August 2017

03Aug

UK. A Waspi woman who worked for the NHS explains how the rise in the state pension age affects her

Rosemary Dickson, 60, is a retired heart and lung machine operator from Glasgow. She receives an occupational pension, but not a state pension. She would have started receiving her pension this week if not for the age increase. Instead she will be able to access it in 2023, when she is 66. Rosemary, who is a member of Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) in Glasgow, says she will lose out on £500 every month between now and 2023. She is trying to find...

August 3, 2017
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02Aug

US. State, local pension plan funding dropped in 2016

As if there’s not enough to worry about in the retirement crisis, when people have so little saved, those who have pensions from states and local governments are likely not reassured about the performance of aggregate funding levels for those plans in 2016. A brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College finds that aggregate funding for state and local pension plans fell during fiscal year 2016, thanks to continued steady growth of liabilities even while poor stock...

August 2, 2017
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02Aug

UK. Is the pensions industry ready for cyber-attacks and GDPR

Stuart Price, Partner and Actuary at pensions specialist Quantum Advisory in Bristol, looks into the increasingly important role of cyber security in the pensions industry Pension schemes, the vast sums of money in them, and the personal information they hold such as bank details and national insurance numbers, mean they are a key target for organised cybercrime units. Should a cyber-attack take place, which is looking ever more likely due to advances in technology, the consequences, which may go unnoticed...

August 2, 2017
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02Aug

China is stepping up reform of private pension market

Themed Opportunities and Challenges of Pension Management: Reform and Globalisation, the event brought together a roster of market practitioners to gather their views on developments in the global pension industry and investment trends. The first keynote address at the event was delivered by Wang Zhongmin, vice chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund (NSSF). Mr. Wang said the pension assets overseen by the NSSF are made up of two components – the fundamental pension fund and the supplementary Social...

August 2, 2017
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02Aug

UK. Government banks £5bn by delaying 1.1m women’s state pensions

The Government has saved more than £5bn as a result of raising the age at which women start receiving their state pension, a new report has found. The figure - which has been calculated by the authoritative think tank the Institue of Fiscal Studies - is the first to attempt to quantify the benefit to the Exchequer of making a cohort of women wait as long as six years for their state pension. It will fuel the anger of those women,...

August 2, 2017
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01Aug

UK. Coats restores dividend as it ties off pensions dispute

  Coats Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of thread yarn and zips, has shaken off a three-year dispute with the pensions regulator to reinstate its interim dividend amid rising profits. In the six months to the end of June, the company’s revenues rose 3.8pc to $740m (£564m), while pre-tax profits were up 25.9pc on the previous year at $75.8m. The performances from its clothing arm and the division that supplies industrial thread were particularly strong. Coats supplies threads, zips and trims to...

August 1, 2017
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01Aug

Japan’s ageing society prompts redefinition of the term ‘elderly’

An early advocate of healthy living to stave off ageing-related illnesses, Shigeaki Hinohara, a Japanese doctor, saw patients until just months before bidding farewell to this world at the age of 105, last month. In 1954, Hinohara introduced comprehensive annual physical tests, part of the preventive medical system said to contribute to Japanese people's longevity. A fast-ageing society, Japan has the highest percentage of senior citizens in the world－more than a quarter of its population is aged 65 or above. Japan...

August 1, 2017
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01Aug

UK. Aeolus gains £51m investment from London Pensions Fund Authority

UK local authority pension fund manager the London Pensions Fund Authority (LPFA) made an investment of around £51 million in two of the reinsurance linked investment funds managed by Bermuda-based specialist Aeolus Capital Management Ltd. The investment was made in the calendar year ending March 31st 2017, according to the latest information from the £5.3 billion London Pensions Fund Authority. UK pension funds are increasingly becoming comfortable with the ILS and reinsurance linked asset class, with a growing number of authority...

August 1, 2017
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01Aug

Ladies, make sure you mind the pensions gap

There is a glaring gender gap when it comes to pension savings – a gap which grows as women age and means many face the prospect of spending their so-called “third life” in poverty. There are many factors behind this gap, ranging from the fact that women still pay a higher “parenthood penalty”, to the gender pay gap, and even the way retirement products are designed. While the number of men reaching the oldest ages is increasing, women still outlive their...

August 1, 2017
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July 2017

31Jul

Can Regulatory Sandbox Nurture India’s FinTech Innovation?

The Indian financial services sector is undergoing major changes today. With more than 600 startups in the space of lending, payments, insurance and trading space, Fintech startups are not only spearheading innovation, but are also prompting traditional banks and financial institutions to explore new technologies and investing heavily in digital service delivery channels. However, fintech startups unlike others face additional challenges of operating in a heavily regulated industry and have stiff competition as their key competitors are well established banking...

July 31, 2017
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