Pensions - Articles - Alex Waite comments on pension fund hijacking

 Pension experts were appalled last night when it was disclosed that a company pension fund had been effectively hijacked by its trustees, who sold its conventional assets, geared up the proceeds with bank debt and bet almost the whole lot on speculative property developments.

 Pension experts expressed amazement that funds were still vulnerable to such abuses, since stringent regulation had been introduced since the Robert Maxwell scandal two decades ago. Alex Waite, a partner with Lane Clark & Peacock, said, "I'm staggered that, despite 20 years of legislation, such affairs are still going on."