Alarmed Shell Pensioner

FROM “SHELL PENSIONER”

12 December 2008

Dear Mussaint and Nowrooz, your postings warrant a short reply. Have no fear, I am not suffering and have my private finances taken care off and zero worries there. Mussaint, I believe that they dropped to 85% (under 105% all alarm bells start and they need to go hat in hand to the authorities and do things) because they overinvested in stocks. And this brings me to the point I tried to make: Shell was endeared some years ago to the MBA jargon of consultants and other idiot gurus and introduced a.o. ‘Olympic Targets’. You remember them: ‘citius, altius, fortius’ (faster, higher, stronger). Couple this to the preferred attitude as fostered by Brinded et all of ‘Promise is better than Performance’ and you have a recipe for disaster.

And all the old codgers are still around and looking innocent. They simply do not feel shame. And yes, I have sent a letter or an email two years ago to the pensionfund asking them why not hive off the surplus and invest that in super safe and dull bonds. The pompous reply was that I need not worry, should look at their track record, they employed the best professionals in the world, were way within the legal limits and basically told me politely to piss off and mind my own business, all was well and I should look at the long term. Unfortunately I don’t have a copy anymore.

And Nowrooz, I hope I sufficiently explained why I posted this chat? I am not moaning about my own pension, I indeed have more than enough. But if you still take exception: I noticed many postings from you on this chatbox. My question to you: there are a few billion people who are hungry every day and yet you are wasting your time on posting chats on Donovan’s site! Why don’t you spend your time better and relieve some of that suffering?

And Mr. Donovan, you seem to have a direct line to Wiseman. Perhaps you could ask him to confirm or otherwise the rumour I have picked up a few weeks ago that Shell in this credit crisis has borrowed money from the Pensionfund or made the Pensionfund invest in some projects. If that is correct, I would like to see the opinion of Mr Wiseman on the ethics of this. No doubt it is within the law, but is it ethical?

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