June 2019

06Jun

Why a Decade of Bull Markets Hasn’t Fixed Pension Funding

In 2008, the average U.S. pension fund had 83 percent of what it needed to make good on retirement benefit promises. As of the end of 2018, pensions had only 72 percent, according to Conning’s “State of the States” report released Wednesday. “During the past decade, state pensions have had three main roadblocks to improving their funded status: restructuring, underperformance, and reduced contributions,” wrote the authors, who are members of asset manager Conning’s municipal research team. Part of the...

June 6, 2019
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06Jun

South Africa: Why Has the JSE Performed So Poorly?

That the local stock exchange has performed spectacularly badly for investors in recent years is no secret. The detail of why is unfortunately too often overlooked. Examining the JSE's top companies can illuminate the problems of the economy and the business environment - as well as giving us a clue about what might happen to JSE stocks in future. We should be concerned about the state of the JSE because most of us are invested in the stock market,...

June 6, 2019
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06Jun

UK.Rolls-Royce agrees 4.6 bln stg pension deal with insurer L&G

Rolls-Royce said on Thursday its pension scheme had agreed to transfer 4.6 billion pounds ($5.83 billion) of assets to Legal & General in Britain’s largest ever pension risk transfer deal. The deal covers the transfer of assets and liabilities relating to around 33,000 pensioners who are members of the Rolls-Royce UK Pension Fund it said in a statement and would see Rolls-Royce pay a cash contribution of around 30 million pounds. Read more @Reuters

June 6, 2019
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06Jun

How to Trick People Into Saving Money

Late last summer, Dawn Paquin started keeping her money on a prepaid debit card from Walmart instead of in a traditional checking account. The wages from her factory job—she works from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., inspecting blades on industrial bread-slicing machines—now go directly onto the Visa-branded card, which she can use like a regular debit card, though unlike most debit cards, it is not linked to a checking or savings account. She made the switch after a $4...

June 6, 2019
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05Jun

UK. FTSE 350 defined benefit pension deficit rises to £57 billion in May 2019

The accounting deficit for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes at the UK’s top 350 organisations increased by £5 billion between April 2019 and May 2019, rising from £52 billion to £57 billion, according to research by Mercer. The Pension risk survey, which analyses the pension deficit calculated using the approach FTSE 350 organisations have to adopt for their corporate accounts, also found that liability values increased by £11 billion in May 2019, totaling £856 billion; the report attributes this...

June 5, 2019
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05Jun

EU. Union Investment unveils sustainable equity fund for Riester pension

Union Investment will be offering the sustainable equity fund UniSustainable Equity Global as a component of the Riester pension, effective 1 July 2019. The fund can be used as a substitute for UniGlobal Vorsorge or UniGlobal II. A change between the funds is possible at any time free of charge. UniSustainable Equities Global fund will take into account ethical, social and environmental criteria when selecting issuers. In addition, the focus will be on companies with sustainable core business and...

June 5, 2019
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05Jun

Female directors for better pensions: study

In 2018, California became the first state to require publicly held corporations with their principal executive offices in the state to have a minimum number of female directors. Following this groundbreaking, and perhaps unconstitutional, law, academics have tried to assess the impacts, if any, of gender diversity on corporate performance. See Acknowledging Potentially "Fatal" Flaws, Governor Signs Board Gender Quota Bill. Recently, three academics, Vikram K. Nanda, Andrew K. Prevost, and Arun Upadhyay, examined gender diversity and...

June 5, 2019
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05Jun

UK. Philip Green wins key vote for rescue plan ahead of meeting

The owner of Topshop has struck a £385m deal to secure its pension schemes, including a £100m contribution from Lady Cristina Green, Sir Philip's wife and Arcadia's largest shareholder. The PPF said it would now "vote in support" of Arcadia's restructure. But the plan, which includes closing 50 stores, needs the backing of landlords. They would have to agree to a rent cut on Arcadia's stores, which also include Burton, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis. Read more @BBC

June 5, 2019
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04Jun

Japan’s pensions inadequate for aging society: gov’t council report

Japan's current public pension system is not adequate to support people's livelihoods anymore facing the rapid aging problem, a Japanese government report revealed Monday. According to the estimation by a council at Japan's Financial Services Agency, a couple who will live until 95 years old will need at least 20 million yen (184,700 U.S. dollars) after retirement, which exceeds the amount their pension benefits can cover. The report also said that in an example of a couple with the...

June 4, 2019
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04Jun

UK. Pensions must do right thing on climate crisis, says minister

Pension schemes should be supported for moving people’s money out of fossil fuels and into renewables because the financial risks from the climate crisis are “too important to ignore”, a government minister will say on Monday. The pensions minister, Guy Opperman, is due to tell a conference that pension and investment managers must “do the right thing” and take their environmental and social responsibilities seriously to help combat the climate emergency. During the last few years a number of...

June 4, 2019
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