March 2021
11Mar

US. House Passes $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 Stimulus Package; Biden Plans to Sign Friday — Update

The House passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief bill and sent it to President Biden for his signature, with Democrats muscling an expansive round of new spending and antipoverty measures through Congress just as America begins to emerge from a year of pandemic-related shutdowns. Read also Puerto Rico debt-restructuring plan filed amid criticism The relief bill offers a $1,400 check to many Americans, an extension of a $300 weekly jobless-aid supplement, and a one-year expansion of the child tax credit. It also...

March 11, 2021
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11Mar

Responsible investing in different cultural contexts – Latin America

By Daniela Laurel Last week, we began with an investigation of how different geographies are engaged in Responsible Investment and Sustainable Finance practice. We kicked off with Europe and North America and today we continue with this series, focusing on Latin America before moving on to Africa and then ending with Asia Pacific. Reiterating an earlier caveat, we cannot generalize how an entire nation or population behaves and simply try our best to spot some cultural trends that stand out...

March 11, 2021
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11Mar

OECD countries all guilty of gender pensions gap

Women in OECD countries receive around a quarter less income than men from the pension system. According to the organisation’s research into gender pensions gaps in member countries, women over 65 take 26% less retirement income than their male counterparts. Its report echoes findings by pensions company Scottish Widows earlier this week that younger women could save £100,000 less into their pension than men over the course of their careers. The OECD found that the gap originated for a number of reasons,...

March 11, 2021
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11Mar

India. NPS Scheme: PFRDA empowers National Pension System subscribers by offering this facility – Check benefits

NPS Scheme: The National Pension System (NPS) subscribers have been given Immediate Payment System (IMPS) facility enabling them with an instant money transfer from their bank account to their NPS account. This will help them avail of the benefit of the same day investment provided by the NPS contributions. The functionality of accepting IMPS has been released with effect from 1st March 2021. However, unlike the contributions received through NEFT/RTGS which are returned on the same day in case of...

March 11, 2021
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11Mar

Regulation and economics converge in ESG

By Sarah Rundell Investors from Schroders, Trillium and PensionDanmark discuss how a changing regulatory picture and the economics of sustainable investment are coming together to create a tipping point in ESG, but they warn their peers to look beyond the label to what is on the inside. In keeping with being one of the first investors in wind energy years ago, Denmark’s PensionDanmark was also an original investor in the country’s state of the art energy island in the North Sea....

March 11, 2021
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10Mar

Nigeria. PenCom Approves N5.33bn as More Contributors Withdraw Pension Funds

Pension Fund Administrators(PFA) are under stress as a result of continuous demands for withdrawals by contributors into the Contributory Pension Scheme. This is as a result of increased job losses due to harsh economic environment. In the last quarter of 2020, the situation compelled the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to approve N5.33 billion to enable PFAs provide succor to 11,796 account holders who found themselves out of jobs. The development was attributed to the impact of the COVID-19. According to PenCom, a total...

March 10, 2021
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10Mar

Puerto Rico debt-restructuring plan filed amid criticism

A framework that outlines how Puerto Rico will restructure at least $35 billion in public debt and more than $50 billion in public pension liabilities threatens a 10% cut to certain public pensions if no agreement is reached with retirees. The amended plan of adjustment of 233 pages was filed late Monday in U.S. court by a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances and was created by Congress to lift the U.S. territory’s government out of bankruptcy. The plan...

March 10, 2021
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10Mar

Australia. Age Pension increase for mid March

This announcement follows the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety's Final Report, tabled into Parliament on 26 February 2021, which outlined the necessary changes needed in the aged care sector From 20 March, 2021, all social security payments will be increased, including the Carer Payment. The Age Pension was not raised last September, which the peak body for older people, National Seniors Australia, says was the first time there was no increase to cover the cost of living in the...

March 10, 2021
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10Mar

Many over-55s could be heading for retirement income shortfall, says survey

Many over-55s who are approaching retirement risk exhausting their pension savings early, a survey suggests. A quarter (25%) of those aged 55 to 64 who are still working said they were only budgeting for their retirement income to last 10 years or less, Standard Life found. One in eight (12%) are planning for their retirement income to support them for just one to five years. Three in 10 (29%) over-55s expect to need the same amount of cash each year throughout their...

March 10, 2021
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09Mar

Banks, pensions, and sovereign funds fail to achieve gender balance, finds OMFIF

By Madeleine Taylor Less than 1 per cent of central banks, sovereign funds, public pension funds and commercial banks have achieved gender balance within their workforces, according to a comprehensive survey by Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF). Think tank OMFIF surveyed 540 institutions on gender diversity among senior staff, and found only three that had achieved perfect scores for gender balance among their senior staff, while another 12 were “close to achieving balance”. The three highest ranking institutions were US...

March 9, 2021
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