It would be useful to take a step back and look at how the fund value and it's liabilities are calculated. It is my understanding, based on my personal experience, that the fund value is calculated at a certain date. Any fund of this size is invested widely so that all the eggs are not in the same basket. The "value" is purely the cumulative value of all those investments, some up on that date and some down. The figure is only really significant if ALL OF THOSE VARIOUS INVESTMENTS, GOOD OR BAD, ARE REALISED ON THAT DAY. In reality the investment managers would never operate like this, they would capitalize on the winners, sell off some losers that showed little chance of improving and keep the remainder until they do show a profit. This is what the managers do constantly as they seek to maximize the value of the fund within certain control parameters. The liabilities are calculated by the actuaries looking at the ages and salaries of all employees who are part of the pension scheme. These are extrapolated out to retirement age but the actuaries can only assume that everybody in the scheme will work until they reach retirement age and draw their pension based on their current salary upgraded by a cost of living figure. Reality is that many people retire early, many contributors move jobs or leave the island and some die in service. The result being that the figures NEVER come true to the actuarial predictions, neither the fund values nor the liabilities. So stop worrying and leave the matter in the capable hands of the fund managers.
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
