July 2018

06Jul

Ghana. Government To Pass National Aging Bill

Mr Thaddeus Arkum Aasoglenang, Nandom District Chief Executive (DCE) has hinted that government has initiated processes for the passage of the National Aging Bill. According to him, a National Aging Council is also to be established soon by the government. Mr Aasoglenang gave the hint in a statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the Senior Citizens Day Celebration in Nandom. The statement explained that the rational for this bold step by the government was to mainstream...

July 6, 2018
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06Jul

30 million are ‘in the dark’ over pensions savings

This equates to 30.4 million working age people across the UK who risk not being able to afford the lifestyle they want in later lfe. The findings were made in the PLSA's Hitting the Target report ­ which aims to help people achieve better retirement incomes. It calls for the introduction of retirement income targets showing the lifestyle someone could afford on different levels of income. The PLSA has commissioned researchers to develop these. Seven in 10 (70 percent) people think retirement income targets would encourage them to save more, increasing to more than three­quarters of (78 percent) millennials aged 18 to 34, the PLSA found. Read More: Express

July 6, 2018
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05Jul

Italy pensions chief criticizes government over migrants, planned reforms

Italy needs more migrant workers to help pay for the nation’s growing army of pensioners, the head of state pensions agency INPS said on Tuesday, openly criticizing the government’s anti-immigration agenda. Tito Boeri also warned that government plans to reform the pensions system would be much more costly than coalition parties were predicting, saying demographic trends meant that even the existing system was unsustainable. Italy’s new interior minister, right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, who has promised a severe crackdown on illegal immigration...

July 5, 2018
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05Jul

UK. Tiny pension pots putting £1bn at risk

Ministers have been accused of ignoring a proliferation of tiny, inefficient pension pots that could drain £1 billion a year from retirement incomes. The cost of administering millions of trivially small pension pots will rise exponentially because a new pot is created every time someone moves job, Hargreaves Lansdown, the wealth manager, said yesterday. With the typical employee expected to change jobs 11 times in the course of a career, they can expect to have 11 pots. Couples might have to...

July 5, 2018
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05Jul

Australian Pension Giant Will Cut Exposure to Stocks

Australia’s largest pension fund says it will cut exposure to equities as the current global growth cycle gets closer to ending and escalating trade tensions weigh on the economy. Returns from equities will be limited by the Federal Reserve continuing to tighten policy and a persistence of trade war concerns, according to Mark Delaney, AustralianSuper Pty.’s chief investment officer. The money manager that oversees A$140 billion ($104 billion) will cut its allocation to shares to about 55 percent from about...

July 5, 2018
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04Jul

Africa’s pension funds can be quite handy

In Africa, there has been the emergence of an ecosystem built around pension funds. A recent institutional investor study estimated that the ten largest funds in Africa held a combined $310 billion in assets. This has transpired for a number of reasons, not least being the fact that many of these countries are switching from defined benefits to defined contribution schemes. In Botswana, where the shift took place in 2001, there are more than 100 pension funds jostling for funds...

July 4, 2018
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04Jul

Thailand’s $26 Billion Pension Fund Shuns Emerging Markets

The slide in emerging markets is spooking Thailand’s $26 billion Government Pension Fund. The fund will continue to avoid investing in developing-nation equities and bonds because of the risk of increased outflows due to global trade tensions and weakening currencies, according to its Secretary General Vitai Ratanakorn. The return on investment has been “disappointing” this year, compared with a 6.4 percent gain in 2017, as the value of domestic and foreign equities has slumped, Vitai said. The fund has boosted holdings...

July 4, 2018
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04Jul

Croatia. Government Further Explains Pension Reform and Tax Cuts

The relevant cabinet ministers presented outlines of the pension reform plan and the second phase of the tax reform to the leadership of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party on Monday evening, Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenovikc told the press after a three-hour meeting of the HDZ presidency and the national council. He said that the ideas presented were received well and that he expected further public consultation and debate on the best and viable solutions. He...

July 4, 2018
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03Jul

Millennials ‘not investing in pension funds’

Less than half of millennials are saving for retirement through pension or provident funds, with shifting perceptions by younger investors offering both opportunities and difficulties for financial services companies, according to research conducted by Old Mutual Unit Trusts. Old Mutual’s survey suggests millennials are saving but not investing, reflecting a trend analysts say is putting increasing pressure on the fees that asset managers are able to charge. It may also prompt consolidation within the financial services sector. Read More: Business Live

July 3, 2018
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03Jul

Can a reverse mortgage help save an underfunded retirement?

What if you’re close to retirement (or retired) and the bulk of your net worth is tied up in the value of your home? Such a situation is what experts call being “house rich, but cash poor.” For many seniors, their largest retirement asset is their home. And so, of course, the financial institutions found a way for folks to tap that money. It’s called a reverse mortgage, which allows people who are 62 or older to borrow against their home’s...

July 3, 2018
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