July 2020

21Jul

US. What The Wild Stock Market Means For Public Pensions

As governments deal with paying for Covid-19 expenses amid falling tax revenue and shrinking budgets, there’s another big bill waiting for them: pension debt. And many could lean on taxpayers to help. Pension plans haven’t released their annual earnings yet, but a recent report from Moody’s Investors Service notes that “investment returns...have almost certainly fallen well short of targets.” The ratings agency estimates that when pension plans tally up their total performance between July 1, 2019 and June...

July 21, 2020
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21Jul

UK. Cybercrime and Pensions Administration

In 2019, cybercrime and fraud constituted 42% of all criminal activity. With the advances in technology the whole of society is experiencing, its no surprise that crime is evolving too.. We need to be alive to the fact pension schemes and administration providers are attractive to cybercriminals. Partly because of all the personal data processed but also because of the importance of ensuring pension payments continue uninterrupted, as well as the potential of ransomware attacks. Information released by the...

July 21, 2020
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21Jul

Puerto Rico announces referendum to protect public pensions

Puerto Rico’s governor announced Monday that she plans to hold a referendum on whether public pension payments should be protected by the U.S. territory’s Constitution for the first time in the island’s history. If approved, the measure would prohibit using money from Puerto Rico’s crumbling public pension system to repay creditors — challenging efforts by the federal control board overseeing the island’s finances to make pensioners share the pain with investors in a restructuring of part of the island’s...

July 21, 2020
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21Jul

Germany. Siemens to co-operate with Raisin on pensions

Siemens is cooperating with German fintech Raisin on employee pensions. There has long been a political desire in Germany to provide German residents with an accurate overview of their retirement financing, in order to identify the deficiency in people’s pension in a timely fashion. The pension specialist fairr, part of Berlin-based Raisin, developed a digital “retirement cockpit” along these lines, enabling users to easily track their retirement funds and plan accordingly. Now German manufacturing giant Siemens’ pensions company, Siemens...

July 21, 2020
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20Jul

UN Secretary General proposes Basic Income

On the 18th July the Secretary General of the United Nations gave the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture. People want social and economic systems that work for everyone. They want their human rights and fundamental freedoms to be respected. They want a say in decisions that affect their lives. Read also France delays retirement reform that caused mass strikes The New Social Contract, between Governments, people, civil society, business and more, must integrate employment, sustainable development and social protection, based...

July 20, 2020
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20Jul

France delays retirement reform that caused mass strikes

France''s government is delaying a divisive overhaul of the country''s retirement system until at least the end of the year because of the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic. Prime Minister Jean Castex announced after meeting with unions Friday that the pension reform “will be maintained.” But he added that the government will extend negotiations on details of the plan over the coming months, instead of pushing to finalise it this summer. The plan would end some specific pension...

July 20, 2020
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20Jul

Financial Corner: How Can You Help Lower Your Longevity Risk?

Insurance companies and pension funds view longevity risk as the risk they incur when their assumptions about life expectancies and mortality rates are incorrect, leading to higher payout levels. But for you, as an individual investor, longevity risk is less technical and more emotional: it’s the risk of outliving your money. To assess your own longevity risk, you’ll first want to make an educated guess about your life span, based on your health and family history. Plus, you’ve got...

July 20, 2020
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17Jul

Withdrawals from Mexican pension funds soar amid weak labor market

Withdrawals from Mexican pension funds resulting from unemployment soared in June to a record high, according to official data, as the country's labor market continues to suffer. Read also Faced with COVID-19, highest number of Australians tap retirement funds since April Withdrawals during the month totaled 1.86 billion pesos ($83 million), more than twice the 921 million pesos withdrawn in June 2019, according to figures released Wednesday by pensions regulator Consar. Read also FLF Africa launches Financial Literacy for Coronavirus...

July 17, 2020
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17Jul

Public sector pension discrimination could cost UK taxpayer £17bn

The government has revealed it faces a £17bn bill for tackling “unlawful” age discrimination in public sector pensions, with 3 million people set to benefit by an average of more than £5,600 each. While the announcement spells good news for many teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters and civil servants, commentators said the huge bill could not have come at a worse time and would almost certainly have to be financed through cuts in spending or higher taxes. Taxpayers are...

July 17, 2020
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17Jul

US. Public Pensions Face a COVID-19 Conundrum

Faced with depleting assets, and with state and local governments under fiscal pressure from the COVID-19 recession, public pension plan sponsors have some tough choices ahead of them in order to remain sustainable during economic uncertainty. However, there are widely differing views among economic scholars as to what the most prudent strategy is for state and local governments dealing with low returns on pension investments, aging workforces, and pressure to build portfolios to cover promised future benefits—as well as...

July 17, 2020
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