February 2020

14Feb

Canadian defined benefit pension plans generated second-highest returns in a decade: RBC Investor & Treasury Services

To mark the end of a decade characterized by fintech disruptors, geopolitical tensions and regulatory changes, Canadian defined benefit pension plans returned 14.0 per cent in 2019, according to the RBC Investor & Treasury Services All Plan Universe. This was the second highest annual return over the past 10 years, in large part due to an upsurge in Canadian and global equity markets. "Over the past 10 years, the average Canadian Defined Benefits plan has generated an annualized return...

February 14, 2020
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14Feb

Denmark’s Largest Pension Fund to Launch Sustainable Vehicle

By Michael Katz PFA, Denmark’s largest pension fund with DKK560 billion ($82 billion) in assets, is launching a pension product that allows participants to invest their retirement savings in climate-focused investments that it says will be carbon neutral in five years at the latest. Beginning this summer, PFA Climate Plus will be available to the fund’s customers to allow them the opportunity to “significantly step up” how much their pensions contribute to cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the fund said. “As Denmark’s...

February 14, 2020
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14Feb

Ireland. Hundreds of community employment scheme supervisors to strike

Hundreds of community employment (CE) scheme supervisors are to hold a one-day strike on Friday over access to a pension scheme. The supervisors will join with staff working in organisations providing health and social care services that receive State grant-aid (known as section 39 bodies) at a protest to be held in Dublin on Friday. In addition, section 39 workers are scheduled to take industrial action on February 21st in a dispute over pay restoration. The rally is being...

February 14, 2020
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13Feb

U.K. Moves to Require Pensions to Disclose Climate Change Plans

British pension funds may soon need to explain how they are fighting climate change under a global framework as the U.K. aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The U.K.’s Department for Work and Pensions said Wednesday that it proposed an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill that would require pensions to disclose their climate change strategies under the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, a voluntary framework that is widely used by companies. Also Read UK. Government mulls tax...

February 13, 2020
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13Feb

World Bank economic report urges Uganda to step up social protection

The World Bank has today released the 14th Uganda Economic Update which has focused on social protection systems in Uganda and proposes a more effective approach to reduce vulnerability and to support more inclusive growth. The report indicates that the coverage and design of social protection programs are currently insufficient to meaningfully address the range and scope of vulnerabilities to shocks in Uganda. It indicates that the existing direct income support programs in Uganda have low coverage, with...

February 13, 2020
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13Feb

South Africa. Trade union oppose plans to finance Eskom with pension fund

South African trade union Solidarity announced that it has started a legal process to stop plans to financing Eskom from the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF). The union says it has written a letter to the GEPF as well as the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), and it is demanding that the Trustees and the Board of these institutions should not accept the controversial plan to finance Eskom from the Fund. In the letter, Solidarity called the Trustees’ attention to...

February 13, 2020
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13Feb

Gig economy sucking super savings dry

By  Ally Selby  It's causing everyday Aussies to retire with much less, forcing the country's taxpayers to carry the added costs, according to a Treasury submission by the Actuaries Institute. I n a paper submitted to the Treasury's Retirement Income Review Panel, the Institute warned of the new risks to Australia's superannuation system. "The gig economy... creates a new set of problems with respect to the superannuation guarantee (SG) system," it said. "It provides people with different types of jobs...

February 13, 2020
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13Feb

A low birth rate and a rapidly ageing population: Europe’s demographic crisis explained

Europe's population is getting older. Between now and 2030, most EU countries will see the number of workers over 50 increase to 55% of their overall labour force. The European Commission forecasts that spending on healthcare for older people and pensions (currently 25% of GDP in the EU), will rise 2.3 percentage points by 2040. The demographic challenges vary across the EU. Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain are among the top-10 countries in the world with the lowest fertility...

February 13, 2020
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12Feb

ABP: accelerating sustainability with investments

Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP has expressed a desire to break away from ‘dirty’ investments and focus on sustainability instead. In a press release on the company’s website, ABP set out its goal to reduce its investment portfolio in high CO2 emitting industries (coal mines and tar sands) by 40% by 2025. Concurrently, the company intends to invest €15bn in sustainable energy instead. With an overall strategy aimed at gradually weaning off companies that use fossil fuels to...

February 12, 2020
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12Feb

UK. State pension warning: Retirement age set to increase even further in just two years

The state pension age for men and women is currently 65 but will increase to 66 by October 2020. The pension age will then rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. However, it is “likely” the age will increase further as the Government will review the system from 2023. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Age UK policy expert, Sally West said: “The legislation has been passed to increase the state pension from 66 later this year. “There’s also a law that’s...

February 12, 2020
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