December 2020

07Dec

For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier

Liquidity is never far from the minds of institutional asset owners but the importance of having a comprehensive liquidity plan came into sharp relief during the pandemic-induced spike in market volatility earlier this year. When stock prices plummeted in February and March, the asset allocation of many institutional portfolios fell out of synch with policy benchmarks, with asset owners finding themselves significantly underweight equity and overweight fixed income. That would have been the perfect time to rebalance, but an...

December 7, 2020
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07Dec

Exxon Under Pressure From New Activist Fund

Exxon Mobil Corp. is facing the threat of a proxy fight from a newcomer activist investor with a sustainability bent that wants the beleaguered energy giant to act faster to remake itself. Engine No. 1 LLC, an investment firm launched by Chris James last week, is preparing to send a letter to Exxon ’s board urging the Irving, Texas-based company to focus more on investments in clean energy while cutting costs elsewhere to preserve its dividend. The letter, a...

December 7, 2020
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07Dec

Top 5 Banking And Fintech Trends For 2021

Observations from the fintech snark bank tank 2021: The Year of Value Chain Disruption I’ve never been a big fan of “Year of the [fill-in-the-blank]” proclamations. Google the term “year of the customer” and you’ll find that every year for the past 15 years has been heralded as the year of the customer. Hey, one year it might just really happen. And past claims of “disruption” in financial services have centered on changes at the customer interaction level—i.e., digital...

December 7, 2020
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04Dec

Chilean lawmakers approve second pensions withdrawal

Chilean lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that allows citizens to make a second withdrawal from pension funds so they can cope with the economic havoc wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic. The bill, which passed its last legislative hurdle with a Senate vote late on Thursday, allows for another 10% withdrawal from Chile’s privately managed pension funds. The measure was introduced by conservative President Sebastian Pinera’s government two weeks ago to head off a more comprehensive...

December 4, 2020
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04Dec

EIOPA launches discussion paper on a methodology for integrating climate change in the standard formula

Today, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published a discussion paper on a methodology for the potential inclusion of climate change in the Solvency II standard formula when calculating natural catastrophe underwriting risk. This discussion paper is a follow-up to EIOPA’s Opinion on Sustainability within Solvency II issued in September last year, which concluded that there is a need to consider if and how climate change-related perils could be better captured in the Solvency II framework...

December 4, 2020
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04Dec

Why a Canadian Pension Fund Performs Better Than Yours

Over the period from 2004 through 2018, Canadian pension funds outperformed their international peers in asset performance and liability hedging, according to a research paper that says a key to this success is a three-pronged business model that would have boosted the returns of US and other pensions had they used the same tactics. The three-pillar business model consists of managing assets in-house to reduce costs, redeploying resources to investment teams for each asset class, and funneling capital toward...

December 4, 2020
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04Dec

Nigeria: FG inaugurates 16 board members of PENCOM

WorldStage Newsonline– The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated 16 members of National Pension Commission (PENCOM) board, to proffer innovative and feasible solutions to the challenges of the pension administration in Nigeria. Mr Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), at the inauguration on Thursday in Abuja, said members of the board were also urged to ensure the implementation of sustainable pension policies. While congratulating the board members, Mustapha noted that Nigeria, in recent times had some...

December 4, 2020
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04Dec

How Pension Payments Will Change for 150,000 Bulgarians

154,000 pensioners with smaller pensions because of insurance payed to a private pension fund will be able to ask the National Insurance Institute to recalculate their pensions next year, provided they transfer their money for a second pension to state insurance institution. However, only one-third of people will benefit from it, for the rest the pension received will not be higher. For a third of pensioners, the transfer of the money to the National Social Security Fund will increase...

December 4, 2020
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03Dec

South African expats face stricter pension rules

The South African government has tabled a tax relief meaure that would benefit expats stuck in the country during lockdown, while passing a bill that would potentially make it more difficult for them to access their pension funds until three years after they emigrate. South African expats earning up to ZAR1.25m (£61,000, $81,000, €68,000) through foreign employment need to spend at least 183 days out of the country during a 12-month period, of which 60 days must be continuous,...

December 3, 2020
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03Dec

Ghana: Pres Launches Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme

A cocoa farmers pension scheme for farmers was yesterday launched here by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. In pursuit of Section 26 of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) Law, 1984 (PNDC L.81), which mandates COCOBOD to establish a contributory insurance for cocoa farmers, the government, in collaboration with COCOBOD and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), set up the scheme. It is open to all cocoa farmers in the country to make contributions toward their retirement while COCOBOD makes...

December 3, 2020
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