March 2017

16Mar

UK. BMW workers hold protests over pension scheme closure plans

Members of Unite held demonstrations at the Mini plant in Cowley, Oxfordshire, and the Hams Hall engine plant in the West Midlands. The union said closure of the BMW occupational pension scheme could see some workers lose up to £160,000 in retirement income. A ballot for industrial action is being held, with the result due at the end of the month. A BMW statement said: " BMW Group has always prided itself in providing excellent pensions for all its staff and wants...

March 16, 2017
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16Mar

Germany. Lufthansa, pilots agree wide-ranging deal on pay, pensions

Lufthansa and its pilots' union have reached agreement on a wide-ranging labour contract, including pay rises, changes to pension schemes and job creation, bringing an end to years of wrangling and strikes, the two sides said on Wednesday. The agreement on pensions and early retirement payments will boost the company's profit in 2017 and reduce its pension liabilities by a high hundred-million-euro amount, it said in a statement. In exchange, management has agreed that at least 325 of its planes will...

March 16, 2017
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15Mar

Public Pensions and the Assets That Could Sustain Them

For decades, when cash was scarce, corporate pension-plan sponsors have made in-kind contributions -- non-cash assets such as securities and real estate -- to fund their retirement plans. US Steel, for example, contributed 170,000 acres of timberland to meet its pension liabilities. General Motors used securities from a subsidiary company. Facing bankruptcy, Pan American World Airways transferred the lease for its flagship terminal at New York's Kennedy Airport to its pension funds. These private-sector plan sponsors looked to their...

March 15, 2017
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15Mar

Collapsing pensions will fuel America’s next financial crisis

Washington has a knack for ignoring long-term financial shortfalls and painting overly rosy scenarios about the future to make their numbers work in the here and now. Case in point: Donald Trump’s unrealistic projection that the U.S. economy will grow at 3% this year, when the latest GDP forecasts have actually been reduced to 1.8% by a number of economists. Then there is Social Security. Many politicians are just too intimidated, uninformed or complacent to tackle the unsustainability of Social Security...

March 15, 2017
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14Mar

US. Insurance Companies Taking Over Pensions

US insurers are buying corporate pension plans at a record clip as rising interest rates and all-time high stock-market values give companies the perfect excuse to offload them. “The movement is expected over time to transform the management of pensions for employers, which can slash their exposure to the volatility of the stock and bond markets, as well as for the insurance industry, which gains a source of growth at a time when some traditional businesses are slipping,” The Wall...

March 14, 2017
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14Mar

Iceland lifts foreign capital bans for Pension Funds to invest abroad

Iceland lifted its remaining capital curbs on Tuesday, ending more than eight years of controls on businesses and citizens put in place after its banks collapsed during the financial crisis. Icelandic lenders buckled under the weight of huge debts amassed over years of overseas expansion, spreading instability through other European nations and making the country a symbol of the excesses that helped to trigger the financial crash. The government started dismantling capital controls last year by easing restrictions for local residents...

March 14, 2017
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14Mar

US. Lawmakers could end state pension plan for new employees

S.C. lawmakers eventually could walk away from the state’s pension plan. In passing a fix to the state’s underfunded pension system, the state Senate last week approved closing the current retirement system to new employees once it is made financially whole. But that could take about 30 years, officials estimate. Still, lawmakers are planning to explore changing the retirement options for state and local government employees, including teachers. A special panel already has agreed to look at who is eligible to...

March 14, 2017
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13Mar

New Zealand. Raising the retirement age to 67 not enough to support ageing population

The very idea of changing the age of eligibility for NZ Superannuation from 65 to 67 has certainly caused all sorts of reactions, from support for a bold action, to complaints it didn't go far enough, to criticisms that it is unfair and inequitable. But we think these reactions miss the point. The official news release states the change is to "ensure the scheme remains affordable into the future." The implication is that if something doesn't change then there won't...

March 13, 2017
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13Mar

Canada pension funds to invest in Singapore, Indonesia warehouses

Canada's two biggest pension funds have agreed to partner with LOGOS, a real estate logistics operator, to invest in warehouses in Singapore and Indonesia, betting on demand from the rise of e-commerce and a burgeoning middle class in southeast Asia. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), the top pension fund of the country, said in a statement it will initially commit S$200 million ($142 million) for an about 48 percent stake in LOGOS Singapore Logistics Venture. It will also commit...

March 13, 2017
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13Mar

UK. Scots council pension funds ‘put at risk’ over fossil fuel investments

SCOTTISH councils are putting at risk their pension funds and face a possible legal challenge by failing to ditch investments in companies most responsible for climate change, according to a new report. While £1.7 billion is being invested in fossil fuel firms, just £234 million is being invested in renewable energy and social housing across all Scotland's council pension funds, according to a study by think tank Common Weal, Unison Scotland and Friends of the Earth Scotland. The study by think...

March 13, 2017
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