October 2018

UK. Many workers mistrust pensions industry, survey finds

Many people still mistrust the pensions industry, according to a report which found a strong appetite among workers for their money to be saved with ethics in mind. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of people think it is important their pension scheme considers the environment, society and corporate behaviour when investing their money, a survey of members of workplace pension scheme Nest found. But general levels of trust in pensions are low and seem unchanging, according to its report. Nest also carried out a...

Kenya. Pension burden as State to spend Sh104bn on retirees in two years

Kenya will spend Sh104 billion in the next two years to pay retired civil servants, raising the red flag on the government’s ability to support its retiring workers. The dilemma, however, remains how much State workers should set aside for their sunset days in an environment of increasing cost of living thanks to the tax burden. And the increasing number of pensioners and government’s struggles to support them in their old age is a major cause for concern, according to Enwealth...

UK. Legal & General strikes 2.4 billion pounds pension de-risking deal

Legal & General (LGEN.L) said on Monday it had agreed a deal to insure 2.4 billion pounds in pension risk with the Nortel Networks UK Pension Plan, adding its deal pipeline was at a record high. L&G is at the forefront of demand from some insurers to take on pension-related risk from companies, so-called ‘bulk annuities’, and said at the half-year stage that it expected sales to drive earnings into the end of the year. The deal with Nortel allows the...

Regulador mexicano aprobó a Sura adquisición de seguros de vida

Desde noviembre de 2017 se inició un proceso de compraventa entre Suramericana S.A y Sura Asset Management S.A, por lo que en septiembre la Comisión Federal de Competencia Económica de México autorizó la adquisición de la totalidad de las acciones de la aseguradora mexicana Seguros de Vida Sura México S.A. Un mes después, el Grupo Sura recibió este lunes la última aprobación que requerían por parte de las entidades reguladoras mexicanas para que la operación en México de Suramericana (Seguros...

Ninguna Afore en México alcanza el ‘oro’ en rendimiento: analistas

Pese a que las sociedades de inversión especializadas en fondos para el retiro (Siefores) desempeñan un papel cada vez más importante en el éxito de la jubilación de los ahorradores mexicanos, su desempeño en materia de inversión es "endeble" y no logra alcanzar los máximos estándares, reveló Morningstar. De las diez Afores en el mercado, ninguna alcanzó el ranking de oro. Este año una administradora, Sura, fue clasificada en la categoría plata; dos en la categoría bronce (Citibanamex y Profuturo);...

Putin’s Russian Retirement Age Hike And U.S. Social Security

Op-Ed by Elizabeth Bauer In the news yesterday:  despite public protests on the matter, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a pension reform bill which increases the retirement age, formerly age 55 for women and 60 for men, to age 60 and 65, respectively. (See Radio Free Europe for coverage.) From an American point of view, one might be surprised that the retirement age was ever this low in the first place, or that retirement ages were and still remain different for men...

UK. Pension fund manager accused of stealing £1m to buy house

A pension fund manager at one of the richest authorities in the UK stole almost £1m from a council employee retirement pot to buy a new house and car, a court has heard today (4 October). Ian Woodall, 47, tricked colleagues into signing off payments from the £1bn pension fund by disguising them as investments, jurors heard. Woodall allegedly siphoned off £924,841 from Westminster City Council, between 2009 and 2012, while employed as the pension fund manager. He is said to have...

Bulgarian Finance Minister: From July 2019, Cap on all Pensions will Increase to BGN 1,200

As of July 1, 2019, the upper limit on all pensions, regardless of when they were granted, will be increased to BGN 1,200, but the cap will not be removed, Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov said after a meeting with trade unions, Focus News Agency reports. "The changes in the pension formula and all its imperfections do not give us a reason to decide in favour of eliminating the ceiling. There are distortions accumulated over the years in the pension formula,...

Two Korean pension funds to boycott coal finance

Korea’s Teachers’ Pension and Government Employees Pension System announced they will not consider financing any new coal-fired power plants, becoming the first Korean financial institutions to boycott coal financing amid the global movement to tackle climate change and air pollution problems. Although the two hold no history of having invested in coal projects in the past, their refusal to participate in any future projects can be a catalyst for other institutions to follow suit, according to environmental activists. In Korea, the...

América Latina tendrá crecimiento del PIB de 1,6% para 2019 según el Banco Mundial

El Banco Mundial presentó hoy su informe de proyecciones de crecimiento económico para América Latina en 2019, y destacó que la región tendrá un crecimiento del PIB de 1,6% frente al 0,6% que tienen proyectado para el final de 2018. En cuanto a las naciones incluidas en el reporte, el Banco destacó que Colombia tendrá un crecimiento del PIB de 3,3% para 2019, cifra que supera al aumento de 2,7% pronosticado para este año. Por su parte, las crisis de Argentina y Venezuela...