News Archives - Page 160 of 736 - Pension Policy International

17OctOctober 17, 2022

US Public Pensions Unlikely to Face UK Pension-Style Crisis

U.S. state and local pensions are unlikely to face the sudden liquidity crisis that U.K. corporate pensions are confronting given their different approaches to valuing liabilities and the resulting differences in investment strategies, Fitch Ratings says. However, U.S. public pension funds’ investment return assumptions incentivize higher yielding asset investments, posing the risk of deeper losses in a market downturn. State and local government pensions discount their liabilities using the same fixed long-term investment return rate that they assume for their...

October 17, 2022

NewsPension Management, UK, US

17OctOctober 17, 2022

U.K. Pensions Doom Loop May Not Be Over

Rebalancing pension portfolios in the wake of the LDI crisis may prove difficult. The Bank of England’s short-term bond-buying program ended on October 14, but that may not mean the end of the problems plaguing U.K. pensions. On Monday, the Bank of England made a series of announcements that were ostensibly designed to outline an “orderly end” to its support. To date, the bank has carried out eight daily auctions, offering to buy up to £40 billion, (US$44.40 billion) and has...

October 17, 2022

NewsPension Management, Regulation, UK

17OctOctober 17, 2022

South African savings grew by 15.4% in 2021, report shows

Allianz unveiled the 13th edition of its Global Wealth Report, which puts the asset and debt situation of households in almost 60 countries under the microscope. In retrospect, 2021 might have been the last year of the old “new normal”, with bullish stock markets powered by monetary policy. Households benefitted handsomely: For the third year in a row, global financial assets grew by double-digits in 2021, reaching €233tn (+10.4%). In these last three years, private wealth increased by a staggering €60tn. This...

October 17, 2022

Newssavings, South Africa

17OctOctober 17, 2022

Economic Concerns Likely to Spur Pension Risk Transfers

The vast majority of plan sponsors say inflation and rising rates are influencing their de-risking decisions. Inflation, market volatility, rising interest rates, and geopolitics are potentially accelerating the pension risk transfer market, according to a report from MetLife. MetLife’s Pension Risk Transfer Poll, which heard from 251 defined benefit plan sponsors who have de-risking goals and $100 million or more in plan assets, found that 95% say higher inflation is “very or somewhat impactful” on their decision to move forward with...

October 17, 2022

NewsInvestment, Risk, Transfers

14OctOctober 14, 2022

US. Social Security Announces Big Bump in 2023 COLA

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced Oct. 13 that the monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits will increase 8.7% in 2023. The change will affect approximately 70 million Americans and translates to an increase in Social Security benefits of more than $140 per month starting in January 2023. The 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will begin with benefits payable to more than 65 million Social Security beneficiaries in January 2023. Increased payments to more than 7...

October 14, 2022

NewsIncome, Social Security, US

14OctOctober 14, 2022

UK. Pension watchdog examining LDI data amid gilts crisis

The watchdog overseeing U.K. retirement plans is conducting new analysis and reviewing information it already has from previous work with pension funds in efforts to build on its understanding of the liability-driven investment landscape. Charles Counsell, CEO at The Pensions Regulator, wrote in a letter to the government's Work and Pensions Committee on Wednesday that the regulator's investment consultants and actuaries are conducting the new analysis, which includes requesting data from a number of pension funds. The supervision team is...

October 14, 2022

NewsInvestment, Regulation, UK

14OctOctober 14, 2022

Ghana. SSNIT to begin mass enrollment of informal sector onto pension scheme by January 2023

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has announced the commencement of a mass enrollment of the informal sector onto its pension scheme by January 2023. This announcement was made at the SSNIT Employers’ Breakfast meeting in Accra. According to the Director General, Dr. John Ofori-Tenkorang, extensive consultations with stakeholders in the informal sector and the need to ensure that systems which will enhance the enrollment of the sector onto the scheme are fully operational, are the reasons why the...

October 14, 2022

NewsGhana, Informal Sector

13OctOctober 13, 2022

US. Funding Status of Pensions Increases Marginally Despite Equity Market Downturn

Corporate pension funding ratio improves to best rate of the year in September despite 2022’s worst month of market losses Rising rates in September contributed to higher overall funded ratio for corporate pension funds. Equities continued their year-long slump with the Nasdaq trading down over 10% and S&P 500 trading down 9.6% on the month. The dynamic led to at least two pension consultants finding that U.S. corporate pension funding levels moved above 100% in September as an increase in the...

October 13, 2022

NewsFunding, Occupational Pensions, US

13OctOctober 13, 2022

UK. Pension reforms could add £4k to retirement income, says PLSA

The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association has called for action and warned that without reform of the pension system, over half of savers will fail to meet the retirement income targets set by the Pensions Commission in 2005. In a report released today (October 12), the PLSA proposed five reforms that it said will help millions of people achieve a better income in retirement. If acted on, a median earner would see their pension income increase from around £15,000 a...

October 13, 2022

NewsAdequacy, Regulation, UK

13OctOctober 13, 2022

Swiss state pensions to rise 2.5% to help offset inflation

The Swiss state pension will rise by 2.5% next year, the government said on Wednesday, to help offset the highest inflation the country has seen in nearly 30 years. The minimum payout of the state scheme will rise to 1,225 francs ($1,230) per month from 1,195 francs, while the maximum payout will increase to 2,450 from 2,390 francs. Minimum contributions for self-employed people will rise to help pay for the increase. The government reviews pensions every two years, with the intention of...

October 13, 2022

NewsAdequacy, Switzerland

October 2022