Defending pensions in the recession

(29/06/09) How is the current economic crisis affecting pension funds and what are the implications for pension trustees?

Those were the questions addressed by an international union seminar in Amsterdam today, which included a UNISON delegation of six pension fund trustees and LGPS reps.

The seminar, organised by the international union committee on workers' capital, discussed a number of issues, including:

• regulation of the financial sector;



• how pension funds are to recover from the global recession;



• how worker trustees can change investment practices to defend members’ deferred waged.

The UNISON delegation made a presentation on investment policy for a new economic era, in particular the 'universal owner' idea, which says that pension fund trustees have an obligation to consider factors in the whole economy when carrying out their responsibilities to pension fund members.

In support of this idea, the delegation pointed to the impact of the financial crisis on investments, criticism of the failure of finance-sector governance, and a longer-term historic decline in investment returns and economic growth.

The delegation also suggested that unions consider sponsoring "a technical analysis of modern macroeconomic theory, with a view to creating a model that can be subsequently tested against current government models, and provide clearer guidance to the investment community."

The committee on workers' capital brings together representatives from across the global union movement, including the International Trade Union Confederation , Global Unions, and the OECD trade union advisory .

It focuses on sharing information and developing joint strategies on pension trustee education, corporate and financial market governance, shareholder activism and economically targeted investment.

For more information on the seminar, contact UNISON national officer Colin Meech at c.meech@unison.co.uk.

UNISON's capital stewardship programme

UNISON: defending and improving pensions

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