July 2017

US. Kroger to contribute $1 billion to bolster underfunded pension plan

Kroger Co. KR, -0.59% disclosed in a filing Monday that it will contribute up to $1 billion to pension plan, which it believes the "significantly" address the underfunded position of the plan. The supermarket chain said it plans to fund the contribution by issuing debt. The said certain participants' benefit balances will be distributed out of the plan, by way of a transfer to other qualified retirement plan options or a lump-sum payout. The company expects a one-time expense...

Ireland. Investors using their pension pots to back property investment

INVESTMENT levels in Northern Ireland's commercial property sector appear to be on the increase again after a slow start to the year, as the funding options for those seeking to invest also expand. After falling by more than a half to £213 million across 2016, the latest market forecasts suggest that figure could be surpassed in the third quarter of this year alone, with over £200m worth of deals that are currently being negotiated expected to complete over the summer...

US. Microsoft raises 401k contribution matching to help retain employees

Advisors say that to retire, employees should save up to 15% of their salaries each year. With a program like the 401k setup, workers are encouraged to put pre-tax money into the savings with an optional contribution from their employers for a long term solution. However, some have been unhappy with the results. The 401k plan that many employers offer to its workers has been undergoing a shift in the last year. During 2016, many companies have been adjusting how...

Chart of the Week: A Golden Aging for Vietnam?

Vietnam’s demographic dividend is fast turning into a handicap. For decades, working-age Vietnamese made up an expanding share of the population, boosting economic growth and helping to keep retirement and health spending in check. That changed in 2013. While the southeast Asian nation’s population of 92 million is still relatively young (the median age is 26), it is graying quickly. Birth rates are falling, and life expectancy is rising. This phenomenon is by no means unique to Vietnam. The problem is...

Perú. Deuda del Estado con las AFP asciende a S/ 14,529 millones

La Asociación de AFP ha calculado que la deuda verificada –aquella que cuenta con toda la documentación probatoria– del Gobierno Central, Regional y Local con las AFP asciende a S/ 14,529 millones, lo que equivalente al 10.6% del fondo actual administrado por las cuatro AFP. A inicios de este año, la presidenta de la Asociación de AFP, Giovanna Prialé, estimó que los perjudicados ascenderían a 99 mil trabajadores cuyos aportes no han sido depositados en su Cuenta Individual de Capitalización...

República Dominicana. Revela AFPs han beneficiado a más de 110 mil afiliados

La presidenta de la Asociación Dominicana de Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones, Kirsis Jáquez, reveló que el Sistema Dominicano de Pensiones, a través de las AFP ha beneficiado de manera directa a más de 110 mil afiliados pensionados por discapacidad, sobrevivencia y por concepto de ingreso tardío a ese esquema de la Seguridad Social. Destacó además, que al 30 de marzo de 2017, más de 90 mil personas se han beneficiado del total de fondos acumulados en su cuenta, montos...

Frank Field accuses the UK pensions regulator of having its priorities the wrong way round

The UK's pensions watchdog must put workers’ interests ahead of those of shareholders, the chair of the work and pensions select committee urged today. Frank Field, who has been re-elected as the chair of the influential work and pensions select committee, hit out of the Pensions Regulator (TPR). He told City A.M. a failure to disclose names of the firms it was monitoring was “a marvellous way of covering inaction”. On Thursday the government revealed plans to provide the TPR with...

US. Millennials don’t save for enough retirement — but Congress can help

“Young people are not saving enough.” “They will have to double their savings to retire at a reasonable age.” These quotes represent the conventional wisdom about our nation’s millennials, the more than 80 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 36. However, the savings picture for millennials has become more complex, according to recent data. This cohort of young people is saving more, though for short-term goals instead of retirement. To promote retirement savings, Congress should pass the Automatic Individual Retirement...

Jamaica. Prime Minister stresses urgency of pension reform

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has said that urgency must be placed on settling the issue of public sector pension reform. Acknowledging concerns expressed by trade unions relating to the five per cent increase in contributions by workers, Holness noted that failure to reform pensions will result in a “major crisis on our hands. “I cannot overemphasise that point. In 1990 the pension bill of the Government was 0.4 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Today it has more than...

Liquidity and Solvency in Pay-as-You-Go Defined Contribution Pension Schemes: A Continuous OLG Sustainability Framework

By Jennifer Alonso-García (University of New South Wales) & Pierre Devolder (Catholic University of Louvain) Notional Defined Contribution pension schemes are defined contribution plans which are pay-as-you-go financed. From a design viewpoint, the countries where NDCs have been implemented cannot guarantee sustainability due to the choice of notional return paid to the contributions and the indexation rate paid to pensions. We study how the scheme should be designed to achieve liquidity and solvency with a limited set of assumptions in...