On the go: Lord Paul Myners, a city grandee who investigated institutional investment for the Labour government in 2001, has died.
Former Labour minister Myners was best known for his role in tackling the 2008 financial crisis, when he advised then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the bailout of the banking system.
He also left an impact on the pensions world, authoring a report in 2001 on institutional investment in the UK.
The study considered whether institutional money was being efficiently allocated in the interest of savers.
It found that pension fund trustees were ill-equipped to take investment decisions and were overly reliant on a narrow band of investment consultancies.
Myners also argued fund managers were set targets that encouraged them to merely copy other funds, and that a vagueness about timescales fostered a short-term mentality among managers.
Fund managers were also found to be reluctant to intervene in companies where they owned significant shareholdings, while broking commission was not being adequately scrutinised.
Myners’ proposals to remedy the problems he judged to be affecting the sector included principles surrounding the setting of investment objectives, performance measurement and a broader consideration of different asset classes, such as private equity.
He maintained his criticism of active management, arguing in 2010 that pension schemes should put the bulk of the £4bn they spend on active management fees towards better corporate governance. He claimed that active fees do not add value.
Brown described Myners as a “tower of strength”, following news of his death on 16 January, which first appeared in The Guardian.
He is survived by his five children and five grandchildren.
