September 2020

17Sep

Manulife launches market’s first MPF retirement income fund, aiming to provide regular and stable income in retirement

For Manulife Global Select (MPF) Scheme You should consider your own risk tolerance level and financial circumstances before making any investment choices. When, in your selection of constituent funds or the Default Investment Strategy ("DIS"), you are in doubt as to whether a certain constituent fund or the DIS is suitable for you (including whether it is consistent with your investment objectives), you should seek independent financial and/or professional advice and make investment choices most suitable for you taking...

September 17, 2020
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17Sep

UK. Small pension schemes face winding up or consolidation if they can’t demonstrate value

Getting a good return on the money you put aside in your pension is crucial if you want to enjoy a comfortable retirement. And new rules from the Government should make that just a little bit easier. The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) has published new draft rules, which aim to force defined contribution pension schemes to prove they offer value to savers or else face being wound up. Trustees of pension schemes will be expected to...

September 17, 2020
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17Sep

UK. Has your state pension been underpaid? Pressure grows on government to tackle issue

State pension: Campaigners have launched the next stage in their campaign, as they call on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to use their records to track down all the women who are missing out and receiving underpaid state pension payments. Pressure on the Government when it comes to the issue of women who have been underpaid via their state pension payments has risen, following the tabling of a new petition on Parliament's website. The petition has ben...

September 17, 2020
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17Sep

US. DOL Issues Guidance for Including Lifetime Income Disclosures in Defined Contribution Benefit Plan Statements

As required by the SECURE Act of 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published an interim final rule requiring plan administrators of individual account plans (including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and other defined contribution plans) to express a participant’s current account balance as both a single life annuity and a qualified joint and survivor annuity income stream. These new disclosures are intended to help participants better understand how the amount of money they saved so far converts into...

September 17, 2020
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15Sep

MetLife to Face Appeal of Suit Over $500 Million Annuity Error

A group of MetLife Inc. investors will ask Delaware’s top court to revive oversight claims over the insurer’s practice of downplaying its liabilities by counting pensioners as dead if they didn’t respond to its letters, instead of consulting official records. The lawsuit, dismissed by a Chancery Court judge in August, concerned MetLife’s “pension risk transfer” operations, a long-running business line that involves managing pension obligations for employers. The insurer for decades based its annuity payments on letters sent to...

September 15, 2020
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15Sep

UK. Government encourages pension schemes to invest in green tech and infrastructure

Measures aimed at encouraging pension schemes to invest in a more diverse range of long term assets, including green technology and infrastructure, have been outlined by the government. It has launched a consultation and is seeking views on additional steps to encourage the consolidation of smaller pension schemes into larger schemes. The government believes a key wider benefit of an increase in consolidation could be the increased share of assets saved in large, defined contribution (DC) schemes potentially able to...

September 15, 2020
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15Sep

Australia. Aged care workforce stressed and under pressure

Most Australian aged care managers reported an increased workload and stress in a recent survey, as industry experts warned immediate action is needed to stop staff walking away. A survey of more than 250 residential aged care providers by risk and compliance advisors CompliSpace found 78 per cent of managers felt under more stress and 92 percent were doing more paperwork since the introduction of the Aged Care Quality Standards. CompliSpace chief executive officer David Griffiths said the sector...

September 15, 2020
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14Sep

S. Korea’s state pensions to face steep shortfall in 20 yrs: report

South Korea’s state-managed pension and insurance funds may dry up earlier than expected, suggesting the need of dramatic changes to cope with demographic trends and funding shortfalls in the foreseeable future, a government report projected. According to the fiscal outlook report for 2020-2060 by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, state-run National Pension Service, the world’s third largest pension fund, is estimated to return to a net loss by 2040 if conditions remain unchanged from now. The analysis projects...

September 14, 2020
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14Sep

UK. Credit downgrades present ‘serious challenges’ for pension schemes – AXA IM

A fall in the average credit quality of fixed income indices and increased competition for high-quality assets presents “serious challenges” for pension schemes, AXA Investment Managers (IM) has warned. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, rating agencies have down graded over £778bn of corporate issues across global indices, leaving high quality assets in “short supply” during a period of rising demand. AXA IM Buy and Maintain credit team portfolio manager, Simon Baxter, stated that the concentration in high grade...

September 14, 2020
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14Sep

US. How the Secure Act Could Affect Retirement Savers

In December 2019, the federal government passed into law a set of reforms designed to help Americans achieve retirement security The legislation—known as the Secure Act—broadens access to tax-advantaged retirement-savings accounts and lets Americans keep money in such accounts longer, among other things. In recent months, worries about Americans’ retirement security have been heightened by the coronavirus pandemic. The mass unemployment caused by Covid-19 is a reminder of why people need retirement savings in the first place. So how...

September 14, 2020
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