Fears over gambling industry investment

LAST month the Government finally agreed to cut the maximum permitted stake on controversial fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) from £100 to £2.

These machines have been called the ‘crack cocaine’ of gambling, with 14% of people who use FOBTs classed as problem gamblers, according to the Gambling Commission.

The Government have now resisted pressures from the gambling and gaming industry.

But there are concerns that the industry will move into more online gambling, use apps on smartphones, or target de-regulated markets in the USA, and the world.

This mirrors the tobacco trade, who now market other rising economies.

Large pension funds invest in gambling and gaming companies, sadly including the fund for local government employees here the Cheshire Pension Fund

At the Cheshire West And Chester Council meeting in December, some of the investments held by the Cheshire Pension Fund were queried, both in terms of climate change, and those companies that avoid tax by moving their tax base overseas.

The written answer in council minutes was that investments are decided by a committee of trustees, who have a duty to make ‘sufficient returns’ on investments, and went on to support investing that has produced ‘profits’ for the fund.

Are these really appropriate profits for any pension fund, especially the one for local government employees in Cheshire, Halton, and Warrington ? We don’t think so. We think our trustees must take more social and moral responsibility, and start to invest in more useful areas.

But we do not have an AGM to make our views known.

We have recently established an independent CPF members forum, and we encourage fund pensioners who share our views to email us on cpfmembersforum@gmail.com