September 2020

Australia. Super must not become a meagre pension: Labor

Superannuation should not replace a meagre government-funded pension for a meagre privately-funded one, Labor's financial services spokesman Stephen Jones will argue on Wednesday. He will also demand that the government release its long-awaited retirement income review to provide better information in the current debate on superannuation. In a speech to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia, Mr Jones will say that by 2065, there will be about three workers for every one retired person, down from a ratio of...

Using behavioral insights to make the most of emergency social protection cash transfers

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, countries across the globe have been adapting social assistance policies to support their populations. In fact, since March 2020, 139 countries and territories have planned, implemented, or adapted cash transfers to support their citizens. Cash transfers specifically make up about half of the social protection programs implemented to address the pandemic. Now more than ever, it’s crucial that such programs are designed to maximize impacts. Behavioral insights can be mobilized as a cost-effective...

Managers Of $40 Trillion Make Plans To Decarbonize The World

The Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) is a European group of global pension funds and investment managers, totaling over 1,200 members in 16 countries, who control more than $40 trillion in assets (€33 trillion). They have drawn up a plan to cut carbon in their portfolios to net-zero and hope other investors will join them. Read also One of Sweden’s Biggest Investors Starts ESG Pressure Campaign The group’s mission is to mobilize capital for a global low-carbon transition...

Philippines. 80% of senior citizens have no mandatory pension —Diokno

A huge majority of elderly Filipinos have no pension or retirement fund, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday. “Based on the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippines has around 7.6 million Filipinos aged 60 years old and above,” Diokno said during the virtual launch of the digital Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA), an investment tool for retirement. “Of this group, only 20% are covered by either SSS (Social Security System) or GSIS (Government...

UK. £2.5trn of pension assets at risk from scammers

Up to £2.5 trillion of pension assets are at risk of being lost to scammers, according to a new report. The research from The Police Federation and The People’s Pension concluded that greater powers are needed to help prevent transfers to suspected scam schemes. As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to cause a rise in pension fraud, the research from workplace pension provider The People’s Pension and policing think tank the Police Foundation, found that from 13 pension providers alone,...

ANC on prescribed assets in South Africa

The ANC’s head of Economic Transformation, Enoch Godongwana, says that the party is moving away from talk of ‘prescribed assets’ as economic policy, but still wants to find ways to ‘unlock’ South Africa’s pensions to assist with the country’s infrastructure goals. Godongwana was speaking to Insurance company Alexander Forbes in an interview on a range of economic topics, including the party’s plan for pensions and prescribed assets in South Africa. Read also South Africa. There’s a pensions train...

US. Should Pre-Retirees And Retirees Worry About The Presidential Election’s Impact On Their 401(k)?

It’s understandable if pre-retirees and retirees are nervous about the impact of the upcoming presidential election on their retirement savings, especially if they’re keeping up with the news these days. If they are, they might feel as if they’re being whipsawed between conflicting headlines they’ve read or heard in the media. For example, President Trump claims the stock market will crash if Biden is elected, but not if he himself is reelected. On the other hand, several recent news...

UK universities and staff face huge jump in pension contributions

UK universities and thousands of their staff face increased annual pension costs totalling billions of pounds under proposals to plug an estimated £18bn deficit in the sector’s main retirement scheme. Read also £15bn boost if UK scraps pensions triple-lock, says think tank The £67bn Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s largest private-sector pension fund, will on Monday lay out a range of options to reduce the burgeoning deficit, which was £3.6bn in 2018. Read also US. The crisis of multiemployer pension...

US. DOL´S mixed message for plan sponsors

The Labor Department is on a tear. In recent actions, it has opened the door for sponsors of defined contribution retirement plans to consider adding alternative investments such as private equity to their lineups. And it also sent a stern warning for both defined benefit and DC plan sponsors over including investments with an explicit ESG focus. More recently, it has proposed blocking an ERISA plan sponsor's ability to vote a proxy unless the issue has an economic impact on...

Canada. CPPIB announces $235M investment in GLP Japan logistics fund

On 4 September the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) confirmed its participation in the launch of a $2.6 billion Japanese logistics fund announced by GLP late last month, marking the latest cooperation between the pension fund manager and Asia’s largest logistics developer. CPPIB, which has backed GLP ventures in Japan since 2011, is committing JPY 25 billion ($235 million) to GLP Japan Income Fund (GLP JIF), an open-ended core vehicle which GLP and its partners have already seeded...