week Paul Myners delivered an interim statement of conclusions from his review of UK institutional investment."
BBC Today Programme November 2000 John Ralfe interview Nigel Cassidy, BBC Today Programme, 1/11/2000
Summary: "Interview with John Ralfe on the introduction of FRS 17"
Boots’ Response to Myners’ Review John Ralfe (Signed David Thompson), , 19/7/2000
Summary: "Boots’ Response to Myners’ Review of Institutional Investment"
Capitalising property leases: an occupier’s view John Ralfe, , 2/2/2000
Summary: "Presentation to Investment Property Forum on the 1999 ASB Discussion Paper on Leases"
Boots’ Response to ASB Discussion Paper on leases John Ralfe (Signed David Thompson), , 10/1/2000
Summary: "We welcome and support the objectives of the ASB in reforming accounting for leases. We believe that SSAP 21 does not reflect the underlying economics of leases and is also inconsistent with other accounting, especially FRS 5.
"
When I’m 64. Company pensions for corporate treasurers John Ralfe, The Treasurer, 1/11/1999
Summary: " Company pensions should not be the preserve of the actuary who has traditionally used a conceptual framework peculiar to pensions, and at odds with the way in which treasurers look at the world.
"
Boots’ response to ASB Discussion Paper on Pensions John Ralfe (Signed David Thompson), , 22/10/1998
Summary: "We believe that the existing accounting for Defined Benefit company pensions represents the largest remaining anomoly in UK financial reporting and is in need of radical reform."
Initial Discussion with ASB on pensions John Ralfe, Boots, 2/10/1998
Summary: "Initial Discussion with ASB on pensions, following Discussion Paper."
Reasons to be hedgeless, 1,2,3 John Ralfe, Risk, 1/7/1996
Summary: "My July 1994 article provoked howls of protest from Treasurers and Bankers, who saw a sexy part of their job being challenged."
Betting Your Hedges John Ralfe, Risk, 1/7/1994
Summary: "Corporate treasurers hedge too much – they hedge things they should not be hedging at all and they hedge too much of those things they should be hedging. They incur unnecessary expense and waste management time."
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