September 2020

08Sep

Philippines. 80% of senior citizens have no mandatory pension —Diokno

A huge majority of elderly Filipinos have no pension or retirement fund, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said Tuesday. “Based on the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippines has around 7.6 million Filipinos aged 60 years old and above,” Diokno said during the virtual launch of the digital Personal Equity Retirement Account (PERA), an investment tool for retirement. “Of this group, only 20% are covered by either SSS (Social Security System) or GSIS (Government...

September 8, 2020
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08Sep

UK. £2.5trn of pension assets at risk from scammers

Up to £2.5 trillion of pension assets are at risk of being lost to scammers, according to a new report. The research from The Police Federation and The People’s Pension concluded that greater powers are needed to help prevent transfers to suspected scam schemes. As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to cause a rise in pension fraud, the research from workplace pension provider The People’s Pension and policing think tank the Police Foundation, found that from 13 pension providers alone,...

September 8, 2020
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08Sep

ANC on prescribed assets in South Africa

The ANC’s head of Economic Transformation, Enoch Godongwana, says that the party is moving away from talk of ‘prescribed assets’ as economic policy, but still wants to find ways to ‘unlock’ South Africa’s pensions to assist with the country’s infrastructure goals. Godongwana was speaking to Insurance company Alexander Forbes in an interview on a range of economic topics, including the party’s plan for pensions and prescribed assets in South Africa. Read also South Africa. There’s a pensions train...

September 8, 2020
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08Sep

US. Should Pre-Retirees And Retirees Worry About The Presidential Election’s Impact On Their 401(k)?

It’s understandable if pre-retirees and retirees are nervous about the impact of the upcoming presidential election on their retirement savings, especially if they’re keeping up with the news these days. If they are, they might feel as if they’re being whipsawed between conflicting headlines they’ve read or heard in the media. For example, President Trump claims the stock market will crash if Biden is elected, but not if he himself is reelected. On the other hand, several recent news...

September 8, 2020
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07Sep

UK universities and staff face huge jump in pension contributions

UK universities and thousands of their staff face increased annual pension costs totalling billions of pounds under proposals to plug an estimated £18bn deficit in the sector’s main retirement scheme. Read also £15bn boost if UK scraps pensions triple-lock, says think tank The £67bn Universities Superannuation Scheme, the UK’s largest private-sector pension fund, will on Monday lay out a range of options to reduce the burgeoning deficit, which was £3.6bn in 2018. Read also US. The crisis of multiemployer pension...

September 7, 2020
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07Sep

US. DOL´S mixed message for plan sponsors

The Labor Department is on a tear. In recent actions, it has opened the door for sponsors of defined contribution retirement plans to consider adding alternative investments such as private equity to their lineups. And it also sent a stern warning for both defined benefit and DC plan sponsors over including investments with an explicit ESG focus. More recently, it has proposed blocking an ERISA plan sponsor's ability to vote a proxy unless the issue has an economic impact on...

September 7, 2020
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07Sep

Canada. CPPIB announces $235M investment in GLP Japan logistics fund

On 4 September the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) confirmed its participation in the launch of a $2.6 billion Japanese logistics fund announced by GLP late last month, marking the latest cooperation between the pension fund manager and Asia’s largest logistics developer. CPPIB, which has backed GLP ventures in Japan since 2011, is committing JPY 25 billion ($235 million) to GLP Japan Income Fund (GLP JIF), an open-ended core vehicle which GLP and its partners have already seeded...

September 7, 2020
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07Sep

Greece.Pay as you go for auxiliary pensions

The government’s major social security reform will be promoted in 2021, following the necessary economic and actuarial studies and public consultation. Its main focus will be on the creation of a deposit system in auxiliary pensions. This is based on the idea that the contributions of salary workers who have just entered the system will not be used for the payment of today’s auxiliary pensions, but instead form the pension capital of each individual worker. The changes will be...

September 7, 2020
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04Sep

Norway Pension Giant Drops Three Companies over Alleged Human Rights Violations

Norway’s $1.17 trillion Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) said it is excluding three companies from the fund because of an “unacceptable risk for violation of human rights.” They are Taiwan-based Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp. and its subsidiary Formosa Taffeta, as well as Indian textiles company Page Industries. Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, which manages the country’s sovereign wealth fund, made the decision based on the recommendations of its Council on Ethics. The council also recommended that the fund...

September 4, 2020
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04Sep

US. No, Joe Biden Won’t Kill Your 401(k)

A simmering debate among financial professionals and policy wonks has intensified as the presidential race kicks into high gear: Should Joe Biden become president, will he reinvent the 401(k)? A Biden campaign pledge to make employer-sponsored plans more equitable is driving the conversation. While Biden’s team hasn’t offered many details, some observers believe a Biden administration would favor changing retirement plan tax benefits to the benefit of lower-income workers. Skeptics worry this would depress retirement savings overall and lead...

September 4, 2020
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