May 2017

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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19May

Triple Lock for UK’s 2017 election

Pensions experts say Conservative plans to reduce the generosity of the state pension are a risk, but widely anticipated. The party's manifesto proposes ditching the "triple lock", in which the pension is raised in line with the highest of average earnings, prices or 2.5%. From 2020, its plan is to cut the 2.5% element, to leave a "double lock". Labour and the Liberal Democrats have vowed to maintain the triple lock throughout the next Parliament. The demise of the triple lock under Conservative...

May 19, 2017
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19May

Canada Pension Plan with ~12% return says it’s losing out on infrastructure deals

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), one of the world's biggest infrastructure investors, is regularly losing out in bidding wars for such assets, its chief executive said, as investors seek alternatives to low-yielding government bonds. The CPPIB is one of the world's biggest investors in infrastructure such as roads, bridges and tunnels but its CEO Mark Machin said high valuations were making it harder to do deals in the current environment. "We are consistently outbid for assets around the world...

May 19, 2017
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19May

How Boring Old Pension Funds Might Curb Global Warming

If civilization still exists a century from now, Earth ought to throw a parade for pension funds. For all their fiscally conservative stodginess, the people tasked with safeguarding your nest egg are forcing the financial world to pay attention to climate change. Last week, some retirement funds and church endowments, along with BlackRock, the world’s largest investment bank, approved a proposal that Occidental Petroleum begin researching and reporting its climate-related vulnerabilities. Shareholders of other petroleum companies have petitioned for climate...

May 19, 2017
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18May

Zimbabwe. NSSA pensions to increase

Government is set to increase pensioners' benefits from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) once the ongoing actuarial evaluation exercise is complete, a Cabinet Minister has revealed. Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Prisca Mupfumira, said this during the National Assembly question and answer session yesterday. "At the moment, there is an actuarial evaluation going on that will determine the level of increment," she said. Full Content: Chronicle Remember to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter for more news or subscribe to...

May 18, 2017
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18May

US. Thanks To Hedge Fund Fee Structure, Pension Funds Will Pay $30 Billion Extra

One of the biggest arguments against active management is the fee structure of actively managed funds. With an annual charge of 100 basis points or more levied on investors in active funds, even if these funds track the market, they will underperform. In order for an investor to beat the market by owning an active fund, the fund would have to outperform the market by at least 100 basis point every year to justify its fee, which is almost...

May 18, 2017
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18May

UK. State pension ‘triple lock’ to go: effects on the retirement income

The "triple lock" on state pension increases are set to be shelved by 2020 by a Tory government. The Government is to call time on the measure which promises the state pension will rise each year by the highest of one of three measures: wage growth, inflation or 2.5pc. Introduced by the Coalition government in 2010, the lock means the basic state pension is worth £106.8p a year more than it would have been if only a "double lock" - based...

May 18, 2017
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17May

UK. Tata Steel agrees British pensions deal

India's Tata Steel (TISC.NS) has agreed the main terms of a deal to cut benefits for its British pension scheme in a move that will see the firm back a new plan that will pose less risk to the company. The pension scheme is a major stumbling block in talks to merge Tata's British and European steel assets with those of Thyssenkrupp (TKAG.DE), because the German company is opposed to taking on 15 billion pounds ($19.37 billion) in UK pension...

May 17, 2017
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17May

US. House committee approves sweeping pension bills

Two comprehensive pension reform bills were OK’d by an Illinois House committee Tuesday, but their fate in the full House is far from certain. The House Personnel and Pensions Committee approved House Bill 4027 and House Bill 4045, which are identical except that one is sponsored by House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and the other by Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago. Both bills combine a pension reform promoted by Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, with a number of money-saving pension ideas...

May 17, 2017
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