August 2018

Thought-Leading Fintech Session Predicts The Future Is Chat-Bots

It’s not often that thought-leaders gather around a table, but that’s exactly what the University of Essex and insurance industry disrupters Hood Group set out to do. Just last month they pulled together industry leaders to talk about cyber security, how we analyse our data and waves in artificial intelligence. And although top-name specialists from Microsoft, Filament, Profusion, and Signal Media attended, the real buzzword of the day was ‘chat-bot’ as they discussed the implications these handy automated new teams...

Russian pension reform sparks protests as Putin’s ratings fall

Pension reform is genocide!” “You deprive us of our pension – we deprive you of your authority!” “We don’t want to die working!” These were only some of the slogans shouted by Russian protesters during mass rallies last weekend, held in response to a new reform that will rise the retirement age in Russia. From Moscow to St Petersburg to Siberia to the country’s Far East, the rallies were a nationwide phenomenon across the world’s biggest country. For Vladimir Putin, the...

UK. Pension transfers could cost members £2,600 over expected lifetime

Pension members choosing to transfer out of their employer’s scheme could receive an income that is £2,600 lower over their expected lifetime, according to research by XPS Pensions Group. The report, Member Outcomes Under Freedom and Choice, published today (7 August 2018), looks at data on defined benefits (DB) scheme transfers, collated by XPS Administration over the period since 2016. The research also found: Depending on the choice of retirement vehicle chosen to receive a transfer, an individual could run out of...

Annuity Puzzle: how products are designed matters

By Eduardo Rodríguez Montemayor PPI’s Editorial Board editorial@pensionpolicy.net Getting an annuity with our savings pot at the time of retirement is the only contract that guarantees periodic pension payments for life. Yet, few people do it when offered to option to do so. What explains this puzzle? An annuity is a financial contract that pays out a periodic amount for as long as the annuitant is alive, in exchange for an initial premium. Defined-contribution (DC) pension schemes usually make it voluntary to choose whether to buy an...

Chile. Jaime Munita es designado como gerente general de AFP Capital

El directorio de AFP Capital informó que designó a Jaime Munita como gerente general de la administradora, cargo que asumirá a partir del 3 de septiembre. Pablo Echeverría llama al gobierno a acelerar reformas: "El tiempo deprecia no sólo el capital físico, sino también el político"7 AGO 2018 Ganancias de AES Gener aumentaron 147% a US$218 millones el primer semestre7 AGO 2018 En tanto Romeo Hodalí, quien ocupa el cargo de gerente general internino de la administradora, retomará su cargo de gerente...

México. Feria de Afores, con asistencia récord

Con un incremento de 300% en la participación de ahorradores, en relación con la primera edición en el 2014, concluyó este domingo la quinta Feria Afores 2018 en la Ciudad de México. En un comunicado, la Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar) señaló que desde la primera edición de la Feria Afores se observó un aumento considerable en la asistencia, situación que demuestra un creciente interés sobre el evento. Según la Consar, en el primer año de...

Perú. El 30% de los fondos que acumulan afiliados de AFP va a pago de comisiones

El nivel de las comisiones que se cobran en el Sistema Privado de Pensiones (SPP) sigue siendo objeto de debate. Un reciente informe del Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) consideró que las comisiones que pagan los afiliados a las AFP en Perú son elevadas y tienen impacto sobre la pensión que recibirán. El FMI propuso poner topes a estos cobros. La Asociación de AFP ( AAFP) respondió que las comisiones han venido bajando por la eficiencia generada por las propias AFP (sistema...

US. The Call to Care for Aging Parents Comes Sooner Now

Adrienne Glusman was 29, single and carefree when she became her mother’s caregiver. The only child of divorced parents, Ms. Glusman was living in New York City at the time, working, traveling, and going out with friends. Her mother, Hetty, in her mid-60s, was retired and living in Florida when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It seemed manageable, until she fell, hit her head and wasn’t discovered for 12 hours. Read more The wall street journal

UK pension industry faces transparency inquiry

As Australia’s superannuation industry undergoes its own grilling at the Royal Commission, the UK Government has announced the Commons Select Committee will hold an inquiry into pension costs and transparency. The inquiry would examine whether the pensions industry provides sufficient transparency around charges, investment strategy and performance to consumers. It comes off the back of the Committee’s recent inquiry into pension freedom and choice, which found that some scheme members were being “shamelessly bamboozled” into signing up to unsuitable ongoing adviser...

Australia. Two regulators are enough – perhaps more than enough

It is tempting to join the media pile-on about the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s apparent lack of action on underperforming superannuation funds, but in terms of true legal powers, the regulator appears to have more bark than bite. This point will probably loom large in the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry’s fifth round of hearings. This latest round began yesterday and will put the focus on superannuation for a fortnight. We know APRA and the...