The shape and size of the LGPS in England, Wales and Scotland is quite unique in that there are 89 funds in England and Wales and 11 in Scotland. All to serve two sets of national benefits. If you look across the channel to the Netherlands there is one fund for local government, the civil service, teachers, the military and the judiciary.
In Sweden has 6 funds for municipal workers and yet they have just come to the conclusion that is 5 too many.
A new report to the Ministry of Finance on the efficiency of the Swedish AP funds suggests merging the four largest funds into a giant SEK745bn (US$105bn) pot and eliminating AP6, the smallest scheme.
http://www.globalpensions.com/global-pensions/news/1565271/think-tank-proposes-merging-swedish-ap-funds
The report by ESO - an independent group appointed by the government, but not part of the government - said combining the schemes will achieve economies of scale and reduce costs by 4.7 basis points, or SEK300m
annually.
There is of course only 1 fund in Northern Ireland for the LGPS and it is governed by 5 trade union reps and 5 employer reps.
If we are to save our pension benefits in the coming period we need to start thinking about this issue, are we paying too much in fund management charges? How much could we save if there were a smaller number of schemes?
