May 2017

24May

Nigeria. ‘First Guarantee Pension Board is Ready to Resume Business’

The Board and Management of First Guarantee Pension Limited, one of the licensed Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) in Nigeria, said owners of the company are ready to resume normal business operations, six years after suspension of the company’s former board and management by the insurance sector regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Vice Chairman of the company, Nze Chidi Duru, who stated this during a courtesy visit to THISDAY Newspapers, said that the board is ready to take back the...

May 24, 2017
News
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24May

US. Obama, Buffett or Trump: who’s right about the cost of retirement investing advice?

In a stunning reversal, the Trump administration will not seek to further delay an Obama-era investment rule designed to put an end to costly, conflict-filled retirement advice. The so-called fiduciary rule will require anyone selling retirement investment advice to put their clients' interests first and to plainly disclose fees. It was set to take partial effect on April 10, but the incoming Trump administration had forced a delay until June 9. In an Op-Ed, Donald Trump’s Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta gamely...

May 24, 2017
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23May

ILO official vows to protect Liberian workers

The head of the International Labour Organization (ILO) for English-speaking West African states, Dennis Zulu, has promised that his institution will work toward ensuring that Liberia has in place a social protection regime that protects the country’s workers.The ILO is one of several UN agencies responsible for the promotion of social protection of workers globally. Zulu who is ILO liaison officer for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, is quoted by a Labour ministry release as saying social protection is a...

May 23, 2017
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23May

US. Trump Budget to Cut Federal Pensions

The Trump administration’s 2018 budget to be released tomorrow will include a range of proposed spending cuts. The budget will call for cuts to food stamps, Medicaid, and other entitlement programs. These reforms come on top of proposed cuts to discretionary programs released in March. There is more good news. The budget will propose cuts to the fat benefit packages received by federal workers. An April CBO report found that benefits for the government’s civilian workers were 47 percent higher,...

May 23, 2017
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23May

Roads & pensions swept up in Puerto Rico’s $123bn bankruptcy

Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy process has spread to the territory’s pension system and highway authority, bringing the amount involved to over $120 billion and far exceeding the previous municipal bankruptcy record. The Employees Retirement System (ERS) and the Highways and Transportation Authority (HTA) were added to the proceedings already involving the territory’s government and the island’s sales tax financing corporation (COFINA). Puerto Rico and its agencies are roughly $74 billion in debt. While there are conflicting estimates about the gap between the...

May 23, 2017
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23May

Pension schemes and longevity assumptions – what’s another year?

The longevity assumptions used for the valuation of pension benefits can have a material impact on a company’s balance sheet. The actuarial profession’s most recent research on UK longevity trends has been released to an unusually high level of fanfare. The findings have even caught the attention of the political world, generating prominent headlines ahead of the June general election. The latest data highlights that, although life expectancy is expected to continue increasing in the future, the overall pace...

May 23, 2017
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22May

US. Government pensions leave retirees, taxpayers in a bind

Underfunded pensions, mainly for government employees, are a disaster waiting to happen, and the concern about underfunded pensions is rising daily as the number of newspaper articles on the topic increases. While most corporate employers shifted from pension plans to 401(k) plans after the early 1980s, governments still offer pensions to employees. Those pensions have left retirees and taxpayers in a bind that has fueled political battles while continuing to enrich investment consultants and managers. The result is that overly...

May 22, 2017
News, OP Ed
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22May

Harness Zimbabwe’s pension funds for economic growth

The Insurance and Pension Commission has revealed that Zimbabwe is sitting on pension fund assets worth close to $10 billion, which can be unlocked to revive the economy. The assets are divided into four main categories - the compulsory scheme administered by the National Social Security Authority, the Public Service Pension Scheme for the civil servants, voluntary occupational pension funds and personal pension plans. According to IPEC, assets under NSSA are worth $800 million, with $6 billion under public sector schemes,...

May 22, 2017
News, OP Ed
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22May

India’s pension funds have now more investment options

Pension fund managers will now have more investment options, with InvITs finally becoming a reality after two years and REITs in the offing. Pension regulator PFRDA has created a separate asset class for investment under which the funds can be invested into newly created trusts InvITs and REITs. PFRDA has issued a revised investment guidelines for National Pension System (NPS) schemes (for private sector), which came into effect from May 8. The revised guidelines comes in the backdrop of two Infrastructure Investment...

May 22, 2017
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22May

St. Maarten. General Pension Fund Administrator signs agreement for Pension Reform Financing

Actual pension reforms in St. Maarten are one step closer to being implemented following the signing of an agreement between the general pension fund administrator APS and St. Maarten’s Finance Minister Richard Gibson, Sr. The agreement was signed at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort on Friday as a major highlight of the APS 2017 pension seminar held at that venue. Signing on behalf of APS were APS board officials Franklyn Richards and Guilliano Saturnilia. “The agreement reached between St. Maarten’s general pension...

May 22, 2017
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