August 2021
19Aug

China’s pension funds post surge in investment returns in 2020

Chinese pension funds posted an investment return rate of 15.84% last year, nearly doubling the 20-year average of 8.51%, a report from the National Council for Social Security Fund showed on Wednesday, partly due to a jump in domestic stock markets. China, the world's most populous country, has been looking to boost its investment returns and size of its pension funds, to cope with a looming demographic crunch as population growth slows. To counter the economic impact of rapid ageing and...

August 19, 2021
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19Aug

South Africa proposes a mandatory pension system

Minister of Social Development, Lindiwe Zulu, has published a Green Paper on comprehensive social security and retirement reform for public comment. It includes a mandatory pension and insurance system among the proposals. Read also Warning over major retirement change for South Africa The department said that the absence of a statutory arrangement providing pensions and insurance is the most obvious gap in South Africa’s social security system. Read also European Union: Putting A “PEPP” In The Step Of European Pension Providers? “Such an arrangement...

August 19, 2021
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19Aug

UK. Aon launches online quiz to explore CDC option

Aon has launched an online quiz that UK employers and pension scheme trustees can use to explore how a collective defined contribution scheme could meet their future needs. Aon’s CDC-simplified tool asks 10 questions that allow those currently running defined benefit or DC schemes to see if a CDC pension scheme could be an option for them Based on the answers to each question, respondents can also establish which “flavour” of CDC might be suitable for their circumstances, Aon stated. As reported...

August 19, 2021
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18Aug

UK. Pressure increases on Rishi Sunak to suspend triple lock on pensions

Rishi Sunak has come under further pressure to suspend the state pension triple lock after wage figures showed that the chancellor is on course to pay pensioners a rise of more than 8% next year. Sunak is understood to be considering telling Britain’s 12 million state pension claimants that the pandemic has artificially inflated the official wages figures and a new formula is needed to calculate the rise in the basic state pension for next year. Read also UK. I Don’t...

August 18, 2021
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18Aug

Greece. New pension scheme from 2022

Greece’s pension system will undergo a significant change on January 1, 2022, when funded supplementary pension body TEKA begins operation. The bill creating TEKA has cleared the parliamentary committee stage and is expected to be voted by the full Parliament as soon as it reconvenes on August 23. The change will not affect most current employees. But for those who enter the market in 2022 and beyond, the government claims it will mean that they are guaranteed to get full value...

August 18, 2021
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18Aug

India: Advisory panel recommends increasing retirement age

The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister has recommended increasing the retirement age saying life expectancy is expected to continue to increase due to better health infrastructure. In a report released last week, the Council said the retirement age needs to be raised in a phased manner as India is a young nation with a high working population, reported Hindustan Times citing the report. Read also Pakistan’s unsustainable public pension system The Council also warned, “A rise in the retirement age,...

August 18, 2021
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17Aug

US. Should the Federal Government ‘Green’ Its Pension Plan?

Climate change is posing an existential threat to more than just the planet. In fact, the federal government is concerned that weather-related risks will begin eroding the retirement portfolios of its employees. Read also US. Climate Change and Benchmarking Risk for Retirement Plans Earlier this year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office recommended that the board overseeing the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) for federal workers analyze the financial performance of companies in its portfolio, in light of risks related to climate change...

August 17, 2021
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17Aug

European Union: Putting A “PEPP” In The Step Of European Pension Providers?

The pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) is a voluntary, individual, non-occupational personal pension product that offers savers a new pan-European means of saving for retirement. The first PEPPs can be established from 22 March 2022, but will this product prove popular for providers? Before the introduction of the PEPP, there was no legal framework governing personal pensions at an EU level. It was recognised that the lack of an internal market for pensions caused difficulties with pension portability for mobile...

August 17, 2021
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17Aug

Turkey: New Regulation On Activities To Be Evaluated Within The Scope Of Insurance Services And On Distance Insurance Contracts Has Been Published

The new regulation details the rules on the insurances that can be provided linked to goods and services offered by businesses whose primary business activity is not insurance brokerage which is becoming to stand out in practice. As per the new regulation, business processes carried out under the abolished regulation will be required to be compliant with the new Regulation by 1 September 2021. Accordingly, with the new regulation, insurance intermediaries, banks and institutions incorporated under special laws and authorized to...

August 17, 2021
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17Aug

UK. 4 million under-40s missing out on pension investment returns due to low risk appetite

Around four million workers under 40 could be losing out on investment returns as they are in low-risk pensions that do not have potential for higher growth, according to research from Interactive Investor (II). The research, undertaken by Opinium, revealed that 66 per cent of people aged between 18 and 39, equal to around 10 million people, have a low-risk (25 per cent) or medium-risk (41 per cent) pension, whilst 19 per cent have a high-risk pension. Furthermore, over half (54...

August 17, 2021
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