November 2020

17Nov

Is America’s Largest Pension Fund Gambling With Risky Tech Stocks?

In a desperate bid to boost return in a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty, the nation’s largest public pension fund is piling in on notoriously risky tech stocks. In the third quarter, California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS, which manages $389 billion in assets for more than two million public service employees, bought over half a billion dollar worth of shares of Nikola, Nio, Tesla and Zoom, the pension fund revealed in an SEC filing earlier this month....

November 17, 2020
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17Nov

Canada public pension managers questioned on U.S. fossil fuel investments

Public-sector pension plan managers in Canada are being asked to explain their investments in an energy company building a new fossil fuel facility on the West Coast. The US$310-million liquefied natural gas facility, called Tacoma LNG, is being built at the Port of Tacoma by Puget Sound Energy (PSE), a utility in the state of Washington, and is expected to be completed next year. Proponents of the facility, like the utility, the port and a union working on the...

November 17, 2020
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16Nov

Chile’s famed pensions system faces an existential crisis

Chile’s celebrated $200bn private pensions system has served as a model for dozens of emerging markets since it was introduced in the 1980s. Now, it faces an existential crisis as public support for the model fades and populist politicians allow savers to withdraw funds during the coronavirus crisis. The lower house of congress voted to allow Chileans to withdraw another 10 per cent of their pension funds last week, following a similar measure in July that saw withdrawals of some...

November 16, 2020
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16Nov

Zimbabwe. Retirees Watch Pensions Evaporate Amid Currency Chaos

Employees paid into their pensions for decades. By the time they retired, much of that money had disappeared. The line forms early outside a local bank in Harare. As the sun rises over Zimbabwe’s capital city, the crowd begins to sweat. Men with knobkerries, a kind of walking stick, and women adorned with headscarves lean on the bank’s walls. Some collapse on the stairs, tired and waiting. Always waiting. Every month, these pensioners stand in an hours-long line to collect...

November 16, 2020
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13Nov

The $75 Billion UN Pension Fund: Kicking Reforms Down the Road

A new governance study has confirmed what many United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund observers have long surmised: there are significant variances between the fund’s own operations and best practices and those of pension funds elsewhere. The areas reviewed by Mosaic Governance Advisors, who prepared the study, include standards of professional and ethical conduct, conflicts of interest and oversight of culture. There were certainly clues as to problems: two internal audits conducted by the UN Office of Internal Oversight...

November 13, 2020
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13Nov

Nigeria. NSE Fixed Income Market capitalization hits N17 trillion

Despite the impact of the pandemic on businesses and incomes, the market capitalization of fixed income securities appreciated to over N17 trillion as at October 2020. This was revealed by the Divisional Head, Listing Business at the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market, Mr. Olumide Bolumole, in a webinar hosted by the Exchange in collaboration with Oduá Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday 11 November, 2020. Despite the impact of the pandemic on businesses and incomes, the market capitalization...

November 13, 2020
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13Nov

UK pensions regulator warns on employer insolvency

The trustees of British defined benefit - or final salary - pension schemes must be ready for possible employer distress or insolvency to protect their members as COVID-19 impacts the economy, the country's pensions watchdog said on Thursday. "Trustees are the first line of defence for savers," Mike Birch, director of supervision at The Pensions Regulator said in a statement. "The faster they act, the more options and greater time they'll have to protect members' retirements. Trustees should know...

November 13, 2020
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13Nov

Pension Fund Climate Change Lawsuit Settles

A lawsuit filed by an environmental scientist in Australia against his pension fund for not adequately disclosing or assessing the effect of climate change on its investments has been settled. Bloomberg reports that the Retail Employees Superannuation Trust, commonly referred to as Rest, has committed to net zero emissions in its portfolio by 2050. The fund also said it would “enhance its consideration” of such risks when making investments, publicly reveal its holdings and monitor the approach of its...

November 13, 2020
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12Nov

UK regulator urges united front on pension scams

The initiative - launched on 10 November with support from the Pension Scams Industry Group (PSIG) - encourages providers, advisers and pension scheme trustees to support a pledge to take all possible action to reduce and protect members from scams, and includes clear guidance around appropriate due diligence and best practice. The watchdog is calling on the industry to publicly pledge their support for the initiative. According to Action Fraud, more than £30m has been lost to pension...

November 12, 2020
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12Nov

US. California’s state pension fund pushes companies to cut their carbon pollution

Almost 2 million Californians receive a pension from CalPERS, the California Public Employees Retirement System. “Because we’re a pension fund, we rely on companies thriving in the economy to generate the returns, and we pay pensions out of that,” says Anne Simpson of CalPERS. She says climate change may put those investments at risk because extreme weather can hurt company profits. And if governments require cuts to carbon pollution, companies reliant on fossil fuels may lose money. “We need...

November 12, 2020
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