News Archives - Page 274 of 954 - Pension Policy International

05OctOctober 5, 2023

Education gaps and time constraints: The ESG burdens facing UK pension trustees

With ESG rapidly rising up the agenda for UK pension schemes, their often overstretched trustee boards have been grappling with how to ensure it gets enough time on agendas and how to educate themselves on fast-moving developments. Janice Turner, co-chair of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees (AMNT), told Responsible Investor that the proportion of trustee time taken up by ESG matters has been increasing every year, especially due to enhanced regulatory requirements. “I would assume that ESG is an agenda item at...

October 5, 2023

NewsESG, UK

05OctOctober 5, 2023

South Africa. Some pensioners are still queuing for hours for their grants

Pensioners still had to wait hours to collect their grants at some places in Cape Town, though on the whole the payments seemed to be going more smoothly. Last month, thousands of social grant beneficiaries did not receive their money on time due to a technical glitch with PostBank. When GroundUp arrived at noon on Tuesday, about 80 people were waiting at the Gatesville Post Office to receive their pension. Elizabeth Fredericks, 75, waited for five hours before receiving her grant. She arrived...

October 5, 2023

NewsPension Management, Pension Payout, South Africa

04OctOctober 4, 2023

90% of U.S. companies with DB plans looking for exits via PRT – MetLife

Nearly 90% of U.S. corporations with defined benefit plans look to fully transfer all their liabilities in an average of just four years, according to a new poll conducted by MetLife. In MetLife's 2023 Pension Risk Transfer Poll, the insurer said 89% of respondents said they plan to fully divest all their liabilities. Among that population, they plan to do so in an average of 4.1 years. Also, 94% of respondents said they are weighing the DB plan's value against the...

October 4, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Risk, US

04OctOctober 4, 2023

Japanese pension funds with $600 billion to ink ESG pact

Japanese pension funds managing 90 trillion yen ($600 billion) will join a global initiative for responsible investment, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech on Oct. 3. Seven of the nation's public retirement funds will start preparations to sign the Principles for Responsible Investment, Kishida said. The PRI was started by the United Nations in 2006 to encourage investment that takes environmental, social and governance factors into consideration. As the number of members has increased globally, Japanese firms have been...

October 4, 2023

NewsESG, Investment, Japan

04OctOctober 4, 2023

US. SEC proposes changes for registered index-linked annuities

The SEC proposed rule amendments that would customize the registration form and disclosure requirements for registered index-linked annuities, also known as RILAs. The move comes after Congress passed a law in December directing the SEC to do so. "Given the complexity and growing popularity of RILAs, it is important that investors receive the information they need — in plain English — to make informed investment decisions," SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a news release Sept. 29. "Implementing Congress' mandate, today's...

October 4, 2023

NewsPension Payout, Regulation, US

04OctOctober 4, 2023

Ghana. Government settles all outstanding pensions contributions ending August 2023

The Chief Executive of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Hayford Attah Krufi, has revealed that government has cleared all outstanding Tier 1 and Tier 2 pension contributions ending August 2023. According to hin, the payment was done in September 2023, after government finalised the Domestic Debt Exchange Porogrammme. “About ¢2.3 billion payments has been released to clear all these arrears”, Mr. Krufi stressed. Background The 2022 Financial Stability Review report released by the Bank of Ghana showed that government had defaulted on...

October 4, 2023

NewsGhana, savings

03OctOctober 3, 2023

UK. DB funding levels remain buoyant despite volatility

Pension scheme trustees have been urged to take the time to review their endgame options, after industry analysis revealed that UK defined benefit (DB) funding levels have continued to improve, despite ongoing volatility. Analysis from XPS Pensions found that, despite the Bank of England holding interest rates steady for the first time since late 2021, the aggregate surplus of UK DB pension schemes stood at around £169bn at the end of September. Aggregate scheme assets were also down over the month...

October 3, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Funding, UK

03OctOctober 3, 2023

Danish pension fund completes US$520m divestment

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension has completed a fossil fuel divestment program to exit its portfolio of oil and gas stocks worth US$520 million with the sale of Italy's ENI. The fund, which oversees $20 billion in client assets, has undergone a divestment program spanning half a decade. It has now divested from BP, Chevron, Equinor, Exxon Mobil, Petrobras, PetroChina, Shell, Repsol and TotalEnergies. AkademikerPension, formerly named MP Pension, is a pension fund that admits academic degree holders, with more than 150,000 members privately or...

October 3, 2023

NewsClimate crisis, ESG, Investment

03OctOctober 3, 2023

US. Just 17% of workers aged 50+ confident they can maintain a comfortable lifestyle in retirement: survey

Only 17 per cent of U.S. employees aged 50-plus and 23 per cent of retirees are very confident they’ll be able to maintain a comfortable lifestyle throughout retirement, according to a new survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies in collaboration with the Transamerica Institute. The survey, which polled more than 10,000 U.S. employees, found nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of retirees said they expect to primarily rely on income from an employer-sponsored pension plan, compared to just...

October 3, 2023

NewsRetirement security, US

03OctOctober 3, 2023

Japan wants companies to disclose pension fund performance

Japan is moving to urge companies to disclose their pension plan returns, Nikkei has learned, as part of an effort to improve how the nation's retirement savings are invested. The government will begin discussions Wednesday in a new panel on strengthening Japan's asset management sector. Proposed topics include disclosures on pension fund performance, ways to attract more talent in the field and allowing smaller companies to operate joint pension funds. The conclusions will be incorporated into a national plan to bolster...

October 3, 2023

NewsJapan, Occupational Pensions, Regulation

October 2023