UK Plans Flock to Myners Principles
A survey of 100 members of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) indicated that 40% of respondents already followed investment practices in line with those outlined by Myners in 2001, an IPE news report indicated. Another 38% had begun complying with the principles while the remaining plans that currently didn’t comply said they would take action to get better in line.
More than 76% of those surveyed thought the
recommendations would improve investment decision-making.
With regards to transparency and regular reporting, 91%
of respondents said that kept their members regularly up
to date on their fund’s performance, and 81% said they
kept members regularly informed on their fund’s asset
allocation.
Myners’ principles as outlined in his report are:
- effective decision-making
- clear objectives
- focus on asset allocation
- expert advice
- explicit mandates
- activism
- appropriate benchmarks
- performance measurement
- transparency
- regular reporting.
UK government officials asked Myners in 2000 to investigate the way in which investment decisions are made within the UK institutional investment industry. He was also asked to identify factors that might be distorting the decision-making process to the detriment of both pension funds and their beneficiaries.