ABSTRACT
Until recently, the question whether pension funds have been invested in ways that have benefited the national economic need has generally not arisen. However, this topic has been placed on the pensions agenda by those on the political left, by the trades unions and indeed the question was investigated by the Wilson Committee. The Trades Union Congress, for example, believes that the present investment policies of pension funds are
reinforcing the long-term decline in UK industry and starving new growth sectors of investment capital. By increasingly investing overseas they are ensuring that their pessimistic assessment of the future of the UK economy is self-fulfilling . . . The TUC believes that this approach is not in the best long-term interests of pension scheme members, pensioners and the economy as a whole.
(Trades Union Congress, 1983, p. 4)