August 2018

Japan. The World’s Biggest Pension Fund Needs U.S. Bull Run to Last

The world’s biggest pension fund, always a giant within its home country of Japan, has been expanding its reach in other stock markets -- and becoming increasingly dependent on a U.S. bull run that’s poised to be the longest in history. The $1.4 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund has doubled its foreign shares since a strategy overhaul in 2014, and is now a top 10 holder in more than 260 companies outside Japan, according to a Bloomberg analysis of GPIF’s...

South Africa Labor Unions Push for New State Pension-Manager Law

South Africa’s main labor group is pushing parliament to adopt proposed changes to laws regulating the continent’s biggest money manager, which oversees state workers’ pensions, to make it more accountable and give unions representation on its board. Parliament’s finance committee is processing the Public Investment Corp. Amendment Bill, but the Congress of South African Trade Unions fears the state’s decision to appoint a commission to investigate the fund manager’s governance and operating model could derail its adoption. The commission will...

Ireland. New compulsory pension scheme capped at €75,000

Private sector workers earning more than €20,000 a year will be automatically enrolled in the new scheme, which will see the Government contribute €1 for every €3 put into a State-run pension fund. Workers will not be able to opt out of the system for at least nine months. Employees earning more than €75,000 can contribute to the scheme but they will not be able to put any earnings above the salary cap into their pension pots. Workers earning less than €20,000...

Chile. ComparaOnline Crea recomendador de AFP y multifondo según edad y saldo

En medio del debate de la reforma previsional y junto a las campañas publicitarias que están realizando las administradoras para atraer más afiliados, surgen dudas de cuál puede ser la alternativa más conveniente. Modelo sería la mejor opción para una persona menor de 25 años y que tiene un sueldo de $ 600 mil aproximadamente, debido a que tiene la comisión más baja del mercado (0,77%). Esto, de acuerdo a ComparaOnline, cotizadora que desarrolló un recomendador de AFP capaz de determinar el...

México. Diversificación, la clave para reducir los daños

En el 2013, tanto Sura como Citibanamex realizaron inversiones en la empresa Oro Negro a través de Certificados de Capital de Desarrollo (CKD), mismas que se han visto afectadas por el cambio de condiciones en los negocios que ha sostenido con Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) por la renta de cinco plataformas petroleras. Expertos consultados coincidieron en que los perjuicios hacia los inversionistas por estos hechos serán mínimos, ya que la diversificación en los portafolios de inversión sirve para proteger los recursos...

Three behavioural barriers to solid retirement planning, and how you can overcome them

I read with great interest a recently released Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) report entitled Encouraging Retirement Planning through Behavioural Insights. It provides strategies for governments, employers, financial advisers and those planning for retirement to implement to make it easier to become financially independent. Behavioural finance has risen to prominence recently, in part because of the work of “nudge” economist Richard Thaler, who won the Nobel Prize last year for his pioneering work in the field of behavioural economics. There can...

LGBTQ Investors Need to Consider Longevity, Liquidity, and Legacy

Around the world, LGBTQ couples’ legal and financial rights vary depending on where they live. While their equal rights are legally enshrined in Switzerland and the U.K., they aren’t recognized or protected in Singapore and Hong Kong. In the U.S., rights vary from state to state. Yet, even in countries where the LGBTQ community has full equal rights, they still face special challenges when it comes to financial planning, according to a UBS report released Monday. One key factor that affects...

Nigeria. Pension: Over 37.3m adults face risk of old age poverty

Over 37.3 million adults in the informal sector face the risk of old age poverty, as the informal sector workers are isolated from the formal pension arrangements. Chairman of Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, PenOp, Ronke Adedeji, who disclosed this said that 18.4 million adults which represent 19.1 percent of the total adult population, have farming as their main source of income  while 18.9 million adults which represent 19.6 percent of the total adult population get their income...

México. Fovissste abre por primera vez sistema de puntos para adquirir vivienda

Si usted tiene la posibilidad de adquirir un crédito del Fondo de Vivienda del ISSSTE (Fovissste) pero no quiere esperar a que se abra el procedimiento del 2019 para el otorgamiento de financiamientos del organismo, ahora, si así lo desea, lo podrá hacer para obtener su financiamiento este mismo año. El organismo comandado por Luis Antonio Godina Herrera anunció que por primera vez en su historia abrió un procedimiento extraordinario para el otorgamiento de créditos tradicionales, mediante su sistema de...

República Dominicana. Pepe Abreu teme estalle crisis con las AFP

El presidente de la Central Nacional de Unidad Sindical, (CNUS), Rafael (Pepe) Abreu, llamó a las autoridades y a los legisladores a encarar a las Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP) y el sistema de Seguridad Social en su conjunto antes de que estalle la gran crisis. “Lo que esperamos es que en definitiva todos nos pongamos a trabajar en una verdadera seguridad social, la ley está, pero hasta ahora no ha podido garantizar el objetivo para la cual fue...