Most Influential Trustee - Mallowstreet Awards 2013

I am looking very serious but last night's event at the Mallowstreet 2013 Awards (Pension social media site) was actually fun. The event took place at The Globe Theatre, South Bank in London.

There was a great turnout by members of the AMNT.

I was up for two awards - "Most Influential Trustee" and "Top Blogger" of the year.

This is the second year in a row that I was nominated as a trustee.

This year I was selected as "Most Influential Trustee" and this was the judge's comments :-

“With one of the most viewed blogs for 2013 on the Church of England's investment in Wonga, this individual never shies away from sharing provocative view points, personal experience and opinion. He has provided the foundation for some very interesting discussions, he has always done his research, whether you share his views or not there is something about his musings that make you want to have your say as well.”

"provocative view points"? Do they mean me?

Surely not :)

Picture with Judge, Louise Inward and host Vincent Franklin (Rowan the trainer in "The Office")

Congratulations to all nominees and winners for all the awards. Especially to the quiet and unassuming Henry Tapper from First Actuarial, who won two awards.

Why the Archbishop is wrong over pension investing in Wonga

I think that the Archbishop of Canterbury is a decent, honourable man and I certainly support his campaign for the Church of England to help credit unions compete and drive Wonga out of the payday loan business.

It was obviously embarrassing for him to find out a day after the launch of his campaign that his £5.5 billion Church pension fund had a small investment in Wonga but I think he was wrong to call for its disinvestment.  Wonga has a despicable business model based on ripping off its vulnerable customer base but hey, "welcome to capitalism", this is what happens when you get poor corporate governance of a company coupled with wholly inadequate state regulation.

Engagement by responsible investors with the companies they own is key. If the Church of England pension fund just sells up and leaves every company it has a problem with then this will just undermine other responsible owners who may be trying to change it for the better.

According to this BBC report the Church Pension fund can already invest in companies that benefit from "3% of their income from pornography, 10% from military products and services, or 25% from other industries such as gambling, alcohol and high interest rate lenders". 

What the Church pension fund should be doing (and to be fair it does good work on this already) is working with other responsible investors in trying to challenge and change their business practices.

Engagement does have its limits. Last Wednesday evening I went to a social event run by the pension website Mallowstreet. I had a discussion with people present who support engagement but believe that fund managers should be allowed to invest in any publicly quoted company that complies with the law. I disagree. There must be the exception that proves the rule. What do you do with a company or market that engagement has just totally failed? Engagement must have some bite and as a last resort - disinvestment must be a final option. I think of South Africa in the 1980's and the worldwide Tobacco industry now.

The Church of England and Marriage

The Irony. Hat tip Stroppy on FaceBook