June 2021
15Jun

APAC pensions industry and recent trends in Japan

Pension assets across the largest pensions’ markets increased 11% in 2020, according to the Global Pensions Assets Study 2021 by Willis Towers Watson. Asia Pacific pension funds beat their peers in asset value growth in 2019, according to a report on the world’s top 300 pension funds by the Thinking Ahead Institute. Assets under management (AUM) of the top 20 pension funds grew 8.1% year-on-year in 2019, led by a 10.6% growth in the assets of Asia Pacific funds. Read...

June 15, 2021
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15Jun

US. Lost 401(k) accounts and pensions: How lawmakers want to fix the problem

For workers who lose track of their 401(k) savings accounts, help may be on the way. Proposed retirement legislation that’s pending in Congress would create an online “lost and found” database to help locate those accounts, among a variety of other provisions. While lawmakers are in the early stages of considering changes, retirement advocates say the initiative — which also would help people access lost pension benefits — can’t come soon enough. “We have serious problems with retirees not being able...

June 15, 2021
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15Jun

UK. Third of high risk DB transfers would pass new scam test

One in three defined benefit transfers flagged as high risk would be allowed under new government proposals designed to reduce scams, a consultancy has warned. XPS looked at data from its Scam Protection Service and found that of all the transfers flagged by the service since July 2018, one in three would have satisfied the ‘first condition’ of the Department for Work and Pensions’ proposed legislation. The government is planning to give trustees the power to halt suspicious transfers and has...

June 15, 2021
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15Jun

PIC confirms it owns 30% of new SAA consortium partner

The PIC has confirmed that it owns 30% of Harith General Partners, an investment group that's part of a consortium that will own a majority stake in SAA. While still the head of corporate finance at the PIC, Tshepo Mahloele, spearheaded the creation of Harith - which was founded with PIC investments. He later left the PIC to run Harith. The commission that investigated wrongdoing at the PIC found that Harith's conduct "was driven by financial reward to...

June 15, 2021
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14Jun

Impact investing grows to address problems raised by pandemic

Sometimes a crisis can help bring positive change. For impact investing, the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequities it exposed are boosting its outlook. Read also ​Pension investors press companies over Myanmar human rights risks Impact investments are made with the intention of generating positive and measurable social, economic and environmental outcomes as well as a financial return. Asset owners and managers put them under various asset and strategy buckets, including ESG or sustainable investing — and note that the one shorthand...

June 14, 2021
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14Jun

UK. Watchdog warns of imbalance in pension schemes

Almost two thirds of pension schemes’ liabilities of €64 billion have been accumulated to pay the pensions of the one third of members who have already retired. The lopsided nature of scheme finances is revealed in figures from the Pensions Authority, which show that providing a guaranteed income in retirement is becoming increasingly unsustainable for the dwindling number of employers that offer them. The Pensions Authority warned that trustees were running too much investment risk as schemes struggled to remain solvent. “This...

June 14, 2021
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14Jun

Black tax, debt and inadequate pensions – South Africans have little to nothing left to save

How do you tell a person avoiding debt collectors and cutting down food spend that they need to save more for retirement? This was one of the burning questions at Allan Gray's first retirement benefits conference last week. Confronted with "black tax", rising food costs, exorbitant electricity prices and a debt-to-disposable-income ratio of 75.3% in the last quarter of 2020, saving for retirement is the last thing in the minds of many South Africans. According to the Mercer CFA Institute Global...

June 14, 2021
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14Jun

US. Pensions under fire after PE underperforms

For decades, state pension funds have relied on the private equity industry to invest retirement savings for teachers, firefighters and other public-sector employees. But in recent years, critics of alternative assets have argued that pension managers, who oversee some $4.5 trillion across the US, would be better served investing in low-cost index funds that track the S&P 500 and avoiding PE's high fees. This past week, public pension fund managers threw PE detractors more red meat, raising larger questions about...

June 14, 2021
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11Jun

Pensions – 5 things for policy makers to close the gender pensions gap

Three tenths (30%) of women do not have any private or workplace pensions, and will receive a state pension only at retirement, almost double the amount of men (17%) in the same position – showing that women have less savings and are less prepared for a financially stable retirement. • The pensions gap widens even more, later in life. Almost two fifths (38%) of women over 55 will rely on a state pension only, compared to 17% of men...

June 11, 2021
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11Jun

Kenya. Pension payments fast-tracked as Treasury proposes stiffer measures

National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani revealed that a national retirement policy that will harmonise pension-related laws and enhance accountability is in the pipeline and will be ready by the end of this year. While unveiling Kenya’s 2021/2022 Ksh3.03 trillion budget in Parliament, Yatani said the policy seeks to achieve comprehensive pension coverage across the formal and informal sector so as to protect the interests of beneficiaries and rights of pension contributors. “Mr. Speaker, given the disparities in the design of the...

June 11, 2021
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