February 2024
09Feb

Nigeria. Pensioners threaten mass protest in Abuja over demands; seek N100,000 monthly pension

According to the union, the economic downturn has led to a high cost of living in the country. NUP president Godwin Abumisi spoke on Thursday when he fielded questions from journalists in Abuja. Mr Abumisi said the union had lost about 1,500 of its members in recent times due to economic hardship and the high cost of living in the country. “It is not in our power to distribute food items to pensioners in Nigeria. We do not have the resources. In...

February 9, 2024
News,
Read more...
08Feb

US. Shell Closes $4.9B Pension Risk Transfer With Prudential

Prudential Financial Inc. announced on Wednesday it had closed a $4.9 billion pension risk transfer deal with Shell USA Inc. The transaction would be the first major pension risk transfer in the U.S. this year, following record years for the pension risk transfer market in 2022 and 2023.  “Prudential is honored to help continue meeting the retirement security needs of Shell’s retirees,” said Alexandra Hyten, head of institutional retirement strategies at Prudential, in a statement. “We are confident that our commitment...

February 8, 2024
News, , , , ,
Read more...
08Feb

U.K. pension funds may consider climate change – Financial Markets Law Committee

The U.K. committee advising the markets on financial law said pension trustees may consider climate change when making investment decisions, allaying long-standing concerns that incorporating key ESG factors could be a breach of fiduciary duty. The Financial Markets Law Committee said U.K. trustees are required to make "careful" decisions, and that includes considering factors such as climate change that market prices may not yet reflect, in a Feb. 6 paper. While targeted at pension funds, the committee said its conclusions are...

February 8, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
08Feb

Kenya. Pension returns trail inflation rate for the second year

Pension contributors are staring at a major erosion of their savings after annual returns on investments in 2023 by pension funds shrunk below the rate of inflation. A periodic pension industry survey done by fund administrator Zamara shows that pension schemes made a weighted average return of 1.4 percent in 2023, which was lower than the 1.7 percent return recorded in 2022. At the same time, Kenya’s average inflation stood at 7.7 percent in 2023, meaning that the average saver lost...

February 8, 2024
News, , , ,
Read more...
08Feb

US, Asia, Europe face aging populations

The United States, Asian and European countries must prepare for the needs of their aging populations, as there will be 2.1 billion people age 60 and older globally by 2050, the World Health Organization said. More than 82 million Americans will be 65 and older in 26 years, according to the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). Today, there are 58 million in that category. More Americans are turning 65 this year than at any other time in history — about 4.1 million...

February 8, 2024
News, , ,
Read more...
07Feb

Japanese Pension Giant Rebounds in Fiscal Q3

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund rebounded in the third quarter of fiscal 2023, returning 2.62%, after reporting a slight loss the previous quarter, to raise its total asset value to 224.7 trillion yen ($1.51 trillion). For the first three quarters of the fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, the pension giant’s investment portfolio has returned 12%. The investment portfolio returned a total of 5.73 trillion yen for the quarter and 10.45 trillion yen during...

February 7, 2024
News,
Read more...
07Feb

Canada. Cost of Living Crunch Impacting Retirement Savings

A new poll commissioned by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) found that 81 percent of people are now more concerned about paying for basic necessities like groceries, rent and their mortgage, than saving for retirement. The poll also found 44 percent said the high cost of living is hindering them from starting to save for retirement. Although individuals and families are living in a difficult economic environment, FSRA is urging consumers to prepare for the future and learn...

February 7, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
07Feb

Money and ageing: South African study shows cash grants help people live longer and have better memory function

Nearly half of South Africa’s 60 million people receive social grants, ranging from child support to pensions. The grants are designed to provide financial assistance to people living in poverty. The largest components of the South African social grant system were introduced, or expanded to include the full population, in the 1990s. Since then, the system has evolved into one of the most comprehensive in the global south. In addition to their direct financial benefits, the grants have been found to have a wide range...

February 7, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
06Feb

Mexico’s president wants to guarantee people pensions equal to their full salaries when they retire

Mexico’s president said Monday he will propose guaranteeing people pensions equal to their full salaries at the time they retire, something done by no other country, not even those much richer than Mexico. It was among a raft of 20 constitutional reforms that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has almost no hope of getting passed in the eight months he has left in office, but which could be part of a bid to attract voters in the June 2 presidential...

February 6, 2024
News, ,
Read more...
06Feb

U.S. Public Pensions Highly Vulnerable to Market Correction

Investment volatility has re-emerged as a key concern for defined benefit public pension plans since the pandemic began, signalling the risk that market corrections can set back progress in stabilizing funded ratios and trigger higher contributions, Fitch Ratings says. Asset values surged in 2021 followed by sharp reversal in 2022 and a rebound in 2023. Based on audits of almost 100 major state pension plans, fiduciary plan assets rose a median of 24.4% in fiscal 2021, then fell 7% yoy...

February 6, 2024
News, Uncategorized, ,
Read more...