Kitty Ussher welcomes National Association of Pension Funds review of the Myners principles

Economic Secretary and City Minister Kitty Ussher today welcomed findings by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) of significant progress in the application of the Myners Principles.

Kitty Ussher said:

"The NAPF review's findings reinforce the relevance of the Myners Principles. But further industry input into and advocacy of the Principles is important if they are to operate effectively on a 'comply or explain' basis, and to continue to adapt in response to changing market conditions.

"The goal remains as it was set by Paul Myners: the Principles should be the accepted code of best practice in governance and investment decision-making, improving performance through trustees transparently assessing their capacity and practice against them. We want to use this support from the NAPF to increase ownership by the pensions community and reinforce the 'comply-or-explain' nature of the Principles."

The Government will use the review's findings to inform its decisions on any amendments to the Principles necessary to improve pension scheme governance and the efficiency of investment decision-making. A consultation on proposed improvements to the Principles will take place next year.

Notes for editors

1. NAPF today publish their review 'Institutional Investment in the UK: six years on' which sets out the findings and recommendations resulting from their review of the implementation of the Myners' Principles. The Myners Principles are a voluntary set of 'comply or explain' principles designed to improve the governance and institutional investment decision making of pension funds, stemming from a review conducted by Paul Myners of the efficiency of institutional investment decision-making.

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