June 2018

México. Cuestionan afores manejo de FIBRA Shop, Cayón y Marcos en la mira y cae valor en BMV a nivel de deuda

NO SON DEL todo desconocidas las dificultades internas que se dan al interior de la FIBRA Shop, debido a la inconformidad que han externado algunas afores que adquirieron en su momento sus certificados por irregularidades en el manejo de la compañía y el gobierno corporativo. En unas cuantas semanas la Afore SURA que comanda Enrique Solórzano y el fondo sueco Dunross & Co Holding que preside Jörgen Persson han enviado un par de cartas al comité técnico de esa firma...

US. Alliance Benefit Group partners with global asset manager on retirement accounts

National independent record-keeping firm Alliance Benefit Group has announced a partnership with global asset manager Russell Investments’ Adaptive Retirement Accounts program in an effort to aid plan sponsors and advisers achieve an appropriate level of retirement income. As part of the joint venture, Alliance plans to offer the managed accounts program to its clients as well as partner with Russell Investments’ defined contribution and intermediary sales teams to jointly promote the retirement program to the adviser community. In return, Russell...

Global policy trends that should interest Indian infrastructure sector (Column: Behind Infra Lines)

In a world where trade wars dominate news headlines, trade in goods is interesting, but trade in capital is no less exciting. The Indian infrastructure ecosystem should take note of some policy and regulatory changes globally over the last few months. These can potentially aid the country to significantly bridge the infrastructure financing gap. As the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) in Japan, the largest pension fund in the world, goes through a structural asset allocation shift, there are opportunities...

World Bank supports Ghana to reform pensions system

Over 25 technical staff from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations are participating in a four-day workshop organized by the World Bank from June 11th – 14th 2018 on Ghana’s Pensions System and training using the World Bank’s pension model PROST. “Pensions are crucial in supporting thousands of Ghanaians after retirement. At the same time, sound management of pensions, including a...

Kenya launched its first universal social pension

Starting this week, more than half a million older women and men in Kenya are receiving their first ever pensions. Under the new Government-funded Inua Jamii 70 and Above universal social pension, launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday 2 June, all Kenyans over 70 will receive 2,000 shillings (just under US$20) per month. This scheme is an important step towards ensuring all Kenyans, regardless of circumstance, have access to a reliable income in older age. It is also now the...

China. Premier Li stresses efforts to ensure basic pension payments

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has stressed efforts to implement a central management system to ensure basic pension fund payments. A central system for basic pension funds of enterprise employees will be established to strengthen sustainability of the basic pension scheme and balance the pension payment burden in different regions, according to instructions made by Li. The instructions were conveyed Monday at a conference on the implementation of the system. Read More: XinhuaNet

UK. Most top workplace pension providers risk supporting chemical warfare

That is according to a new report from investment watchdog ShareAction, which reveals that millions of pension savers could be inadvertently supporting conflicts across the world. For their default funds, Aviva, The People’s Pension, Royal London, Scottish Widows, Aegon, and Standard Life all fail to screen out firms producing toxic components of harmful weapons. The research also shows that Aegon has no exclusion policy for controversial weapons in any of its funds, allowing investments in anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs. Read More: The...

Canada pension fund preps for green bond issue

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) intends to issue its inaugural green bond and thus become the first pension fund to do so, it announced on Monday. The company did not disclose the size of the offering but pointed out it had announced plans over the past year to spend over CAD 3 billion (USD 2.3bn/EUR 1.95bn) on renewable energy assets. The proceeds from the issue will go towards investments in wind and solar projects, sustainable water and wastewater management...

República Dominicana. Agilizarán devolución de aportes de AFP

“El procedimiento establecía el tiempo de seis meses, y ningún médico del país hacía un pronóstico de tiempo, esto provocaba que las solicitudes de los afiliados en las Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) no avanzaran. De ahora en adelante este pronóstico de tiempo no está incluido”, explicó. Pérez Modesto informó que también se eliminó el acápite 400-04 de la resolución del 04 de agosto del 2016 que establecía que el afiliado debía presentar en las AFP un expediente clínico...

Bolivia. Solo el 8,8% de los aportantes a las AFP son independientes

Según datos de la APS, a diciembre de 2017, la distribución departamental de los asegurados, tanto dependientes como independientes en las dos administradoras de pensiones, es la siguiente. La Paz “De mis ventas aporto cada mes, sin fallar. Sé que no recibiré mucho, pero prefiero eso a extender la mano”, dice Estela Rhu. La artesana, quien aporta desde 2013 voluntariamente, es parte del 8,88% de los asegurados independientes a diciembre de 2017. Datos de la Autoridad de Fiscalización y Control de Pensiones...