Interim points on investment will boost sector
Mark Cooper
The British Property Federation has welcomed the interim Myners report on institutional investment, but is hoping for more specific recommendations in the full report.
BPF director-general Will McKee said Gartmore chairman Paul Myners’ report was a step towards making property investment a bigger part of pension funds’ investment plans.
The present Minimum Funding Requirement, designed to safeguard investors, should be scrapped, said Myners.
He said: “The MFR distorts investment decision-making by its use of a set of reference assets to calculate discount rates for liabilities, namely UK quoted equities and gilts.”
The property industry has said the MFR is a disincentive to invest in property.
McKee said: “The MFR does not include property, but the alternatives suggested by Myners should do, and we hope the government will ensure that property is part of any legislation it makes in response.”
Myners did not directly mention property in his interim report, nor respond to the submission by the IPF and BPF that the current level of stamp duty distorts investment decisions and penalises property.
McKee said he hoped there would be more on property in the full report next year.
