Prince of Wales calls for end to pension short termism

The Prince of Wales has urged the pensions industry to move away from "quarterly capitalism" towards longer term investment values to secure the future for pensions and the environment. The Prince said that the pensions industry needed to embrace 21st century investment strategies and values and not those of the 19th century.In a speech on video to the conference, His Royal Highness spoke for 5 minutes on the importance of the pensions sector, urging delegates at the conference to use "all your human ingenuity" to move on from short term investing to long term investing.This would be good for the planet in terms of sustainability and environmental issues as well as future generations of pensioners faced with an uncertain world and pensions uncertainty, he said.Responding to the media interest in the video that the Prince of Wales address, recorded for the National Association of Pension Funds' Annual Conference in Manchester, has received Joanne Segars, NAPF chief executive, said: "We are delighted that His Royal Highness accepted our invitation to speak at our conference on these issues because we know how important they are for pension funds investors.{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}"Pension funds are long-term institution with long-term liabilities that need to invest for the long term. We all know that the Prince of Wales has been concerned about sustainability and environmental issues for many years."The NAPF believes that these are also of significant importance to long term pension fund investors and are the basis for long term investment success and hence the provision of good pensions for people in the future."We are pleased that he is shining a light on these issues and we look forward to working with his charities on this agenda in the future."Almost three-quarters of advisers agree with pension-related comments made by Prince Charles at the National Association of Pension Funds conference last week, according to a poll by Adviser Home, the adviser business development portal.• Subsequent to the comments by the Prince of Wales, almost three-quarters of 71 advisers polled this week agree with pension-related comments made by Prince Charles at the National Association of Pension Funds conference last week, according to a poll by Adviser Home, the adviser business development portal.Some 74 per cent of respondents say they agree with his statement that: "With an ageing population and pension fund liabilities that are therefore stretching out for many decades, surely the current focus on quarterly capitalism is becoming increasingly unfit for purpose." Only 21 per cent disagreed with the statement.Andy Kirby, director at Adviser Home which carried out the research, said: "Given the current state of the pensions industry and how few people are saving into a scheme, it comes as little surprise to me that the comments made by Prince Charles have struck a chord with advisers. Advisers see retirement planning as a crucial component of the financial advice they give and therefore want to see the system work."Kevin Ferriby, managing director of Informed Financial Planning, said: "The number of private sector workers contributing into pension schemes is at an all-time low of 2.7m according to the ONS, compared to 8.1 million at the peak in 1967. This suggests a significant problem in the pensions industry, one that will hopefully be remedied to a large extent by auto-enrolment. Nonetheless anything that brings a healthy debate to pensions, such as the recent comments by the Prince of Wales, is most welcome."

Prince of Wales calls for end to pension short termism

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