Former chairman of the Local Government Association, Sir Merrick Cockell, has raised doubts about the move to passive investment of Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) funds.

Speaking today at the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth, Sir Merrick, who is deputy chairman of the London Pension Fund Authority, told delegates he hoped city experts would respond strongly to the current government consultation, which is seeking Collective Investment Vehicles and passive fund management.

But in a frank admission, he said ‘most' pension fund managers he knew ‘think it is mad' and would only serve to ‘dragging down on performance if we are attached to passive'.

‘Personally I think we should be actively investing,' Sir Merrick said.

He said the government was looking to strong and robust alternatives to driving infrastructure investment leveraging the £180bn asset base of the LGPS. 

‘But there is a conflict between what we are saying and what government is consulting about,' Sir Merrick said.