Comment | Con Keating


I’m from the government and I’m here to help


Con Keating con2.keating@brightonrockgroup.co.uk


Con Keating is head of research at BrightonRock Group


This month Con Keating asks why can’t the authorities get it right when it comes to pension scheme policy.


I recently had the pleasure to be one of several academics and practitioners nominating Profes- sor Jane Hutton, a now-suspended whistle-blow- ing member of the trustee board of the Universi- ties Superannuation Scheme (USS), for the 2019 John Maddox prize. To quote the Sense about Science website: “The John Maddox Prize for standing up for science


16 | portfolio institutional | June–July 2019 | issue 85


rewards an individual who has promoted sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest.”


There is nothing scientific about the valuation process at USS, or for that matter any other UK defined benefit (DB) pension scheme. The choice of discount rates available under currently appli- cable legislation is a choice among counterfactu-


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