John Ralfe, former head of corporate finance at Boots, the UK listed chemist chain, has challenged a central assumption made by Adair Turner's recent report on UK pension fund provision, sponsored by the UK government.

In a note published for RBC Capital Markets, Ralfe queries Turner's suggestion that equities are a good long-term bet for pension funds. His note says: "Adjusted for risk, there's no equity free lunch and no reason to believe that returns from a funded pension system will be higher than a pay-as-you-go system, even before costs."