October 2019

08Oct

US. GE is freezing its pension plan for 20,000 US workers

General Electric announced Monday it will freeze its US pension plan for about 20,000 workers to help clean up the company's beleaguered balance sheet.Years of inattention, low interest rates and shrinking profits have left GE with one of the largest pension shortfalls in Corporate America.GE (GE) said it will pre-fund $4 billion to $5 billion of its pension obligations for 2021 and 2022 and offer lump-sum payouts to 100,000 former employees who have not started their monthly payments yet. GE is also...

October 8, 2019
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08Oct

UK. ESG requirements after 1 October 2019

ESG is not a new concept, but in the run up to the 1 October 2019 deadline for trustees to include changes to occupational pension scheme statements of investment principles (SIPs), many trustees will have become more aware of ESG. In this article we consider what other changes are on the horizon. What is ESG? As a recap ESG relates to taking into account environmental, social and governance considerations that affect returns on investment, whether positively or negatively. What changes have we...

October 8, 2019
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08Oct

4 reasons the corporate pension is on its deathbed

General Electric's move to significantly lower its pension liabilities is simply the latest in a sweeping corporate pivot away from guaranteed retirement benefits. GE on Monday announced that it would offer lump-sum pension buyouts to about 100,000 former U.S. employees who have not yet begun receiving their pensions.  The company, which has been facing pressure to bolster its finances, also announced plans to freeze pension benefits for about 20,700 salaried pensioners at current levels. Taken together, the moves illustrate how corporate America has largely ditched pensions,...

October 8, 2019
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08Oct

Japan. Excessive concern over public pension

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry’s Social Security Council in late August released its report to examine sustainability of the public pension system every five years. This time, the report received particular attention since it followed the recent controversy as to whether public pension benefits are enough to cover people’s retirement expenses. However, misguided comments on the issue flooded social media and blogs, and some of the mass-media reports tended to present a one-sided coverage. Read also Japan. World’s Largest...

October 8, 2019
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07Oct

China’s Ministry of Finance transfers more assets to boost pension system

China’s Ministry of Finance is continuing its efforts to boost the country’s creaking pension system by transferring its stakes in financial state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to the social security fund, reported Caixin. Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed Bank of Communications Co. Ltd., one of China’s five largest state-owned banks by assets, announced that the finance ministry will transfer 10% of its shares in the bank to the government-backed National Council for Social Security Fund. The shares were worth RMB 10.7 billion...

October 7, 2019
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07Oct

UK. The Guardian view on women’s pensions: a feminist issue

Some means must be found to ease the hardship faced by the 1950s-born women worst affected by pension age changes. Last week the high court rejected the arguments in a judicial review brought by the campaign group BackTo60. The group argued that changes to the law in 1995 and 2011 were discriminatory on grounds of sex and age, and that 3.8 million women should be compensated. But while last Thursday’s loss was a setback, the campaign is far from...

October 7, 2019
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07Oct

Norway’s largest pension fund KLP exits oil sands companies

KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, will no longer invest in companies deriving their income from oil sands, and recently sold stocks and bonds in such firms worth about $58 million, it said on Monday. Oil sands have been a focal point of environmental groups’ global efforts to stifle energy production from fossil fuels, saying they take an especially large toll on the environment. KLP’s decision affects five companies, which were added to its exclusion list: Canada’s Cenovus Energy, Suncor...

October 7, 2019
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07Oct

Zimbabwe. Pensioners to get express cash

The Government is working with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and banks to ensure that pensioners access cash for their pension payouts. The country has been experiencing cash shortages that have seen members of the public literally camping at banking institutions who are failing to satisfy their clients. The hardest hit, however, are pensioners, with some now being forced to sleep on bank pavements for more than a night in anticipation of cash. Minister of Public Service, Labour ...

October 7, 2019
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07Oct

South Africa. Prescribed assets would upset the rationale for pension funds

One of the main criticisms of prescribed assets is that forcing pension funds into these investments would hurt individual savers. Besides the market distortions that prescribed assets would create, everyone understands that they would deliver below market returns. Under South Africa’s previous dalliance with prescribed assets, this impact was primarily felt by employers. This is because pension funds back then were run in a different way – they were all based on defined benefits. This meant each member did...

October 7, 2019
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07Oct

US. Impeachment And Your Retirement

Here’s why they are related The financial advice industry is known for having strong opinions. Politics is like that too. Especially these days. To be clear, this is NOT a political commentary. I direct you to a zillion other locations on the internet for that. Likewise, it seems to me that people within 10 years either side of retirement (hoping to retire within 10 years or retired within the last 10 years) are bombarded with...

October 7, 2019
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