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The author is an independent analyst and a contributing editor of the Financial Times

With the third-largest funded pension system in the world, the UK is financial asset-rich. But it is also investment poor. Despite £2.9tn of pension assets, the level of actual money put to work in areas like infrastructure, building and research and development is woeful.

A measure of this — the investment-to-GDP ratio — averaged only 19 per cent in the 40 years to 2019, the lowest in the G7, according to the National Infrastructure Commission.

As chancellor, Rachel Reeves has recognised the problem. But she intends to tackle it not by seeking to mandate pensions to invest more into the UK through legislation. Instead, she’s trying to remove barriers to investment including those that derive from operating subscale funds.

Reeves intends to develop eight pension “megafunds” from the sprawling Local Government Pension Scheme. The umbrella body for 86 individual schemes, LGPS is the largest funded pension scheme in the country and the sixth largest in the world, with assets under management estimated by consultancy Isio of around £400bn. Embarrassingly though, it surrenders many of its economies of scale through the way it is organised.

Assets are managed by the different funds with strategic asset allocations directed by individual boards of elected local government councillors. Furthermore, each administering authority appoints its own lawyers, actuaries, consultants and investment managers. The arrangement pays out around £1.7bn in fees each year, most of it to UK investment managers.

Consolidating assets into megafunds sounds like an obvious step forward. So obvious that it has been tried before. The previous government sought to harness LGPS funds’ collective economies of scale by obliging them to join eight pools — firms that the pension funds themselves would own, and which would act to build scale and purchasing power for their members.

The pooling of the companies was envisaged — among other things — as a way to strike better fee deals and provide centralised external investment manager oversight. But according to a government consultation, less than half of assets have so far been pooled. And the services that these companies offer vary meaningfully in the degree of management provided.

At one end of the spectrum, the London Collective Investment Scheme operates something akin to a curated fund supermarket. London boroughs can switch between 10 different global equity funds, four different diversified growth multi-asset funds and six different bond funds. Its largest infrastructure fund is a mere £545mn in size.

At the other end of the spectrum is the model practised by Local Pensions Partnership Investments for its local authority clients. This involves the total delegation of asset management to LPPI based on the strategic asset allocation choices made by clients, or SAAs. It also manages assets for GLIL Infrastructure, a firm that originates and manages direct infrastructure investments for clients within and beyond the local authority world.

Out of these Byzantine arrangements have come investment returns sufficient to generate a current funding surplus of around £100bn, according to Steve Simkins, a partner at Isio. We await details on how the megafunds would differ from pools — but why the change given this?

Investment performance is overwhelmingly determined by asset allocation choices. And it appears unlikely that councillors will be stripped of their tasks in these choices without legal responsibility for the councils’ share of the liabilities also being removed.

There has been no whisper around any plans to consolidate liabilities. And so the broad shape and dispersion of investment performance returns across LGPS funds looks likely to continue, even if the 86 administering authorities are clients of megafunds rather than managers of funds.

But secondary to strategic asset allocation choices in determining fund performance are fees. Megafunds are very likely to deliver stronger relative returns over the long run because they have the scale to internalise management, which costs much less. This is especially true when it comes to private market assets.

Beyond reducing costs, the real driver of this change is the removal of barriers to greater investment in private market assets. LGPS allocations to infrastructure, private equity and real estate are already substantial at 23 per cent of assets. But this is low compared with the median 42 per cent allocation made by Canada’s so-called Maple-8 defined-benefit public sector pension funds.

Should the new LGPS megafunds increase allocation to private assets? The case is certainly helped by lower fees. According to CEM Benchmarking, allocations to internally managed real estate and private equity handsomely outperformed externally managed allocations after taking into account fees for the period 1992-2020.

From the government’s perspective, greater allocation would be helpful. While infrastructure investment managers mutter about the lack of a pipeline of investable opportunities, there may be some large ones coming. The National Infrastructure Commission estimates that private sector investment needs to increase from around £30bn-£40bn over the past decade to £40bn-£50bn in the 2030s and 2040s. Reducing the barriers to cost-effective investment in this sector should help pension funds, but also help the economy.

THE country’s swankiest jacket potato is being given away completely free of charge this month.

Topped with saffron butter-infused lobster tail and premium caviar, the dish is anything but simple.

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The not-so-humble spud even comes doused in fresh truffle shaving, grated Gruyére cheese and edible gold leaf.

The dish would usually set you back a whopping £50.

Despite its hefty price tag however, the baked potato can be enjoyed completely free of charge this month if you head down to Hull bingo hall.

The limited edition dish is available at Mecca Bingo on Clough Road between midday and 2pm on Wednesday, 20 November.

Ben Newman who goes by the name Spudman, and who has more than 5 million followers on social media, is the culinary wizard behind the spud.

Diners’ fury as posh London restaurant sells scrambled eggs on toast for £58

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Diner were left fuming after discovering a posh London restaurant selling scrambled eggs on toast for £58.

HIDE in Mayfair is a Michelin-star restaurant which has caused a stir recently for its breakfast menu prices.

The customers were appalled to learn that the cost of scrambled eggs on toast might set them back a whopping £58.

The breakfast dish costs £36 a serving but the price rises even further to £58 if adding white truffle.

White truffles are known to be an extravagant food with one of the highest price tags.

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The expensive fungi are difficult to grow and take years to cultivate, making them scarce and valuable.

He told Hull Live: “It’s been amazing to see so many people share in the love of a great jack pot, and now, thanks to Mecca Bingo, it’s a chance for everyone to enjoy a taste of something decadent and jackpot worthy – on the house!”

Hull will be his first stop on a national tour before the chef heads to Stevenage and Blackpool.

Tom Sharpe, manager of culinary innovation at Mecca Bingo added: “As the OG of amazing jackpots, at Mecca Bingo, all our players are always in with the chance of hitting the jackpot, and the ‘Jackpot Jack Pot’, takes that excitement one step further.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Spudman on this luxurious new recipe that combines the ultimate comfort food with the excitement of a jackpot win!’’

This comes as 70 per cent of Brits said they consider potatoes to be one of their favourite foods in winter.

More than half of those polled also said they often seek more “elevated” versions of the baked potato, according to research by Mecca Bingo.

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AN ABANDONED UK airport is set to reopen for its first event in over a decade in a “last hurrah” before its total overhaul.

The closed airport confirmed plans to host its first international airshow in over a decade next summer.

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A two-day event will be held at Manston Airport as a “last hurrah” for the old runway before it is transformed into an international hub.

Thanet Airfield, which closed in 2014, was cleared to reopen after successfully overcoming a legal challenge earlier this year.

RiverOak Strategic Partners, the company that owns the airfield, announced plans to invest £800million into the site.

Bosses added that the injection of funds will help restore the airport as a commercially successful travel hub for passengers.

However, the extensive renovations needed to transform the site are not expected to begin until early 2026, with completion projected by early 2028.

Tony Freudmann, director at RiverOak, said the airshow, the first at the site since 2013, is a great opportunity for people to see the airport for the last time before it is transformed.

He told Kent Online: “The air show will be the last hurrah for the old airport as it is now, that is how we see it anyway.”

The details of the upcoming Manston International Airshow have yet to be revealed, but aviation enthusiasts will be excited to know that the Belgium-based Bronco Demo Team OV-10B will be featured in the lineup.

The skilled group of pilots are renowned for their performances with the North American OV-10 Bronco – a 1960s aircraft designed for counter-insurgency combat.

Mr Freudmann added: “This will be the first big air show at the airport since 2013.

“People should expect lots and lots of activities and aircraft flying in and out.”

In a post shared online, the external organisers of the show added: “We are thrilled to be able to start sharing with you what will be a spectacular event for Kent a show that we have been working on as a team since August.

“Our sincere thanks must be extended to RiverOak Strategic Partners and Visit Thanet for their support in us being able to launch such an incredibly high-profile show in the Garden of England.”

The Manston International Airshow will take place at Thanet Airfield on August 16 and 17.

It comes after a discontinued UK airport that once offered budget flights to Spain and Cyprus has revealed plans to re-open after a two-year closure.

Doncaster Sheffield Airport shut in 2022 after Wizz Air confirmed it would terminate the majority of its flights from the airport.

The airport, also known as the Robin Hood Airport, is located in Finningley near Doncaster and previously served millions of travellers heading to holiday destinations.

It opened to passengers in 2005 and was one of only two commercial international airports in Yorkshire.

The airport’s reopening is expected to delight nearby residents, who will be eager to once again use the popular travel hub.

Mayor Ros Jones stated that she intends to keep “councillors, residents, and businesses updated” as plans progress to reopen Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

She added: “The procurement of an operator is in its final stages of due diligence, we have regular meetings with investors, businesses and airlines.

“We have submitted a Statement of Need to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in relation to re-establishing our airspace, this will soon be publicly available via the CAA website, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of retaining our airspace, our MPs continue to engage with the Aviation Minister in relation to this.”

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“The DNA of entrepreneurs is made up of dozens of interlocking variables,” says HSBC in a Thursday report. If by variables the bank means A, C, G and T, that specific conclusion is unassailable.

What it doesn’t do, however, is fulfill HSBC’s stated goal of shining “a brighter light onto what makes a global entrepreneur so special”.

For that, its Global Private Banking division hired Ipsos UK to interview 1,800 wealthy business owners. These manhours were dedicated to uncovering “key findings” such as “entrepreneurs are very optimistic” even as they “also worry about the state of the world”. 

There is at least one actual surprise, however. The UK, despite all the doom and gloom, is still a “top-three global destination for wealthy business owners” next to Switzerland and the US. 

The UK, HSBC writes, is “as popular a destination as the US, France or Singapore for business owners contemplating a transfer of some or all of their personal wealth”.

In fact, almost 60 per cent of the UK entrepreneurs the bank interviewed are “optimistic” that their personal wealth “will grow in future” — more than anywhere else.

On first glance, this seems to be a rather shocking rebuke to the headlines about chancellor Rachel Reeves’ tax-raising, apparently entrepreneur–enraging Budget.

Alas, Ipsos finished conducting its quantitative fieldwork and its interviews three and five months before the Budget was released.

It’s possible that what really makes UK entrepreneurs special is their ability to complain to the press without actually changing their views. In that case, the UK may still have its spot near the top of the wealth-magnet rankings. Either way, we sympathise with Ipsos and HSBC. Timely reporting is hard.

The Man Behind the Confession: What Happened to Dr. Jerome Oziel, the Menendez Brothers’ Therapist?

In the annals of American crime, few cases have captivated the public as deeply as the Menendez murders. Lyle and Erik Menendez’s brutal killing of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, shocked the nation and turned into one of the most highly publicized criminal trials of the early 1990s. Now, with Netflix’s latest release, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, the chilling details of this family tragedy are once again under scrutiny. Beyond the brothers and their victims, there was another key figure who played a dramatic role in shaping the Menendez narrative: Dr. Jerome Oziel, Erik’s therapist. Oziel’s presence in the case, from the confessions to the courtroom, remains an essential—if controversial—part of this story. Here’s a closer look at Oziel’s relationship with the Menendez brothers, his impact on the case, and what has become of him today.

Jerome Oziel

The Confession: Did Erik Menendez Admit the Murder to Oziel?

Dr. Jerome Oziel’s association with the Menendez brothers began in 1988, when the family turned to him after Lyle and Erik were caught burglarizing homes in Calabasas, California. Jose and Kitty Menendez sought help for their troubled sons, hoping Oziel could address what they viewed as signs of delinquency. For a time, Erik saw Oziel as his therapist, confiding in him. But the relationship took a dark and pivotal turn after the murder of the Menendez parents in August 1989.

On Halloween of that year, Erik, who was clearly struggling with the weight of his actions, reached out to Oziel with an urgent request for a session. According to court records, they met at Oziel’s Bedford Drive office in Beverly Hills. The session extended beyond the confines of the office, spilling into the surrounding streets as they took a walk in a nearby park. There, Erik confessed to the murders, describing the planning, the execution, and the fabricated alibi he and his brother had constructed.

Oziel documented the confession meticulously, detailing how Erik recounted the crime and the reasons behind it. In dictated notes from this session, Oziel later described how Erik had revealed “in detail the planning and execution of the crime, including (the brothers’) fabricated alibi defense.” This confession would become central to the case against the brothers. Not long after, on November 2, both Lyle and Erik met with Oziel to discuss the motive behind the murder of their parents, diving into the psychological and emotional factors that led them to such a horrific act.

One critical decision Oziel made was to record a December 11 session with the brothers, creating an audio record of their discussions. This tape would prove both invaluable and controversial, and it became the subject of a prolonged legal dispute over its admissibility in court. Oziel’s recordings and notes would play a decisive role in the brothers’ prosecution, as well as in the public’s understanding of the gruesome crime.

The Tapes: How Oziel’s Recordings Influenced the Case

The recordings Oziel made of the Menendez brothers’ confessions became a flashpoint in the legal proceedings. In March 1990, a dramatic turn of events took place when Judalon Smyth, a former patient of Oziel and a woman with whom he was having an affair, approached the authorities and disclosed the existence of these tapes. This bombshell revelation led to the tapes being seized by law enforcement, and shortly thereafter, the Menendez brothers were arrested.

The legal battle that followed centered on whether the recordings were admissible in court, with the defense arguing that they were protected under therapist-patient confidentiality. The question reached the California Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled in August 1992 that two out of four tapes were indeed admissible. This decision was instrumental in the trial, providing evidence that supported the prosecution’s case and giving insight into the brothers’ motives and mindset at the time of the killings.

Oziel’s role in the trial was complicated and contentious. During the first trial, he testified as a key witness for the prosecution, describing Erik’s confession in vivid detail. However, Oziel’s credibility was subjected to a grueling cross-examination that focused largely on his personal life, including his affair with Smyth. This affair cast a shadow over his testimony, with the defense attempting to depict him as an unreliable and compromised witness whose own conduct undermined his professional ethics.

By the time of the second trial, Oziel’s direct involvement had waned—he did not testify. However, the tape recordings he had made were still played in court, cementing his influence in the case even in his absence. The recordings, along with the complex web of personal and professional conflicts that surrounded Oziel, left an indelible mark on the Menendez case, turning him into one of its most controversial figures.

Life After the Trial: Oziel’s Fall from Grace and New Beginnings

The fallout from the Menendez trial took a heavy toll on Dr. Oziel’s professional life. In 1997, the California Board of Psychology moved to revoke his license, citing several ethical violations, including breaches of patient confidentiality and allegations of inappropriate relationships with female patients. Oziel denied the accusations, maintaining that the revocation of his license was not related to any wrongdoing. In a statement given in 2017, he claimed, “I did not surrender my license due to the accusation, which implies I gave up my practice because I did things alleged in the original accusation. … No agency ever found I did a thing that was improper or wrong.”

Oziel suggested that his decision to step away from clinical psychology was motivated by a new career opportunity. He relocated to another state and focused on a business venture that he described as “highly lucrative,” eventually leaving behind the world of therapy in which he had once thrived. This shift marked a significant departure from his earlier life in Beverly Hills, where he had been a recognized figure in psychological circles, specializing in phobias and sex-related disorders, and had even taught at the University of Southern California.

Today, Oziel resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he has reinvented himself as a marital mediator, going by the name Jerry Oziel. He now works at the Marital Mediation Center, where he applies his expertise in psychology to help couples resolve conflicts in their marriages without resorting to divorce. The center’s mission focuses on conflict resolution as an alternative to separation, offering couples a chance to repair their relationships through structured dialogue and mediation.

Despite his changed life and new career path, the shadow of the Menendez case continues to follow Oziel. The Netflix documentary on the Menendez brothers, released in October 2024, revisits his role in the case. Although he declined to participate in the documentary, his impact on the story remains undeniable. His involvement as the therapist who first heard Erik Menendez’s confession transformed him into a central—and polarizing—figure in the Menendez saga.

Where Is Dr. Jerome Oziel Now?

Though Dr. Jerome Oziel no longer holds a license to practice psychology, he has continued to leverage his background in human behavior. Now known as Jerry Oziel, he has focused on helping couples navigate marital issues. In Albuquerque, he lives a quieter life, removed from the high-profile cases that defined his earlier career.

Oziel’s academic journey began at Arizona State University, where he received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1972. Following stints in South Carolina and eventually California, he established himself as a psychologist in Beverly Hills, becoming known for his work on phobias and sex-related disorders. His career was on a successful trajectory until the Menendez case thrust him into a maelstrom of media attention, ethical scrutiny, and ultimately, professional ruin.

The Menendez case remains one of the most haunting and complex trials in American criminal history, and Oziel’s role in it has ensured that his name remains intertwined with the story. As new audiences revisit the case, Oziel’s contributions—and controversies—continue to provoke questions about the limits of confidentiality, the ethics of therapy, and the personal toll of high-profile legal battles. In this way, Dr. Jerome Oziel remains a specter in the saga of the Menendez family, his influence etched into the legacy of a case that has gripped the American public for decades.

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