May 2021
18May

Aon to sell pension, investment consulting units in Germany to LCP

Aon agreed to sell its pension consulting, pension administration and investment consulting businesses in Germany to consultant Lane Clark & Peacock as the firm seeks to secure clearance from the European Commission for its merger with Willis Towers Watson. In a news release Monday, Aon said the deal with LCP "resolves questions raised by the European Commission with respect to the markets in which these businesses are active." The commission has been investigating competition issues related to the Aon-WTW merger...

May 18, 2021
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18May

UK pension fund USS buys half of 4-GW solar platform in Spain

UK private pension fund, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), has made a deal to acquire a 50% stake in Spain-based renewables platform Bruc Energy, it was announced on Monday. Bruc Energy operates as an investment vehicle of Spanish fund manager Bruc Management and is focused on solar photovoltaic (PV) assets in Spain and Portugal. The vehicle is co-owned by Canadian pension fund OPTrust and Juan Bejar, Spanish businessman and chairman of Bruc Management. USS has invested EUR 225 million (USD 273m)...

May 18, 2021
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18May

Managing a Retirement Plan Doesn’t Have to Be a Headache

COVID-19 wreaked havoc on our economy. Customers vanished and supply lines evaporated, as employees adjusted to a new paradigm of working from home. Wild swings in securities markets were a symptom of the pandemic. C-suite executives, who also found themselves working remotely, are still being pulled in multiple directions. Among the hardest-hit industries have been retail, oil & gas, hospitality and travel. In the past year, we’ve seen top national brands such as J.Crew and Neiman Marcus seeking reorganization under...

May 18, 2021
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17May

Spain. Government And Social Agents Will Evaluate The Formula For Raising Pensions

The soap opera of the revaluation of pensions could close the chapter. The Government and the social partners will carry out, within the framework of social dialogue, a periodic evaluation every five years of the effects of the new formula for the revaluation of pensions with the CPI, to which the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations finally agreed. , José Luis Escrivá , for the maintenance of purchasing power. This is reflected in the draft agreement on pensions...

May 17, 2021
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17May

Jamaica. Senator proposes to scrap NIS contributory system

Opposition Senator Damion Crawford has proposed that a portion of the general consumption tax (GCT) collected by the Government be used to pay pensions. In his proposal to scrap the current National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributory system, Crawford pointed out that many Jamaicans are reluctant to pay over funds to the NIS, and only about 20 per cent subscribe to any pension scheme. Many, he said, are left destitute when they reach retirement. Employees and self-employed persons are required to be insured...

May 17, 2021
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17May

Australia. More risks than rewards seen in super fund reforms

Australia's government is counting on superannuation system reforms to get employees to play a greater role in maximizing their retirement savings, but industry participants fear more harm than good. Analysts warn the Your Future, Your Super reforms — outlined last October in Australia's 2021 budget proposal and set to take effect July 1 — are likely to constrain asset allocators and hurt the disengaged workers the reforms are ostensibly focused on helping. A final round of consultations, under the auspices of...

May 17, 2021
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17May

The transition of financial services to ESG and green finance

As we tackle one of the biggest global crises of our time, green and sustainable issues are becoming more critical than ever for business leaders in the financial services sector. Julian Wells, director and financial services & FinTech lead at Whitecap Consulting, shares some perspectives. Sustainability in business has tended to be primarily associated with long-term commercial performance issues such as with balance sheet strength, brand reputation, and enterprise value. Now, there is an additional movement gaining significant momentum and...

May 17, 2021
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14May

China population: state pension fund under pressure from ‘unprecedented challenge’ as nation gets older

This is the fifth in a series of stories about China’s once-a-decade census conducted in 2020. The world’s most populous nation released its national demographic data on Tuesday, and the figures will have far-reaching social policy and economic implications. Zhao Baidong, a 28-year-old property agent in Beijing, would like to travel when he retires, but with China and its state pension system facing a “challenge unprecedented in human history” as its population gets older, he is concerned he might be...

May 14, 2021
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14May

Can green fintechs solve the polluting pension problem?

Fintechs have seen green, launching apps that help us track the carbon emissions of our shopping habits, play the stock market in a planet-friendly way and even fight plastic pollution with our debit cards. These offerings are nudging consumers towards better behaviours, but there is one far bigger and far less sexy financial problem this crop of startups now wants to tackle. Pensions. A new survey from YouGov and Money Matter found that 44% of people would switch over to a...

May 14, 2021
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14May

NFTs And Your Retirement Account

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been a hot asset class in 2021. Through the end of March, the combined market cap of major NFT projects was up 1,785%, year to date. As the name suggests, a non-fungible asset is meant to be a unique asset that is non-fungible. This means an NFT cannot be interchanged with other assets of the same type. This is what is particularly exciting about them for many investors. Each NFT is made up of information that...

May 14, 2021
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