August 2022
02Aug

UK. Oxford, FCA team up on sustainable finance lab

The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority is partnering with the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group on an innovation lab for ESG practitioners and regulators. Announced July 20, the Oxford Sustainable Finance Lab is scheduled to open in the fall at Oxford University in England. Oxford researchers will spend time with practitioners from financial institutions, regulators, central banks, government departments and professional organizations. The goal is "nurturing interactions between different parts of the financial system and (to) break down barriers between them, providing a...

August 2, 2022
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02Aug

South Africa. Two-pot system will not make any pension savings immediately available

A call from National Treasury for public comment on proposed changes to legislation, as part of the overhaul of SA’s retirement savings industry, discloses a very important aspect about accessing your pension fund in that members of pension and retirement funds will not be able to access their existing pension fund money once the new legislation comes into effect next year. In effect, the new ‘two-pot’ system seems to have evolved into a ‘three-pot’ system. The most recent statement from Treasury...

August 2, 2022
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02Aug

The evolution of sustainability in equity investing

Equity as an asset class has a long history rooted in sustainability and shareholder engagement. Even in the 19th century, equity investors used voting and engagement to influence how companies behave. Efficient use of capital, dividend policy, and strategy were typically on the agenda. In the 1970s, equity investors started considering ethical values, triggered by global abhorrence of South Africa’s apartheid regime. In the nineties, initial ethical screenings expanded to embed environmental, social and governance factors in capital market decisions....

August 2, 2022
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02Aug

Canada’s CPPIB turns attention to stocks in hunt for value

Canada's $421 billion state pension fund has shifted its attention toward public equities from private deals after a sell-off in the first half boosted valuations, according to its top executive. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is one of the world's largest institutional investors in private equity, with more than $100 billion invested directly in private companies and through funds. But in recent months, "we've been active in the public equity space, even in places like infrastructure and real estate," CEO...

August 2, 2022
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01Aug

Collective defined contribution schemes launch in Great Britain

Providers in Great Britain are now able to apply to launch collective defined contribution schemes, a development hailed by pensions minister Guy Opperman for its potential to “transform the UK pensions landscape”. Under CDC schemes, employers and employees pay a fixed rate of contributions, collected in a manner similar to defined contribution schemes. Benefits are paid with a target in mind, similar to defined benefit schemes, but with the prospect of variable increases — and the possibility of decreases. Read also...

August 1, 2022
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01Aug

South Africa’s Treasury Drafts Plan to Lift Retirement Savings

South Africa’s National Treasury has published draft reforms aimed at encouraging citizens to have easily accessible savings, while also ringfencing funds meant for retirement. The so-called two-pot system will allow individuals to contribute one-third of savings into an account that can be accessible at any time, while two-thirds must only become available at retirement. Read also South Africa. Two-pot system will not make any pension savings immediately available “The two-pot system option will present a better balance between ensuring preservation of retirement...

August 1, 2022
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01Aug

U.S. 6-month period brings financial storm for many

Defined contribution money managers, like their plan sponsor clients and the millions of U.S. workers who save for retirement with them, are navigating a much different world in mid-2022 than they did at the end of 2021. "Certainly, these six months have been very different than last year and the year before, which is really quite a statement when you think that in the last two years we were in the middle of a pandemic," said Anne F. Ackerley, New...

August 1, 2022
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01Aug

The Fiscal Oversight Board is optimistic about the new operational budget of Puerto Rico

Although the operational budget approved by the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF) is less than that endorsed at the last minute by the Legislature, The funds allocated for the fiscal year that is just beginning will not leave the municipalities in a precarious situation, they place emphasis on key agency projects, such as the Education deparmentand allow to resume permanent workit transpired yesterday in a brief public meeting of the organism. In the conclave, the officials of the Board, who now...

August 1, 2022
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July 2022
29Jul

U.S. pension promises will go unmet without sweeping reform

This year, anybody receiving an annual statement from America’s mighty social security system might notice a tiny ticking time bomb — if they possess sharp eyes. Tucked into a footnote is a website link that explains that the two funds in this system — called “Disability Insurance” and “Old Age and Survivors Insurance” — have $2.9tn to plug the shortfall between expected payouts and what is gathered each year from payroll taxes. Those trillions sound soothingly big. But they are...

July 29, 2022
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29Jul

UK. 16 million workers at risk of not saving adequately for retirement

Around 85 per cent of workers, equal to 16 million people, are not saving at levels likely to deliver an acceptable standard of living in retirement, new research has found, prompting calls for the development of a 'Living Pension Standard'. A report from the Living Wage Foundation and the Resolution Foundation raised concerns over the current levels of saving, explaining that while auto enrolment (AE) improved rates of saving, meeting the Living Pension benchmark requires more than the AE minimum. The...

July 29, 2022
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