April 2022
27Apr

Canada. IMCO returns 9.6% in 2021, outperforming its benchmark

Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, Toronto, delivered a weighted average net return of its clients' portfolios of 9.6% for the year ended Dec. 31, vs. a consolidated benchmark return of 8.5%. IMCO's assets under management climbed to C$79 billion ($61.8 billion) at the end of 2021, up 7.8% from a year earlier, the firm said in a news release Monday. By asset class, private equity performed the best in 2021, returning a net 19.2% (above the 16.9% performance by its benchmark);...

April 27, 2022
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27Apr

Homeless Population Aging in Japan

The proportion of homeless people aged 70 or over in the total homeless population in Japan surged to 34.4 pct in 2021 from 19.7 pct in 2016, a welfare ministry survey has found. The survey on people without housing, held about every five years, also showed that the average age of homeless people rose by 2.1 years to 63.6 years. In the survey, conducted in November 2021, homeless people in Tokyo's 23 special wards, ordinance-designated major cities and other cities were...

April 27, 2022
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26Apr

UK. Two thirds of investors prioritise returns over ESG

Two thirds of UK retail investors do not mind if their investments are sustainable but are instead focused on the returns they bring in. Some 66 per cent of the 1,000 investors surveyed by Charles Schwab UK said they are purely focussed on maximising returns. Just under half (44 per cent) of respondents said they regularly consider environmental, social and governance factors when making a new investment. This drops to 28 per cent among the ‘Boomer’ generation (aged between 57 and 75),...

April 26, 2022
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26Apr

French President Macron’s re-election is muted good news for markets

French President Emmanuel Macron's re-election victory Sunday should see financial markets "breathe a collective sigh of relief," but Russia's invasion of Ukraine has not erased concerns in Europe, said Seema Shah, chief strategist with Principal Global Investors. Having Mr. Macron serve another term "is good news for the euro, French bond spreads and the share prices of French banks, (but) it is hard to see much upside for these assets in the near term given the broader macro outlook in...

April 26, 2022
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26Apr

US. Fidelity Pension Plan Will Allow Employees to Invest in Bitcoin

Fidelity Investments, the United States’ biggest provider of 401(k) pension plans, will let participants choose to keep money in bitcoin (BTC), but only if their employers let them. 401(k) plans are employer-sponsored defined-contribution pension accounts, and Fidelity, per 2020 figures compiled by the researcher Cerulli Associates, has USD 2.4 trillion locked into 401(k) accounts. That figure, the New York Times pointed out, represents over a third of the domestic market. On its website, Fidelity explained that its “new proprietary offering” was...

April 26, 2022
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26Apr

UK. Aegon investing £3bn in BlackRock ESG range

Aegon is investing £3bn of its default funds into a range of ESG index funds launched by BlackRock. The firms worked together on the iShares range, which includes six ESG equity income index funds which track Morningstar’s regional and country-specific indices. The change means that ESG exposure in the Aegon workplace default fund will double to 60 per cent for investors in the growth stage of their retirement savings, and to 40 per cent for those in retirement. A number of other...

April 26, 2022
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25Apr

UK. Govt urged to consider flexible early access to state pension

The government should investigate offering flexibility for people to start taking their state pension up to three years early, but at a reduced level to make it financially fair, Aegon has stated. Responding to a call for evidence into how to set the state pension age in future, Aegon called for a radical overhaul to introduce new flexibilities that would “take state pensions a small step towards private pension freedoms” and support people with more flexible multi-stage lives. Aegon emphasised the...

April 25, 2022
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25Apr

Colombia presidential candidates agree need for pension reform

Candidates most likely to win Colombia's presidential elections on Friday agreed for the need to reform the country's unbalanced pension system so that it provides greater coverage for millions of poor people and redirects subsidies. Ideas for financing the reform ranged from a bulky tax reform to more radical plans such as using savings from private funds to pay the pensions of older adults who have not managed to save enough for their retirement, among others. Colombia's public pensions are beset...

April 25, 2022
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25Apr

Ghana. Steady rise recorded in life expectancy of SSNIT contributors

Regardless of the widely held notion on decreasing life expectancy among Ghanaians, the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) says its statistics indicated a reverse of the widely held misconception. It said longevity on the pension’s payroll indicates a steady rise in life expectancy of contributors aged 72 from eight per cent in 2002 to 18 per cent in 2010 and 25 per cent in 2020. Likewise, the percentage of contributors aged 80, rose from one per cent in 2002...

April 25, 2022
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25Apr

UK. One in five leaving retirement planning till aged 60

One in five people have said they would leave planning their retirement until they were aged at least 60, a survey by Hargreaves Lansdown has revealed. Hargreaves Lansdown warned that leaving retirement planning so late could be dangerous for savers, cautioning that the later planning is left the less time there is to make up any contribution shortfalls, which may limit choices. The client survey, which was carried out in January 2022 and consisted of 400 customers, also found that a...

April 25, 2022
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