March 2018

29Mar

UK university staff to vote on latest pensions offer

The bitter dispute between universities and their staff over pensions may soon be resolved, after staff were asked to vote on the latest offer to renegotiate the changes being proposed by employers. The University and College Union (UCU) announced on Friday that it would electronically ballot its members next week over an offer to reconsider the controversial pension proposals, which the union claimed would have cost retired staff thousands of pounds a year in lost benefits. A statement from UCU said...

March 29, 2018
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28Mar

Canada pension fund to expand presence

Canada's pension fund could increase its investment in China to C$150 billion ($116 billion) by 2030, underscoring the fund's confidence in the long-term development of the country, said Mark Machin, chief executive of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. "We have a significant stake in China's continued success," Machin told China Daily at the annual China Development Forum, which ended in Beijing on Monday. "We believe over the long-term, China is well positioned to continue to be one of the leading...

March 28, 2018
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28Mar

US. Prudential develops innovative process with PIC to help small pensions de-risk

A collaborative effort between Prudential Retirement, a unit of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU), and Pension Insurance Corporation (PIC) has created an innovative new approach for expediting longevity reinsurance transactions for smaller pension buy-ins and buy-outs. This new approach combines an advance commitment of capital, known pricing and the bundling of multiple transactions into a single closing to enable PIC to more nimbly and efficiently address the risk transfer needs of small pensions and their retirees. Launched, tested and proven effective...

March 28, 2018
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28Mar

UK watchdog considers ban on some pension transfer charges

Britain’s markets watchdog is considering banning certain types of charges for pension transfers and is proposing that advisers gain investment qualifications, it said on Monday, following concern that policyholders are being given bad advice. Following a change in rules three years ago, British pension holders can give up their pension pots at age 55 or above for a lump sum or another investment. However, the Financial Conduct Authority has come under fire for slowness in preventing “vulture” advisers from persuading steelworkers...

March 28, 2018
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27Mar

South Africa: Parliament Must ‘Hold the Line’ On Steinhoff

The appearance of Steinhoff executives before the Standing Committee on Finance (SCOF) on Wednesday, 28 March 2018, is an opportunity for Parliament to seek clarity on the proposed financial rewards for Steinhoff board members Heather Sonn, Johan van Zyl and Steve Booysen. It is simply reckless that the same individuals who were running the company when financial reports were apparently manipulated are now being "rewarded" for fixing the mess they created. The Steinhoff board is under a moral obligation to...

March 27, 2018
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27Mar

US. Chicago Public Schools’ huge pension debt just got $1 billion deeper, new estimates show

Less aggressive investment return estimates have carved an additional $1 billion hole in the severely underfunded pension system for Chicago teachers, reviving questions about how a retirement plan for tens of thousands of public workers can survive without additional money from taxpayers. Consultants for the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund now conclude the system is about $11 billion in the red and faces an even steeper climb to comply with a state law that requires it to be 90 percent funded...

March 27, 2018
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27Mar

Aadhaar: Is India’s biometric ID scheme hurting the poor?

For six to seven days every month, says Muniya Devi, her five-member family doesn't get food to eat. The frail 31-year-old lives with her children in an arid village in Jharkhand, one of India's poorest states. Her husband, Bushan, works in a brick kiln some 65km (40 miles) away, earning 130 rupees ($1.90; £1.40) a day. For the last three years, they have been deprived of subsidised food from India's vast public distribution system, a lifeline for the poor. That is...

March 27, 2018
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27Mar

Australia. Labor to exclude all pensioners from $59 billion dividends policy

Labor has buckled to pressure in the political row over its $59 billion revenue grab on dividend payments, staging a sudden retreat to exempt all Australians on the age pension from a policy it unveiled just two weeks ago. Bill Shorten will vow to exclude 306,000 pensioners from his original plan in a bid to calm the storm over the impact on retirees who stand to lose tax refunds worth thousands of dollars a year. The dramatic backdown comes after sharp...

March 27, 2018
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27Mar

Pension pains: The 5 hurdles facing LatAm AFPs

Not all Latin America's pension woes can be blamed on the AFP system, but there are key issues that are at the heart of the attacks from the public and politicians. US think tank Brookings Institute examined the big challenges facing pensions in the region on the 25th anniversary of the sweeping reforms that led to the birth of AFPs, a system first created in Chile in the 1980s. The report highlighted the unsustainability of defined benefit public pensions, as shown...

March 27, 2018
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26Mar

PEPP: One expat pension product for the entire EU

Expat Pension Holland provides pension consultancy in the Netherlands for expats from all nationalities and locations. With over 20 years of experience on 5 continents, they can advise you on how to cope with the ever-changing expat pension system. Many expats in the Netherlands have resided in other countries and will probably do so again in the near future. These expats might end up with many different kinds of pension claims in several countries. Of course, this is not very...

March 26, 2018
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