Britain’s pensions in the spotlight as FTSE firms fall for America
Britain #Britain
For 15 months, John Ralfe kept a secret. But when he broke his silence two decades ago, his actions shocked the City — and continue to be debated today. Ralfe was head of corporate finance at Boots when he orchestrated the sale of £1.7 billion worth of shares held in the company’s pension scheme — some 75 per cent of its £2.3 billion in assets — and transferred all the money into long-term investments in bonds.
In July 2001, when the news broke, it sparked amazement, but it heralded a decline in the amount held by UK pension funds in the London stock market.
This, in turn, has fuelled the debate raging now over why FTSE 100 company CRH, Irish owner of Tarmac, and Flutter,