February 2022
24Feb

Kenya. Gov’t Urged To Make Retirement Scheme Mandatory

The Association of Pension Trustee and Administrators of Kenya (APTAK) wants the government to make pension schemes mandatory for all Kenyans to encourage the culture of saving. Speaking during the 1st annual International APTAK conference on Wednesday, President of the Association Hosea Kili said that many Kenyans face poverty upon retirement as they fall short of adequate savings. Kili said the social security fund should be made a mandatory requirement by urging Kenyans to save just as the government did with...

February 24, 2022
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24Feb

South Africa. Pension funds may now invest up to 45% of their capital offshore

During his budget address to parliament, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said amendments to Regulation 28 would be published in March. Regulation 28 sets out the criteria and maximum limits of where and in which asset classes retirement funds may invest. The Budget Review document announced that local pension and savings funds may invest up to 45% of their capital offshore. This is inclusive of the 10% allowance for investments into other African countries. The proposed amendments have been through two rounds...

February 24, 2022
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24Feb

AI for social protection: Mind the people

The technology that allowed passengers to ride elevators without an operator was tested and ready for deployment in the 1890s. But it was only after the elevator operators’ strike of 1946—which cost New York City $100 million—that automated elevators started to get installed. It took more than 50 years to persuade people that they were as safe and as convenient as those operated by humans. The promise of radical changes from new technologies has often overshadowed the human factor...

February 24, 2022
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23Feb

Danish pension scheme halts Russian investments

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension will immediately halt new investments in Russian assets after President Vladimir Putin recognised Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent, it said on Tuesday. The $23 billion fund said it would stop new investments in Russian government bonds and companies where the Russian state owns stakes of more than 50%. "Putin's formal recognition of the two separatist republics is a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty, which is a violation of international law. And it is also a...

February 23, 2022
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23Feb

US. Retirement savings hit record rates despite great resignation

Despite the ups and downs of the labor market, one thing has held steady: employees’ commitment to funding their retirement accounts. Fidelity revealed record rates of retirement savings during 2021 in their latest trend report. Their data showed that the average 401(k) account balance was a record high of $130,700, and 40% of savers actually increased their account contributions last year. Read also United States: Shareholder Activism Or Divestment? The Massachusetts Pension Fund Chooses Activism “Investors continued to stay focused on the...

February 23, 2022
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23Feb

UK. DWP confirms GMP revaluation rate reduction

The government has confirmed it will reduce the GMP fixed rate revaluation rate for early leavers from 3.5% to 3.25% per year. In response to its consultation - published last year - the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the new rate will apply to members where applicable from 6 April 2022. Where a member of a formerly contracted-out pension scheme leaves the scheme before pensionable age - an ‘early leaver' - the scheme must revalue its GMP to when...

February 23, 2022
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22Feb

China releases 5-year plan for elderly care services

China's State Council has released a plan for the development of the country's elderly care services system during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), in its latest step to implement a national strategy to address population aging. The plan specifies major goals and tasks for the five-year period, including expanding the supply of elderly care services, improving the health support mechanism for the elderly, and advancing the innovative and integrated development of service models. It lists nine major indicators, such as...

February 22, 2022
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22Feb

One of Top Korean Banks to Launch Crypto Fund

Kookmin Bank, one of the four largest banks ranked by asset value in South Korea, is set to launch its own cryptocurrency investment fund. Read also Canadian Pensions Bankrolling Elder Abuse and Misappropriation of Public Money by French Long-term Care Multinational: CUPE According to an announcement, the so-called Digital Asset Management Committee will work on a crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF). Although the timetable is unclear, the bank said it plans to speed up its efforts after the country gets more clear...

February 22, 2022
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22Feb

United States: Shareholder Activism Or Divestment? The Massachusetts Pension Fund Chooses Activism

The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board approved investment guidelines that would have the Board vote against directors of companies in which the Board invests where the company does not have a plan to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. As the Globe notes, there is something of a debate among climate activists whether it is better to support divestment or the kind of activism represented by the Board's action yesterday. In that...

February 22, 2022
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21Feb

China to allow more pension providers

China will expand its commercial pension pilot scheme nationwide from March 1 this year and allow other pension providers to participate in addition to six Chinese life insurers that have been allowed previously, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Monday (February 21). CBIRC asked pension providers to keep exploring new products to cater to the need of new economy and flexible workers. It initiated a one-year pilot scheme for commercial pension products in Zhejiang and Chongqing province from June...

February 21, 2022
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