October 2017

13Oct

IMF Sees Fiscal Gap for Greece, Pension Cuts Might Come Sooner

The International Monetary Fund foresees a fiscal gap of 2.3 billion euros in the 2018 budget, which might mean that the pension cuts scheduled for January 1st, 2019 will be implemented earlier. Greek finance ministry sources downplay the IMF forecast claiming that all previous predictions by the Fund, have been overly pessimistic. However, the IMF forecast might delay the third review of the bailout program, which has to be completed by the end of the year. This generates uncertainty among...

October 13, 2017
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13Oct

Nigeria. Pension fund assets rise by N862bn

The latest report on the Nigerian pension fund administration, which was released on Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics and the National Pension Commission, indicated that the country’s pension fund assets increased by N862bn to N6.164tn as of December 31, 2016. According to the report, the N6.164tn pension fund assets represent six per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, as the figure indicates an increase of N862bn when compared to the N5.302tn recorded in 2015. It stated that a...

October 13, 2017
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13Oct

Trump health-care order could violate retirement plan law

President Donald Trump's plan to make it easier for small businesses to band together and buy stripped-down health insurance plans could violate a federal law governing employee benefit plans and will almost certainly be challenged in court, legal experts said. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at letting small businesses join nationwide associations for the purpose of buying large-group health plans that are not subject to coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Industry experts said...

October 13, 2017
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12Oct

UK chancellor: ‘Alive to the risk’ of post-Brexit insurance ‘uncertainties’

UK Chancellor Philip Hammond has said the government was “alive to the risk” that the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union “could in some cases create legal uncertainties as to the status of existing cross-border insurance, pension and other financial services contracts sold under passporting arrangements”. The chancellor’s comments were contained in a letter dated 20 September, which was in response to an earlier written query on the part of Treasury select committee chairperson Nicky Morgan, and which became public...

October 12, 2017
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12Oct

Why ‘nudging’ works: People need a push when it comes to retirement savings

Studies show that we are living longer and retiring later, but too many of us are not adequately preparing for retirement. People who do not save for retirement often do not have access to an employer-run retirement program, do not understand how much money they will need to save, or lack the financial knowledge to make the best investment decisions. For many, working longer seems to be the new retirement strategy. There are many reasons why individuals do not always act...

October 12, 2017
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12Oct

Canadian Pension Fund To Invest In Singapore Keppel’s Asset Management Business

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has decided to make an initial investment of up to $350 million, with an option to invest another $150 million, in Alpha Data Centre Fund, the asset management business of Singapore's Keppel Corporation. CPPIB's latest commitment and option will bring the ADCF's combined and co-investment interest up to $1 billion, double its initial target size of $500 million, Keppel said in an exchange filing today. "When fully leveraged and invested, the fund will potentially have...

October 12, 2017
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12Oct

Schroders Poll: Sustainable Investing Remains A Challenge For Institutional Investors

Sustainable investing continues to present a challenge to nearly four out of five institutional investors, according to a new survey from global investment manager Schroders, with performance concerns and a lack of transparency/data leading the way. Schroders polled some 500 institutions for its latest Global Institutional Investor Study, including surveyed a wide range of global pension funds, foundations, endowments and sovereign wealth funds. Key highlights: 77% of survey respondents reported that investing sustainably remains a challenge. Almost half (48%) say...

October 12, 2017
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11Oct

Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler may have added $29.6 billion to retirement accounts

Richard Thaler, the recent recipient of the Nobel Prize in economics, has helped retirement savers substantially in the past decade — to the tune of about $29.6 billion, perhaps, according to fellow researcher Shlomo Benartzi. Though it is hard to calculate an exact estimate on how much has been saved in retirement specifically because of Thaler’s work, which focuses on behavioral economics and how to get people to stash away more money for their futures, clearly the implementation of Thaler’s...

October 11, 2017
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11Oct

South Africa. PIC looting concerns raise red flags for proposed state pension fund

Concerns that politicians view the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) as a cash cow will loom large over discussions to establish an overarching pension fund for South Africa. The new fund wants to consolidate the more than 5 000 public and private retirement funds into one giant mandatory institution, possibly under government control. The new centralised retirement fund or National Social Security Fund (NSSF) will centralise current retirement funds estimated to be worth R3trn. It aims to force South Africans to save for retirement,...

October 11, 2017
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11Oct

Blockchain Could Revolutionize Retirement Planning

The latest industry to adopt blockchain for its operations is the pension planning industry. The retirement services industry is estimated to have a total value of pension assets of $19.1 trillion in the United States. Despite its massive size, however, the industry still operates in data silos and with Excel sheets. Blockchain could streamline operations and make it easier for pension account planners and holders to manage payouts. A paper by consulting firm Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (CTSH) earlier this...

October 11, 2017
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