December 2022

Ghana. Pensions will be protected against Debt Exchange – TUC assures workers

The Trades Union Congress(TUC) has assured that it will take steps to safeguard workers’ pensions amid the implementation of government’s Domestic Debt Exchange (DDX) Programme. In a statement issued on Monday, the TUC expressed disquiet about the failure of government to engage Labour ahead of the launch given that substantial portion of workers’ pension is invested in government bonds. Read also Shelter Afrique target East African bourses, pension funds in USD 500mn housing bond Nonetheless, the TUC appealed to all workers...

Europe needs to step up on ‘global clean tech race,’ EU president says

The European Commission should help member countries and European Union companies compete with the U.S. on green energy initiatives, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Sunday. "We are now confronted with an intensifying global clean tech race," Ms. Von der Leyen said in a speech at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. The United States' Inflation Reduction Act, with massive subsidies for clean energy, "should make us reflect on how we can improve our state-aid frameworks, and adapt...

Swedish pension funds invest in cryptocurrency

Swedish public pension funds have invested hundreds of millions of kronor in a cryptocurrency company that has lost 87 per cent of its share value, Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter (DN) reported on Saturday. Four public pension funds, which manage the pension money on behalf of the Swedish public, have invested more than SEK200 million (USD19 million) in Coinbase, a cryptocurrency trading company, according to the report. Details of how many shares have been bought and sold were not revealed. But DN...

Health Services Workers’ Union battles government over ‘haircut’ on pensions

The Health Services Workers’ Union (HSWU) has vowed to resist any attempt by the government to touch the Pensions of its members. The General Secretary of the HSWU, Franklin Owusu Ansah, at a press conference held on Sunday said “If the government finds it so important to do the debt restructuring, we will urge them to ring-fence the Pension Funds of workers. Workers of Ghana can’t continue suffering to the grave. Enough is enough!!” This comes on the back of a...

British government looks at pension rules to retain health workers

Britain's government is launching a consultation into how to amend pension rules for workers in the National Health Service to help retain more staff, at a time when the sector faces strikes over pay this month that could halt some procedures. The governing Conservative Party has long promised to sort out a health service which has struggled to recover after being stretched to its limits during the COVID-19 pandemic and now faces strikes by thousands of nurses and ambulance workers. "The...

Private Debt Funds Tap Australia’s $2.3 Trillion Pension Savings

After winning over some of the biggest retirement plans in the US, private credit managers have found new fertile ground for their investment pitch: Australia’s $2.3 trillion pension industry. Four of the top-10 pensions Down Under -- Australian Retirement Trust, HostPlus, UniSuper and Colonial First State -- are making significant increases to their private credit allocations, according to recent statements and interviews with Bloomberg News. AustralianSuper, the nation’s largest, is midway into a three-year push to triple its allocation. That’s music...

UK. FCA bans third-party dashboard consumer charges

The Financial Conduct Authority will prohibit third parties from charging customers for services linked to pension dashboards as part of its regulatory framework for the initiative. According to its new consultation - published on December 1, on the same day that the Pensions Dashboards Programme issued its own consultation into design standards - the FCA recognised that some dashboard providers will look to third-party agreements for areas including licensing or third-party hosting. Any agreement with a third party, however, must allow...

Senior living inflation is skyrocketing in some parts of the U.S. These states lead the way

Seniors have been feeling the repercussions of inflation. Those 55 and older have had to cut back on health visits and meals—some limiting the heat in their homes—in order to save money this year, according to a new report. The report released last month by Paying For Senior Care, which provides financial information for the aging population, examined how inflation affects seniors’ daily lives. The report, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. adults ages 55 and older, found one in four have...

Sustainable change needs to happen from the inside out. Here’s why that needs investment

Today, the number of impact-driven startups and scale-ups with noble intentions of improving the planet are plentiful, as are their ideas for clean alternatives to dirty technologies and innovations. But unfortunately, many of these ideas are simply reinventing what already exists, whether it be a product, supply chain or distribution system. Moreover, many are trying to reinvent all those things in parallel. These attempts sometimes fail to consider what competitors are already doing out there and don't take a holistic...

Maintaining reform momentum is essential to strengthen pension systems, says OECD

The current financial and economic uncertainty, as well as the rising cost of living, may lead policy makers, regulators and supervisors to postpone reforms that could improve their pensions systems. However, delaying needed reforms would put at risk the well-being of current and future pensioners. Policy makers should continue to improve pension systems, according to a new OECD report. The OECD Pensions Outlook 2022 says that pension arrangements in which retirement savings are invested to accumulate assets that will finance...