November 2022
23Nov

South Africa’s government workers march across major cities for higher pay

Thousands of South African government workers took part in nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday (Nov 22) to demand a 10% increase in their salaries. Negotiations between public sector unions and the government are deadlocked. The government is resolved to unilaterally implement a 3% pay hike, which hasn't satisfied the unions. In Pretoria, workers downed tools and marched to the offices of the national treasury to submit their demands. Employment minister Thulas Nxesi, a former trade unionist, was booed by workers as he arrived...

November 23, 2022
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22Nov

US. How many retire with one million dollars?

Saving $1 million (or more) for retirement is a great goal to have. Putting that much aside could make it easier to live your preferred lifestyle when you retire, without having to worry about running short of money. However, not a huge percentage of retirees end up having that much money. In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings. The majority of retirees, however, have far less saved. If you’re looking to be...

November 22, 2022
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22Nov

Planned reforms to UK pensions will open access to PE

Defined contribution schemes in the UK may soon be allowed greater access to private markets following proposals from the Department for Work and Pensions. Under the consultation, published on 6 October, the UK government plans to remove performance fees from the charge cap applied to DC schemes – which are constrained by an annual 0.75 percent charge cap on assets under management and administration. This has acted as a barrier to accessing certain asset classes that charge a performance fee,...

November 22, 2022
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22Nov

P&I launches report on U.S. public pension plan benchmarks.

This report intends to provide insights into the overall and asset class benchmarks selected by the 50 largest U.S. public defined benefit plans. The top 50 plans are selected based on their reported U.S. DB asset totals in Pensions & Investments’ 2021 survey. Eleven out of 50 plans did not disclose enough detailed information, and 10 plans had a fiscal year ended other than June 30. Due to the complexity of public plan reporting and different approaches to subasset classes,...

November 22, 2022
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22Nov

Romanian govt to hike pensions by 12.5% from January -ruling coalition

Romania's ruling coalition will hike state pensions by 12.5% from January and make cash payments to low-income pensioners throughout the year to help the country's most vulnerable cope with surging inflation, party leaders said late on Monday. The cash payments will vary in size for pensions under 3,000 lei ($622.55) per month, the leaders of the three governing coalition parties agreed. In addition, pensioners with under 1700 lei per month will receive social vouchers worth 250 lei every two months, a...

November 22, 2022
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21Nov

UK regulators call for action on hidden leverage threat to pension funds

Regulators and policymakers are calling for action to address the risks associated with pension funds’ use of derivatives, after key watchdogs admitted last week that they were unprepared for the crisis that hit the industry in September. The meltdown, now the focus of four separate parliamentary probes, revealed regulators did not have a reliable picture of the scale of hidden leverage in liability-driven investment (LDI) strategies, which cover about £1.4tn of the future promises made by UK defined benefit pension...

November 21, 2022
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21Nov

US. As Biden turns 80, people ask ‘What’s too old?

Joe Biden turns 80 on Sunday, making him the first octogenarian president in U.S. history. He is set to celebrate his birthday with a brunch hosted by his wife, Jill, a celebration that got an extra lift this weekend with his granddaughter's wedding at the White House on Saturday. With Biden already the oldest person to serve as president, the 2024 race for the White House is shaping up to be uncharted territory for the United States. The nearly 250-year old...

November 21, 2022
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21Nov

Japan seen setting 2023 pension rise below inflation

Japan is expected to curb pension payment rises at rates below that of inflation, according to Nippon Life Insurance's research arm. NLI Research Institute has forecast an inflation rate of 2.5% for full-year 2022, but it expects the government to set the increase in pension payments for those aged 68 and above at only 1.8% for next year. It expects those aged 67 and younger to get a pension rise of 2.1% in 2023. Although there are worries that the financial...

November 21, 2022
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21Nov

India. Government pension funds need more lucrative investment avenues to quell controversy between old and new schemes

By Gautam Mukherjee When the Vajpayee administration introduced the new pension system (NPS) for Central and other government employees commencing on 1 January 2004, the motivation was to ensure long-term viability. It is mandatory for the Central government employees and a few other entities. Much greater longevity had complicated the calculations on the old pension system (OPS). The threat of a bankrupt state defaulting on pensions, such as West Bengal, Kerala or Punjab today, was already beginning to loom large in...

November 21, 2022
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18Nov

The world’s baby shortfall is so bad that the labor shortage will last for years, major employment firms predict

“Demographic shifts” can mean many things. The composition of a body of people—median age, ethnic makeup, and more—all fall into the category. But in the context of the labor shortage that has gripped the world economy since the pandemic began, it has coincided with one of Elon Musk’s big worries: The world isn’t having enough babies. He has previously said the world’s declining birth rate is “one of the biggest risks to civilization,” which will “crumble” if the world doesn’t have...

November 18, 2022
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