June 2021
08Jun

UK pension funds sign up to Net Zero Asset Owner Commitment

UK pension funds are amongst the new signatories to the Paris-Aligned Investment Initiative's Net-Zero Asset Owner Commitment. Read also GE to freeze U.K. pension plans outh Yorkshire Pension Fund, Wiltshire Pension Fund and TPT Retirement Solutions join Europe's largest pension fund, ABP, the Church of Sweden and National Trust in signing up to the commitment. Read also UK. A third of DB schemes now have professional trustees The Paris-Aligned Investment Initiative is a collaborative investor-led international forum that enables signatories to align their...

June 8, 2021
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08Jun

Hong Kong’s departing residents withdrew $248.9 million in pension funds in Q1

Hong Kong residents leaving the city for good withdrew a total of HK$1.931 billion ($248.92 million) from their Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension accounts in the first quarter of 2021, up 49.1% from the same period a year earlier. A total of 7,700 claims were made during the first quarter. That compared with 7,600 claims during the same period in 2020, when HK$1.295 billion was withdrawn, data from the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority released late on Monday showed. (https://bit.ly/3geyWKC). Read...

June 8, 2021
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08Jun

New Zealand Pension Fund Allocates 5% to Bitcoin

Fernando Alberca | bottom KiwiSaver Growth Strategy, which manages $350 million retirement plans, has allocated 5% of its portfolio to bitcoin, as reported by New Zealand’s Stuff News Agency. The pension fund started investing in crypto assets in October 2020, so This first purchase has already increased to 600% in just six months. In the opinion of James Gregor, chief investment officer at New Zealand Funds Management, operator of the KiwiSaver Growth Strategy Fund, “If investing in gold sounds right...

June 8, 2021
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08Jun

ForUsAll Debuts the ‘Alt 401(k)’ to Provide In-Plan Cryptocurrency Access

Another cryptocurrency foray into 401ks was announced today. ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, introduced the Alt 401(k), its turnkey retirement investment platform that allows employers to provide alternative investment options within 401k plans—what the company is calling a “first of its kind.” Read also US. Pensions Are Almost Fully Funded and Coming for Your Bonds The San Francisco-based fintech company is enabling employers to offer cryptocurrency as the plan’s first alternative investment by selecting Coinbase Institutional, a leading cryptocurrency...

June 8, 2021
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08Jun

U.K. investors question 20% illiquids cap proposal

Corporate pension funds are concerned that the U.K. regulator's plan to limit illiquid investments to 20% of portfolios could force them to alter their current strategies. The Pensions Regulator proposed in March that illiquid assets should not make up more than 20% of portfolios — a big departure from current regulations that state investments should "predominantly" be held in assets traded on regulated markets. The current rules are interpreted to mean that pension funds should not invest more than 50% in...

June 8, 2021
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07Jun

France Says Controversial Pension Reform Is Key to Woo Investors

President Emmanuel Macron’s government isn’t abandoning its controversial plan to reform the French pension system, hammering home the argument that it’s key to attracting foreign investors. “We’ll keep working on the pension reform,” France’s Delegate Minister for Foreign Trade Franck Riester told Bloomberg News. “It shows we are committed to keep improving the business environment in France.” Read also French Senate passes social security draft budget, revives pensions polemic Macron came to power in 2017 with a pledge to boost growth and...

June 7, 2021
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07Jun

Canada. Ontario’s newest university pension plan has a chance to get divestment right

On July 1, the University Pension Plan (UPP) will take responsibility for the pensions of faculty and staff at three of Ontario’s biggest universities: Guelph, Queen’s and Toronto. The UPP launch comes fast on the heels of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) recent bombshell report that makes a powerful case for decarbonizing the global energy system. The usually conservative and historically pro-fossil fuel body released its new Net‐Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario that charts a pathway to limit global...

June 7, 2021
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07Jun

India. Punjab doubles social security monthly pension

Punjab is all set to hike the social security monthly pension from Rs 750 to Rs 1500 from July 1. A notification has been issued by the social security, women and child development department in this regard. An official spokesperson of the department said that the notification has paved way for doubling the pension for old age, handicapped persons, widow and destitute women besides dependent children in line with state government's commitment made during the budget session this year to ensure...

June 7, 2021
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07Jun

UK. MMMM calls on DC pension providers to commit to net zero

The Make My Money Matter (MMMM) campaign has written to the CEOs of 20 of the UK's leading defined contribution (DC) pension providers to urge them to agree to “robust, ambitious, and front-loaded” net-zero targets ahead of COP26. The letter, from MMMM CEO, Tony Burdon, called on the 20 companies, representing over £175bn of assets under management, to join the campaign and commit to net-zero pensions, including halving emissions this decade. Burdon also noted that, since the group's launch in 2020,...

June 7, 2021
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04Jun

EIOPA issues Guidelines on the supervisory reporting for the Pan-European Personal Pension Product

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority published today the Guidelines on the supervisory reporting regarding the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP) to ensure the common, uniform and consistent application of the PEPP Regulation's reporting requirements. The Guidelines complement the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/895 and the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/896 and regulate the applicable reporting deadlines for the PEPP providers to the competent authorities in line with the relevant sectoral rules in place. Furthermore, the Guidelines define the requirements of...

June 4, 2021
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