All pension schemes should appoint a pensions manager to oversee their investment responsibilities, a leading chief investment officer (CIO) has suggested.

Speaking at the Pensions Management Institute’s Trustee Workbench yesterday, 6 June, Centrica CIO, Chetan Gosh, said that the pensions manager would “justify their salary forever”.

The regulator is set to consult on what it can do to improve the quality of trustees, including making it mandatory to appoint a professional trustee to every scheme, however Gosh believes a pensions manager should also be mandatory.

“I would like to see every pension scheme in the land, if they can afford to pay a pensions manager, pay somebody to come in and do a dedicated investment job. That person would walk in, and overnight, look at the fees being paid and cut them and justify their salary forever,” he said.

“I remember making this statement to one of our trustees and they just didn’t want to know, because they were worried about what their sponsors might think. You are not getting rid of the consultant; you are having somebody that can actually keep the consultant honest.”

The panel discussion, which also included Royal Mail CIO, Ian McKnight, also discussed that role of consultants and how it is important to keep challenging your investment advisers.

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