Oxford’s And Cambridge’s Function In The Demise Of USS

They want out on grounds that last man standing exposes them to too much danger arising from "weaker" universities. In their submission to the September consultation, Oxford writes that "the degree of danger being proposed will not be appropriate for all institutions and permitting weaker institutions to rely on the strength of other employers in a manner which makes their pension advantages appear affordable must be addressed". They conclude that a "DC-only structure…would assist cut back the University’s concern concerning underwriting the risk of future profit accrual for different institutions".

The answer to this seems to primarily be how journalists, significantly Carole Cadwalladr at the Observer, have framed the story. The majority of protection has pushed two angles. First, that a whistleblower from Cambridge Analytica revealed ‘a main breach’ of Facebook’s knowledge, an issue covered above, and second, that this ‘breach’ was linked to the success of Trump’s presidential marketing campaign.

If it turns out that this 42% determine was inflated by the inclusion of plenty of Oxford and Cambridge colleges, view USS’s resolution in November to speed up the ‘de-risking’ of the portfolio was primarily based on a deceptive UUK prospectus regarding the extent of opposition among employers to investment risk. It should be a particular concern for USS members beyond Oxford and Cambridge if these two institutions exercised such disproportionate affect.

This second angle is as dubious as the primary and depends closely on bombastic claims made by Chris Wylie-the pink haired ex-Cambridge Analytica employee pictured above. Carole Cadwalladr, who spent years on the story, has explained in numerous interviews that she approached the story not as an investigative journalist but as a features author. This meant that she focused on delving into ‘the human facet of the story’, or put one other means- Chris Wylie. There are pros and cons to such an approach however the biggest downside is how invested and reliant it made her and subsequent protection in accepting Wylie’s narrative, which just so happens to paint him as a younger mastermind at the middle of global political conspiracies.