February 2022
04Feb

The many lives of the Bolivian private pension system

Latin American countries have increased the state’s role in pension provision since the mid-2000s. Bolivia has introduced changes in which the state has a bigger role, and this is linked to the reforms promoted by the socialist MAS party. Still, the private system has endured, Leandro N. Carrera (LSE Public Policy Group) and Marina Angelaki (Panteion University) explain. Read also Virus has created different economic system, says Finnish pensions chief Since the 1980s, the region has been at the forefront of...

February 4, 2022
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04Feb

US. Public pension plans stay on cost-efficient course – NCPERS

Public retirement systems continued to manage expenses in fiscal 2021, with many also reducing their assumed rates of return, according to an annual study released Wednesday by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. In fiscal 2021, the pension systems averaged 54 basis points in administrative costs and investment manager fees, down from 60 basis points the year before. Read also U.S. corporate pension plan funding rises slightly in January – 2 reports Systems lowered their assumed rates of returns to...

February 4, 2022
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03Feb

U.S. corporate pension plan funding rises slightly in January – 2 reports

The estimated funding ratio of U.S. corporate pension plans inched upward in January as a drop in liabilities offset sluggish investment returns, two new reports from Wilshire Consulting and Legal & General Investment Management America show. Wilshire's monthly report noted that the aggregate funding ratio for U.S. corporate plans increased by 0.4 percentage points to 95.8% as of Jan. 31 from Dec. 31. The slight increase in funding resulted from a 5-percentage-point decrease in liabilities that was partially offset by...

February 3, 2022
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03Feb

UK. Alternatives could give DC pensions higher returns at no extra risk, PPI says

Alternative assets could present defined contribution schemes with a means to increase value for members without taking on any extra risk, the Pensions Policy Institute has found. The PPI's report, published yesterday (February 2), stated DC default funds could better serve the needs of members by expanding the range of asset classes they invest in, putting more focus on better returns and lower volatility. Those who would benefit from an increased focus on returns include those working beyond the state pension...

February 3, 2022
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03Feb

Impact Investing Ghana receives RISA funding to support Research and Industry

Impact Investing Ghana (IIGh) has received GBP 109,536 from the Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) fund to foster research-industry connections in Ghana. The project aims to ‘strengthen synergies between research and industry to unlock pathways to financing innovation that will improve integration and coordination, as well as support demand for the financing by supporting Enterprise Support Organisations (ESOs). Strengthening the connections between research and industry is essential for innovation, commercialisation, and dissemination of research results. While Ghana has research...

February 3, 2022
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03Feb

US. Investment Opportunities for DB Plans Moving Forward

As corporate defined benefit  (DB) plans consider market volatility, interest rate movements and cash flow needs, there are certain investments and strategies that investment managers suggest they consider. Adam Levine, investment director of abrdn’s Client Solutions Group in New York City, says funded ratios for corporate DB plans improved quite a bit in 2021 both because of returns and discount rate movements, so more plans are moving into fixed income to protect their funded statuses. Closed or frozen plans, especially,...

February 3, 2022
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02Feb

EU ropes in pension funds to boost post-Brexit clearing capacity

Mandatory clearing of derivatives contracts by pension funds in the European Union should start in June 2023, helping the bloc to cut reliance on London, the EU’s securities watchdog said on Tuesday. Brussels wants to reduce reliance of EU financial services companies, including pension funds, on clearing euro denominated derivatives in London after Britain left the bloc’s regulatory framework. The mandatory clearing by the pensions funds could help to build up EU capacity in derivatives clearing. London still dominates clearing, with...

February 2, 2022
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02Feb

​Pension funds neglect human capital when setting investment policy, say experts

Pension funds should always take into account human capital, or the career perspective of their members, when determining how much risk they can take with their investments. But they too often fail to do this, according to experts. The degree of certainty of future labour income affects the risk capacity of pension participants; the more predictable and stable their income, the more risk they can shoulder, argued Thomas Pistorius, a risk manager at Pensioenfonds Vervoer, the €37bn fund for the...

February 2, 2022
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02Feb

Malaysia. We need a wholesome approach to retirement

For an individual, especially one who is not pensionable, retirement planning is rightly a 30-year consideration but, in reality, most would only start to look at their financial circumstances in the last five to ten years to retirement. While we should be concerned that 6.1 million out of the nearly 15 million Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members have less than RM10,000 in their EPF accounts, simplistic proposals to tinker with the dividend rate based on the amount held in one’s...

February 2, 2022
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01Feb

UK. 21 million savers tempted by green pension options amid increasing awareness

Awareness of the link between pensions and climate change has grown by around 85 per cent in the past year, analysis from Make My Money Matter (MMMM) has revealed, with an increasing number of savers tempted by green pension options as a result. Research from the group revealed that 51 per cent of savers, representing around 21 million individuals, would choose a green pension if offered one by their provider, up from 44 per cent in 2021, a "substantial" increase...

February 1, 2022
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