June 2021
11Jun

US. Public pensions lose on hedge funds — again

By Brett Arends One of these days I’m going to write about a bunch of retirees and future retirees who have just made a ton of extra money thanks to the financial brilliance of elite, exclusive, high-fee hedge funds. Today, however, is not that day. Instead, here comes more news about a public pension fund allegedly missing out on billions of dollars because of hedge funds and other high-fee funds. And the news that retirement systems and other institutional investors continue to pour...

June 11, 2021
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11Jun

GE to freeze U.K. pension plans

General Electric Co said on Thursday it would freeze pension benefits for about 2,700 employees in the United Kingdom from January and take a related charge. GE’s pension benefit obligation in the U.K. was about $14 billion at the end of 2020. The company’s pension plan has been closed to new entrants in the UK since September 2011. “The affected employees will automatically be enrolled into GE’s existing defined contribution scheme,” the company said. GE, which makes power plants and aircraft engines,...

June 11, 2021
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10Jun

Switzerland raises retirement age for women to 65

At Switzerland Women should work up to age 65 in the future. This was decided by the National Assembly, the second chamber of Parliament, after intense discussion. Her retirement age was previously 64 years. Read also Kenya. Pension payments fast-tracked as Treasury proposes stiffer measures The move aims to bring financial stability to the State Pension Fund (AHV) through 2030. The Greens and Social Democrats spoke unanimously against it and demanded that the National Bank’s profits be used instead to provide...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

UK. A third of DB schemes now have professional trustees

According to data obtained from the Pensions Regulator through a Freedom of Information request, 32 per cent of DB schemes used a professional trustee company in 2020-21, which compares with 20.1 per cent in 2015-16. This means one in three DB schemes now use a professional trustee company, while in 2015 only one in five pension funds used these services. LCP stated that the rise was due to the increased complexity and weight of new regulation, requirements and guidance on DB...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

Angela Merkel – Germany’s Scholz rejects further hike of retirement age to 68

Angela Merkel – Germany’s Scholz rejects further hike of retirement age to 68 Olaf Scholz, German Finance Minister and Chancellor candidate of the Social Democratic party SPD for the upcoming September general elections speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, Germany June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday a proposal by economic advisers to raise the retirement age further to 68 was wrong and that citizens could rely...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

Fintech Plum expands into retirement savings

Fintech company Plum is launching its first-ever pension product with the subscription-free Plum Sipp. It is designed to get a new generation engaged with their lifetime finances. The Sipp can be found alongside customers’ day-to-day spending, saving and other investments in the Plum app. The onboarding system consists of six steps, so customers can use the pension platform, consolidate their old pensions or start making automatic payments straightaway. According to Plum customers benefit from its smart saving algorithm designed to tuck away as...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

UK. Employers Feeling More Responsibility in a Post-Pandemic Workforce

Lasting impacts brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic have caused major barriers for employees to reach financial wellness and retirement readiness goals. As a result, BlackRock says, more plan sponsors are taking steps to tackle the changing environment for their workers. The 2021 “BlackRock DC Pulse Survey” found that 61% of the 225 large defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors surveyed said at least half of their employees faced negative impacts with their retirement readiness. Fifty-two percent of employers also noted...

June 10, 2021
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09Jun

U.K. government to mandate climate risk assessment by retirement plans

U.K. retirement plans with at least £5 billion ($7.1 billion) in assets will be required to assess and publicly report climate change risks in their portfolios starting in October under regulations presented to Parliament on Tuesday. The new regulations, which are subject to parliamentary debate, fall under the Pension Schemes Act 2021 and will require trustees to identify and evaluate climate risks and opportunities that may affect investment strategies over the short, medium and long terms. Investors will also be required...

June 9, 2021
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09Jun

US. Pensions Are Almost Fully Funded and Coming for Your Bonds

A “massive rotation” into corporate bonds from equities may be on the horizon for U.S. pension funds as they become fully funded, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. Investment gains boosted the funded ratio of the 100 largest corporate plans to 98.8% in May, according to Milliman. That measure of defined benefit pension assets to liabilities has surged from 82% since July 2020, data from the risk management firm show. If interest rates continue to rise, BofA expects the...

June 9, 2021
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09Jun

Pensions industry should use tech to sustain the savings boom

It has been a tough year for many, and experts agree that the economic fallout of 2020 has hit the self-employed particularly hard. But among the bad news stories lurks a glimmer of hope from an unexpected source: the world of private pensions. It certainly has not been smooth sailing – when Covid-19 hit, there was a sharp halt to pension contributions. New sign-ups to our own service dropped by a staggering 90 per cent in the first week of lockdown. However,...

June 9, 2021
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