October 2020

19Oct

Canada. CPPIB urged to plan now for net-zero reality

Despite Canada's economic reliance on its oil and gas industry, finance experts and sustainability advocates are urging large public investors like the C$434.4 billion ($326.3 billion) Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to implement long-term investment strategies that better align with the federal government's pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Multiple sources agree that Toronto-based CPPIB, Canada's largest pension fund, should support the country's transition to a low-carbon economy, enhance its disclosure of fossil-fuel investments and set a...

October 19, 2020
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19Oct

Japanese pension funds may hold key to Chinese JGB puzzle

China has ramped up purchases of low-yielding Japanese government bonds China stormed back into Japanese government bonds over the summer with ¥2.2tn ($21bn) in purchases between June and August — the biggest three-month spree since Japan’s Ministry of Finance began compiling data in 2005. The country has made several similar incursions to the JGB market since 2016 — the previous record high for purchases — snapping up Japan’s notoriously low-yielding debt on a grand scale and causing head-scratching over what...

October 19, 2020
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16Oct

South Africa. Billions unclaimed from pension funds

Takalani Lukhaimane of the Financial Services board says over R50-billion worth of pension funds have not been claimed by the rightful beneficiaries. Read also Will emigrating South Africans be allowed to withdraw their retirement savings? The Financial Sector Conduct Authority is urging South Africans to go online through the FCSA database to check if they qualify. Read also South Africa. Deflation puts brakes on retired SA public servants’ pensions "We have various ways in which people can make an enquiry, one...

October 16, 2020
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16Oct

UK. What the amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill could mean in the battle against fraud

During the maelstrom of seven months of Covid-19, we’ve grown used to hearing about a select number of reoccurring concerns, one of which is the menace of pensions fraud. Although pensions fraud is not a new phenomenon, there has been growing concern that the environment of uncertainty created by the global pandemic is enabling ruthless scammers even more freedom to wreak their misery. Barely a week has gone by without there being a round of headlines relating to the...

October 16, 2020
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16Oct

India. Regulator Plans To Hike Fee Charged By NPS Fund Managers

Fund managers of the National Pension Scheme will soon be able to charge a higher fund management fee. Read also Canada. Commission on Aging to hear about COVID-19 impact on elderly at Oct. 21 meeting A committee, comprising members of the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority as well as representatives of the mutual fund industry, is finalising a proposal for a new fee structure for the fund managers of the NPS, Supratim Bandyopadhyay, chairman at the regulator, said at...

October 16, 2020
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16Oct

The Importance of Extending Diversity to the Retirement Plan Committee

This year, in particular, with the protests that sprung up across the country following the death of George Floyd, has shown many companies the importance of having a truly diverse workforce. And that principle should extend to the retirement plan committee as well as the workforce, experts say. While having a diverse committee is ideal, the first thing plan sponsors should do is select experts to sit on the committee, says Timothy Irvin, a director and corporate markets practice...

October 16, 2020
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16Oct

Retirement tontines: Using a classical finance mechanism as an alternative source of retirement income

Households face two related but distinct financial challenges as they prepare for retirement: first accumulating enough retirement savings during their working years, and then spending down their assets wisely after retiring. A substantial literature reaching a wide range of conclusions examines the extent to which households are saving adequately for retirement. But there is more consensus about the challenges households face when deciding how best to spend down their savings. People do not know how long they or their...

October 16, 2020
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15Oct

The DC Future Book: In association with Columbia Threadneedle Investments

By Lauren Wilkinson, Daniela Silcock and John Adams Compared to previous generations of pensioners, current and future retirees will: • Live longer on average, • Receive their State Pension later, • Be more likely to be dependent on Defined Contribution (DC) savings, • Have no, or low, levels of Defined Benefit (DB) entitlement, and • Flexibly access their DC savings. These changes increase the risks borne by pension scheme members and the complexity of decisions people must make at and...

October 15, 2020
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15Oct

2020 Global Retirement Index An in-depth assessment of welfare in retirement around the world

By NATIXIS With the world facing immediate issues resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and the economic consequences from the response of governments around the world, wildfires and other natural catastrophes triggered by changing weather and climate patterns, and heightened concerns about social justice and income inequality, the long-term goal of retirement security may not appear to be a top global concern in 2020. In reality, though, the crises we are experiencing today will have long-range implications for global retirement...

October 15, 2020
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15Oct

The Unequal Burden of Retirement Reform: Evidence from Australia

By Todd Morris As governments try to contain rising expenditure on retirement pensions by increasing eligibility ages, there are concerns that such reforms disproportionately affect poorer households. Using detailed longitudinal data, I examine this trade-off in the context of an Australian reform that increased women’s pension-eligibility age from 60 to 65. While this reform led to significant reductions in net government expenditure, the negative effects on household incomes were concentrated among poorer households. These unequal impacts meant that,...

October 15, 2020
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