Britain's public sector pensions should be merged to create "gigantic" sovereign wealth fund which can invest in the roads, railways and airports that "this country is crying out for", Boris Johnson has said.
The Mayor of London said that there has been an "ontological explosion" of pension fund managers who each have "their little jaws wrapped blissfully around the giant polymammous udder of the state".
He said that pensioners would enjoy higher incomes if Britain's 39,000 public sector funds were merged to create a "citizen's wealth fund" which could invest in major infrastructure to help stimulate Britain's economy.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Johnson said: "There are more than 39,000 public sector pension funds in this country – each with its own trustees, each with its own managers and advisers and accountants.
"The waste is extraordinary. Think of all those advisers and investment managers taking their fees – their little jaws wrapped blissfully around the giant polymammous udder of the state.Think of the duplication.
"But it is worse than that – because this country is missing a huge opportunity, and one that is being exploited by more sensible governments around the world."
Mr Johnson highlighted how huge public sector pension funds from Canada, Holland and Singapore are already investing in new housing and infrastructure in London and elsewhere in the UK.
He said: "We welcome that investment, of course. We are grateful. But is it not absurd that we are not able to call upon British pension funds to perform the same function?"
He said that Britain's local authority pension funds alone would hold assets of more than £180 billion, while combining all Britain's public sector pensions would yield "hundreds of billions".
He said that the incomes from tolls on new roads, passengers on new railways and airport charges would help create returns of up to 8 per cent for pensioners who are invested in them. He contrasted the potential from investments in infrastructure to the decisions made by Britain's public sector fund managers over the last 20 years.
"They piled into the banks, and lost colossal sums in the crash of 2008 – eight times more than it cost to bail out RBS," he said. He said that the biggest obstacle to his plan will be "old Doobury", the pension fund manager.
He said: "The little pension funds will fight for their independence; they will make all sorts of spurious arguments about the need for “localism” in managing this dosh, when of course the advice is all subcontracted to the same legion of investment managers, and when what they really care about is their fees and their tickets to Wimbledon from the investment managers and their golf-club bragging rights.
"The vested interests must be ruthlessly overridden. It is time for Britain to have its own Citizens’ Wealth Fund, deploying our assets in a useful way, helping us to bolster the pensioners and cut pointless public expenditure at the same time.
Away with the later Roman Empire, and forward with 21st-century Britain." The government has previously said it wants to move towards Dutch-style collective pensions from 2016, although Mr Johnson's plans go significantly further.
telegraph.co.uk
The Mayor of London said that there has been an "ontological explosion" of pension fund managers who each have "their little jaws wrapped blissfully around the giant polymammous udder of the state".
He said that pensioners would enjoy higher incomes if Britain's 39,000 public sector funds were merged to create a "citizen's wealth fund" which could invest in major infrastructure to help stimulate Britain's economy.
Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Johnson said: "There are more than 39,000 public sector pension funds in this country – each with its own trustees, each with its own managers and advisers and accountants.
"The waste is extraordinary. Think of all those advisers and investment managers taking their fees – their little jaws wrapped blissfully around the giant polymammous udder of the state.Think of the duplication.
"But it is worse than that – because this country is missing a huge opportunity, and one that is being exploited by more sensible governments around the world."
Mr Johnson highlighted how huge public sector pension funds from Canada, Holland and Singapore are already investing in new housing and infrastructure in London and elsewhere in the UK.
He said: "We welcome that investment, of course. We are grateful. But is it not absurd that we are not able to call upon British pension funds to perform the same function?"
He said that Britain's local authority pension funds alone would hold assets of more than £180 billion, while combining all Britain's public sector pensions would yield "hundreds of billions".
He said that the incomes from tolls on new roads, passengers on new railways and airport charges would help create returns of up to 8 per cent for pensioners who are invested in them. He contrasted the potential from investments in infrastructure to the decisions made by Britain's public sector fund managers over the last 20 years.
"They piled into the banks, and lost colossal sums in the crash of 2008 – eight times more than it cost to bail out RBS," he said. He said that the biggest obstacle to his plan will be "old Doobury", the pension fund manager.
He said: "The little pension funds will fight for their independence; they will make all sorts of spurious arguments about the need for “localism” in managing this dosh, when of course the advice is all subcontracted to the same legion of investment managers, and when what they really care about is their fees and their tickets to Wimbledon from the investment managers and their golf-club bragging rights.
"The vested interests must be ruthlessly overridden. It is time for Britain to have its own Citizens’ Wealth Fund, deploying our assets in a useful way, helping us to bolster the pensioners and cut pointless public expenditure at the same time.
Away with the later Roman Empire, and forward with 21st-century Britain." The government has previously said it wants to move towards Dutch-style collective pensions from 2016, although Mr Johnson's plans go significantly further.
telegraph.co.uk
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