January 2019

14Jan

These Ukrainians have a pension awaiting. But they literally must cross a minefield to get it.

Ukraine — Antonina and Leonid know where to find their state pension money: an office just about a mile down the road. The problem is it is on the other side of the front lines of eastern Ukraine’s nearly five-year-old war. The couple’s home falls within the breakaway territories controlled by rebels loyal to Moscow. The Ukrainian bureaucrats handling pensions and other affairs are across the line in areas run by Kiev’s pro-Western government. So Antonina and Leonid join...

January 14, 2019
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14Jan

The Pension Fund Problem Just Got Much Worse

A simple extrapolation of the recent trend lines suggest a crisis around 2023, as assets are wiped out even if returns rebound. The 14 percent drop in the S&P 500 Index last quarter has big implications for state and local pension funds, which probably saw the value of their assets fall by about 7 percent. Investors with the benefit of a long-term horizon have the ability to ignore market dips, and pension funds are among the longest-term investors, but...

January 14, 2019
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11Jan

EIOPA analyses costs and past performance of insurance and pension products

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today its first Report on Costs and Past Performance of insurance and pension products following a request of the European Commission to the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) to periodically report on costs and past performance of retail investment, insurance and pension products. This first report provides aggregate data on the costs of insurance-based investment products (IBIPs) across the European Union as well as for certain similar personal pension products (PPPs)...

January 11, 2019
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11Jan

US. Small Business Employees Sorely Need Retirement Plan Coverage

LIMRA data shows nearly four in 10 workers say they began to save for retirement because their employer offered a retirement savings plan. Data shared by LIMRA shows four in 10 employers with fewer than 100 employees currently offer retirement benefits, meaning the small business employee retirement plan coverage gap remains a significant industry challenge for 2019. The LIMRA research highlights the fact that Americans’ top financial concern is affording a comfortable retirement—and that they believe access to a...

January 11, 2019
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11Jan

Japan. Face challenges of a shrinking, aging population

The latest population estimate by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, released late last month, points to the accelerating decline of Japan’s population with ever fewer births. The number of babies born in this country in 2018 is estimated at 921,000 — down 25,000 from the previous year and falling short of 1 million for the third year in a row. The lowest annual number of births on record since the government began taking comparable statistics in 1899 was...

January 11, 2019
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11Jan

UK. Local government workers to receive increased pensions protections

Consultation to look at strengthening pensions protections for local government staff who have had their roles outsourced. Public sector workers will receive increased pensions protections in the event their job is outsourced, in proposals published today (10 January 2019). The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is consulting on reforms to ensure local government workers whose roles are compulsorily transferred to independent providers, retain the right to remain in the Local Government Pension Scheme. Under the reforms, transferred...

January 11, 2019
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10Jan

UK. Nine key pensions issues that will hit the headlines in 2019

2019 promises plenty of developments that will keep trustees, employers and advisers busy. From Brexit to superfunds, pension professionals will have to grapple with new legislation, consultations and revised guidance. In this update, we outline nine key pension issues that are likely to dominate the pensions landscape this year, plus some other developments to look out for. Nine key pension issues for 2019 1. Brexit means Brexit, but what will it mean for pensions? At 11pm on 29 March 2019, the UK...

January 10, 2019
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10Jan

Trends that will shape Nigeria’s investment landscape in 2019

Looking into 2019, Sigma Pensions say they expect Nigeria's investment landscape to be shaped by lower oil prices, the pace of monetary policy normalisation in developed markets and Nigeria's 2019 elections. Pabina Yinkere, Chief Investment Officer for Sigma Pensions joins CNBC Africa to discuss how investors should navigate the investment landscape this year Watch the full video here Source: @CNBCAfrica

January 10, 2019
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10Jan

Australia. Investors increasing fixed income allocations

New research has found that fixed income is set to experience a spike over the new twelve months among institutional investors.  BlackRock’s annual survey of global institutional investors found that 38 per cent of investors intended to increase their fixed income allocations, up 9 percentage points from 29 per cent last year. BlackRock’s global head of institutional client business Edwin Conway said that as the economic cycle turned private markets would help clients to navigate the challenging environment. “We have...

January 10, 2019
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10Jan

US. How to Prevent Market Dips From Tanking Your Retirement

For those with decades until retirement, the market’s swings are just a part of the investing process. As long as your asset allocation is in line with your risk tolerance, you can more or less sit back, ignore daily movements and turn off CNN when things get rocky. But for new retirees and those just a few years away, a tanking market is a scarier prospect.If that’s you, you need to start moving some of your assets around to a...

January 10, 2019
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