Yahoo Finance Revealed: teachers unions make £120m bet on hedge funds
The teaching union threatening strikes until Christmas has been criticised for investing almost £120m of its pension fund in aggressive hedge funds.
The National Education Union (NEU) pumped three-quarters of its assets into risky “diversified growth” investments – what City sources say is a byword for hedge funds and private equity assets.
After inquiries from this newspaper, the NEU said its pension trustees had conducted a review and will sell off riskier investments.
Some £119m is invested in the category, according to the latest accounts. And the 76pc weighting of the overall portfolio caused alarm among pension experts.
John Ralfe, an independent pensions consultant said: “More than three-quarters of its assets are in ‘diversified growth funds’, which is as clear as mud. As a matter of openness and transparency the NEU should disclose exactly what is hidden in this catch-all category.
“It will certainly include hedge funds, and other investments which NEU members may not be happy with.”
Last night, a spokesman for the NEU, said: “The NEU Pension Scheme fully complies with reporting requirements regarding its investments, both to the Pensions Regulator and to its members.
“The NEU Pension Scheme’s investments include a number of pooled investment funds, which are all commonly used by pension schemes in the UK. The term DGF simply means the assets are diversified across a range of different asset classes that are expected to give good long-term returns.
“The NEU Pension Trustees have recently undertaken a review of the investment strategy in which the Trustees have agreed to reduce the overall exposure to diversified growth funds and replace this with assets that have more of a focus on ESG [environment, social and governance] risk mitigation.”
The revelations come as the NEU threatens strike action until the end of the year after rejecting a £1,000 one-off bonus this year and a 4.3pc rise in 2024. Most state school teachers in England received a 5pc rise in 2022.
Dr Mary Bousted, joint NEU general secretary, whose annual remuneration is £152,398, according to the accounts, said the proposed pay deal was an “insulting” offer.
The other joint general secretary, Kevin Courtney, paid £140,960, said: “We are not ruling anything out.”
Dr Bousted and Mr Courtney will hand over to hard-left candidate Daniel Kebede in September. Mr Kebede will become general secretary of 500,000-strong after prevailing in a leadership election just 9pc of members voted.
Mr Kebede is known not only for his left-wing approach towards the economy but his public stated ambition of “taking back control from a brutally racist state”.
At the Socialist Workers Party's Marxism conference last July he said: “It's much more [than] about the issue of pay. It's about reorganising society.”
Hedge funds, meanwhile, are regarded as being at the forefront of the capitalist agenda. Their managers often take short-term positions by placing bets that financial markets have not “priced in” the chances of a current or future event.
NEU members in England will strike on April 27 and May 2 after rejecting a £1,000 one-off increase this year and a 4.3pc rise next year. Most state school teachers in England received a 5pc rise in 2022.
Many retirement funds invest in hedge funds or private equity funds to supplement returns from pension assets and limit the amount of additional money required to be injected by the company or union if the scheme is in deficit.
They would, however, typically keep the proportion considerably lower, with the investments instead focusing on lower risk assets such as bonds or listed equities to ensure that retirement payments to members can be met.
The NEU’s most recent financial filings are for the year ending August 2021. Those for the year to August 2022 are scheduled to be published in the coming months.
The accounts show that the NEU’s pension scheme is grappling with a £61m shortfall – which grew by £3m over the year.
