January 2022

US. DC Pension Faces Whistleblower Suit Alleging Investment Fee Misreporting, ‘Toxic Culture’

A whistleblower has filed a lawsuit against the District of Columbia Retirement Board alleging that it retaliated against her for saying that the fund wrongly reported investment management fees and was not monitoring private investment agreements. The lawsuit was filed by Erie Sampson, the fund’s general counsel and ethics counselor, in Washington, D.C. on December 30. The lawsuit describes a “toxic culture of fear and retaliation” at DCRB and alleged the pension fund had audit and compliance issues, which could be...

España. Aprobada la subida del 2,5 % de las pensiones con un coste de 6.500 millones

El Gobierno ha aprobado la subida del 2,5 % de las pensiones para este año, así como la paga que compensa la revalorización aplicada en 2021 por debajo de la inflación, medidas con un coste de 6.500 millones de euros. El Consejo de Ministros ha aprobado este martes un real decreto con el que revaloriza un 2,5 % las pensiones para 2022 en términos generales y un 3 % las mínimas y no contributivas así como el ingreso mínimo vital...

México. La Consar detecta mails fraudulentos por venta de Banamex

La Comisión Nacional del Sistema del Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar) instó a los derechohabientes de una cuenta afore, pero en particular de Afore Citibanamex, a no caer en correos electrónicos fraudulentos. “Como parte del proceso de venta de la banca empresarial y de consumo de Citibanamex, necesitamos verificar tus datos. Recuerda que si en 24 horas tus datos no son actualizados, tu cuenta será cancelada”, se lee en el correo electrónico falso que está llegando a algunos clientes de...

Jubilaciones y pensiones, las dos caras de Panamá

Es increíble y positivo (desde el punto de vista del sector turístico) que Panamá sea nombrado en 2022 nuevamente como el primer puesto en el índice de mejor lugar del mundo para jubilarse. Las leyes de Panamá han facilitado que los baby boomers (mayormente los de nacionalidad extranjera) aprovechen todo lo que ofrece el país. La legislación se desarrolló para dar acceso a estos jubilados y pensionados a una amplia variedad de descuentos y para facilitar su repatriación en...

Aviva Investors CEO warns directors over sustainability targets

The chief executive of Aviva Investors has warned it will take action against company directors if they do not meet its expectations on sustainability improvements. In a letter sent to 1,500 companies in which Aviva Investors is invested, Mark Versey said the fund house will focus on their performances against four themes: biodiversity, human rights, climate and executive pay. He said the company would hold both boards and individual directors accountable at companies "where the pace of change on climate, biodiversity...

Fostering Inclusion in Mexico

Mexico has long suffered from high poverty and social exclusion. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has likely exacerbated these problems, an increase in social program spending helped lessen the negative impact on employment, retail sales, and poverty. Our recent staff paper argues that higher and more efficient spending on social programs, education, and health would reduce socioeconomic gaps, mitigate economic scarring from the pandemic, and foster an inclusive recovery. Longstanding social vulnerabilities According to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social...

UK. Pension transfer activity hits lowest level since 2018

An annualised rate of 50 members out of every 10,000 transferred their pensions in December according to the XPS Pensions Group's transfer activity index — the lowest rate since XPS started tracking this activity four years ago. Head of member options Mark Barlow said a "slump" in transfer activity was common over the festive period. "But this is the lowest rate of transfers we have seen since we started the index in 2018," he said. "Although it's unlikely to be affecting...

Solving China’s population puzzle

China Daily's Chen Meiling interviewed Yuan Xin, a professor of demography at the Population and Development Research Institute, School of Economics of Nankai University in Tianjin, on the significance of the latest population data. Following are the extracts from the interview: Q: The Chinese mainland's population reached about 1.41 billion at the end of 2021, an increase of 480,000 over 2020, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in mid-January. What is your view on the...

OECD and Fintech Robos to launch ‘Pensions at a Glance 2021’ in MENA Region

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will launch its bi-annual international pension report “Pensions at a Glance 2021” in the MENA region for the first time, from Bahrain. The global organisation is considered to be the world’s most prominent think-tank and research center on pensions. They produce two bi-annual global reports on pensions: the OECD Pensions Outlook, and Pensions at a Glance. At the invitation of Bahrain-based Fintech Robos, providers of savings and pension technology, organizers of the Arab...

Colombia. Fondos de pensiones vendieron el 55 % de Sura y Nutresa en diciembre

Los registros de los fondos de pensiones de las cuatro Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) colombianas mostraron que estas entidades, sobre las cuales hay un gran interés de cómo actuaron durante las dos primeras ofertas públicas de adquisición (opa) del Grupo Gilinski, sobre Nutresa y Grupo Sura, se deshicieron en promedio del 55% de su portafolio en esos títulos durante diciembre, una cifra que llegó a los $6,6 billones. Bien sea porque las vendieron en las sesiones de la...