December 2020

23Dec

US. Saving at Work for Retirement: A Perk Coming to More States in 2021

Denise Geske panicked two years ago when her accountant told her about a new Illinois law that would require her to enroll her employees in a retirement savings program. “As a small-business owner, I felt it was overwhelming,” she said. “I was terrified that I was going to be mandated to do one more thing.” Ms. Geske, co-owner of Fox & Hounds Salon and Day Spa in Bloomington, Ill., is close with her staff of 32 massage therapists, aestheticians...

December 23, 2020
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22Dec

Japan. GPIF Invests $12.5 Billion in Morningstar, MSCI ESG Benchmarks

The Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) in Japan has started investing $12.5 billion into two foreign environmental, social, and governance (ESG) benchmarks from US index providers Morningstar and MSCI. Read also US. Saving at Work for Retirement: A Perk Coming to More States in 2021 The Japanese pension allocated roughly $9.7 billion to a general ESG-themed index from MSCI, as well as $2.9 billion to a gender diversity-themed index from Morningstar, the fund said Friday. Respectively, the two benchmarks...

December 22, 2020
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22Dec

Mexican President says the Maya train will pay for military pensions

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Sunday the army will run the Maya train project and several airports, and use any profits to finance military pensions. Read also Mexican Congress passes major reform to boost pensions The army is already overseeing construction on some parts of the controversial project, while private firms build the rest. But López Obrador said Sunday that “so there won’t be the temptation to privatize” the $6.8 billion project, the army will operate it once...

December 22, 2020
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22Dec

ESMA advises fresh postponement of pension fund central clearing duty

The EU financial markets watchdog has recommended the European Commission extend until June 2022 the current exemption for pension funds from the obligation to use central clearing for derivatives. Its stance follows a public consultation to collect more data as well as views from a wide range of stakeholders about issues surrounding potential central clearing solutions for pension schemes. ESMA said it was convinced of the benefits of a broad adoption of the clearing obligation for pension funds, but...

December 22, 2020
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22Dec

US. Calpers Seeking an Investment Chief With Staying Power

The nation’s largest public pension fund has a retention problem, an especially pressing issue given the deep hole it and other retirement plans are in. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has burned through six chief investment officers over the past two decades. Its most recent investment chief, Ben Meng, lasted just 19 months. His tenure ended this summer in the midst of questions about whether his personal investments created a conflict of interest. Elsewhere, investment chiefs stay for...

December 22, 2020
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21Dec

US. Annuities vs. Pensions: What Retirement Plan Advisors Should Know About ‘De-Risking’

Pension obligations are a major liability on many corporate balance sheets. Retirees are living longer than ever, sometimes claiming pension payments for decades. Advisors to pension plans may be called upon for suggestions of how to de-risk employer-sponsored benefit plans. Weighing available options is crucial. Read also US. Retirement taxes are not more tolerable One idea that’s gaining traction: annuities. In recent years, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, Raytheon, Alcoa and others have transferred billions of dollars worth of pension liabilities to...

December 21, 2020
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21Dec

UK. Longevity risk transfer nears record. 2021 to be busy again despite pandemic: WTW

The market for longevity swaps and longevity risk transfer has hit forecasted volumes in 2020 despite the implications of the global COVID1-9 pandemic and Willis Towers Watson believes another busy year is ahead in 2021. Read also Personal data leak in one of Britain’s largest pension providers The longevity de-risking market, where pensions transfer their longevity risk to global reinsurance markets, has proven resilient in 2020 and despite the “turmoil” broker Willis Towers Watson (WTW) notes that more than UK...

December 21, 2020
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21Dec

US. Retirement taxes are not more tolerable

By Helen Hills I was happy to see Charles Lane’s commentary on Bob Dylan’s tax-privileged windfall upon the sale of his vast musical intellectual property [“Bob Dylan’s financial dream,” op-ed, Dec. 15]. Mr. Lane did not mention, in his otherwise-thorough critique of the disparate tax treatment of income and capital gains, the “wool-over-the-eyes” deception that was mounted in the form of 401(k), individual retirement accounts and other market-based employee retirement accounts. Corporate interests benefited when the responsibility and risk...

December 21, 2020
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18Dec

US. Workers Tap Retirement Savings as a Last Resort

About a month into the pandemic, Tyler Mathiesen lost his position at a tech company, his first full-time job out of college. For several months, everything was fine: Payments on his $75,000 in student loans were paused, and the extra $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit helped pay the rest. He even managed to save some money. But as the summer ended, the added benefit expired and his regular state unemployment benefits were close to running out. He needed a...

December 18, 2020
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18Dec

Study: Over 142 million people aged 60 years are unable to meet their basic daily needs

At least 14% of all people aged 60 years and over ̶ more than 142 million people ̶ are currently unable to meet all their basic daily needs according to the Baseline report for the Decade of Healthy Ageing, released by the World Health Organization today. Read also UN organizations launch new initiative to improve the lives of older people The Baseline report brings together data available for measuring healthy ageing, defined by WHO as "the...

December 18, 2020
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