March 2017

Canada. A $116B Pension Fund Is Walking Back Incendiary Claims Against Boaz Weinstein’s Saba Capital

When Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board tried to redeem $500 million from Boaz Weinstein's Saba Capital in 2015, the $116 billion pension fund for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came to believe it was shortchanged during the process. In the fall of 2015, PSP sued Saba Capital, accusing the highly followed hedge fund of "self-dealing" and mis-marking illiquid fund assets to minimize the redemption, thus growing value for its remaining fund investors. Now, PSP is walking back those incendiary...

Compliance and regulatory concerns over pension complaints in UK

One in three HR executives have seen a rise in pension complaints Compliance and regulatory concerns worry 35% of HR departments moneygym aims to increase employee engagement with retirement and wider financial planning They are facing a combination of increased complaints about pension fund performance as well as increased interest from staff about pension schemes. Portus’s study found one in three HR departments have seen an increase in complaints in the past two years while 28% report increased inquiries from employees. The rise...

Trumpcare Has Seniors Rethinking Early Retirement

After decades of saving diligently, Dan Maize, 53, of Williamsburg, Va., made the decision last year to retire early. He stayed at his job, managing a grocery store, until February—just before Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives unveiled a health-care bill that could make his early retirement much harder to afford. Under the American Health Care Act, the Obamacare overhaul that faced a congressional vote on March 23, costs could fall for many younger Americans. The majority of older...

Temer Backs Off and Shrinks Pension Reform in Brazil

The debate on the pension reform in Brazil presents today a new face, after in an unsuspected turn of his number one driving force, president Michel Temer, decided to limit the reform to federal employees. Shielded by the need of obeying the autonomy of the states and to strengthen the federation principle, Temer announced last night that the Constitutional Amendment proposed (PEC 287) which he sent last December to Congress and caused enormous discontent will be limited only to the federal...

UK. Pension raid on middle-class savers is off the cards

The Treasury has ruled out the biggest pension tax raid in nearly a century after the Treasury has privately admitted that "now is not the right time". The Telegraph can reveal the department has privately reassured businesses in correspondence sent out this month that a proposed raid on wealthy pension savers will not take place for the foreseeable future. It comes just weeks before Theresa May is due to trigger Article 50 which will begin the process of Britain leaving the...

Liberia: Poor-Pensioners’ Money Invested In Risky Portfolios?

The United Nations (UN) estimates that by 2050, there will be 2 billion people over 60 years old (i.e., would-be pension-benefits-recipients) worldwide, and 80% of the 2 billion will be living in developing countries, especially Africa. With such an increase in old age, coupled with the fact that one in five live on less than a dollar a day, Africans should not only institute social programs such as retirement fund, rather effective retirement funds that will help to alleviate...

UK. IFoA calls for adequacy to be ‘at the heart’ of auto-enrolment review

This could be achieved by pushing employers to reward saving over the minimum contribution rate in some way, and by introducing a method of auto-escalation, according to the institute. In addition, it recommends that the DWP consider removing the earnings trigger for when maximum contributions are payable, in order to strike a balance between the ability for those on lower incomes to save, and the risk of them losing out on tax relief and employer contributions. IFoA president, Colin Wilson, said:...

Mexico. Generous payments for Pemex pensioners

Some of the state oil company’s generous pensions have come to light through a freedom-of-information request, which found that 14 retired Pemex officials are receiving over 2 million pesos per year, greater than the annual salary of Mexico’s 128 Senators. The chosen few also receive over 6,000 pesos a month for expenses: gasoline, natural gas and food needs, along with year-end bonuses of close to 400,000 pesos. The top 14 retirees are paid between 238,000 to 362,000 pesos per month; in...

US. workers want laws to simplify saving for retirement

A new AARP survey of almost 4,000 workers ranging in age from 18 to 64 found widespread support (84 percent) for laws that make it easier to put money away for retirement. That support cuts across political lines: 89 percent of self-described liberals, 86 percent of moderates and 82 percent of conservatives agreed. Today, 55 million Americans do not have access to retirement accounts that automatically save money from their paychecks, such as employer-sponsored 401(k) accounts. Low-income workers are especially...

UK. Nearly one in seven workers retiring this year have made no financial provisions, study reveals

Nearly one in seven people retiring this year have made no financial provision for their retirement, and more than one in ten will be either totally or partially dependent on the state pension when they stop working, according to new research. The analysis, published by life insurance company Prudential on Wednesday, shows that thousands will enter into retirement this year with an income that is up to £1,400 a year below the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s minimum income standard for a...