July 2020
02Jul

Australian regulator imposes new conditions on Suncorp, CBA pension arms

Australia’s prudential regulator said on Thursday said it has imposed new licensing conditions on the pension units of Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Suncorp Group following directions by a government-ordered enquiry. The new conditions would require them to record how they consider the best interests of their customers while making decisions, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) said. The authority noted that neither Suncorp Portfolio Services (SPSL) nor Colonial First State Investments (CFSIL) had breached pension laws. The conditions...

July 2, 2020
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01Jul

US. Labor Department Proposes Fiduciary Exemption for Retirement Plans

The Labor Department proposed a new rule Monday for retirement accounts that allow brokers and other types of financial advisers to provide fiduciary advice and still receive commissions in some cases. Read also US. Coronavirus puts company match under pressure Consumer advocates say the proposed regulation would weaken standards under the federal law that governs retirement accounts. Read also UK. Pension funds covering £3trn pressured on fossil fuel investments and net-zero alignment Read more @WSJ

July 1, 2020
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01Jul

Swiss government outlines framework for sustainable finance

Unveiling a report on sustainable finance on Friday, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer said legislators would stay in the background as a last resort measure. However, the report identified a number of criteria it would monitor and called for improvements in some areas. Banks, pension funds, insurers and asset managers are expected to step up efforts to make sure customers get full disclosure of relevant information on their investments and to better calculate the financial consequences of harmful activities. A...

July 1, 2020
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01Jul

Nigeria´s FCMB bolstering its pensions business to drive profitability

First City Monument Bank Group is set to acquire up to 96 percent of Aiico Pensions Limited, the financial services group said in a notice on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in yet another move to expand its pensions unit. The planned acquisition follows the company’s increase of its stake in Legacy Pensions – now FCMB Pensions – to 91.6 percent last year, giving it full control of the business. As of March, FCMB Pensions had grown its assets under...

July 1, 2020
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June 2020

30Jun

UK. £127bn transferred out of workplace schemes since 2015 – ONS

Around £127bn has been transferred out of UK funded occupational pension schemes since 2015, with £36.9bn-worth of transfers out in 2017 alone, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The government body’s Financial Survey of Pension Schemes found that transfers in to occupational schemes bounced back the following year, rising from £2.2bn in 2017 to £9.6bn in 2018, driven by a sharp rise on transfers into defined contribution (DC) schemes, which made up £3.8bn, or 40...

June 30, 2020
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30Jun

Dutch schemes fail to push management fees below 0.5% threshold

Large Dutch pension funds have not been able to push their investment management fees to below the 0.5% threshold, even though their assets under management increased by 28% in the past five years. Consultancy LCP looked at total management fees as a percentage of total assets for the seven largest occupational funds – ABP, PFZW, PMT, PME, BpfBouw, Vervoer and PGB – and three large company pension funds (Philips, Rabobank and Shell). Together, these funds administer two thirds of all...

June 30, 2020
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30Jun

BP under scrutiny over Zambian pension shortfall

When BP sold off its Zambian fuel marketing business in 2010 to Puma Energy, it appeared to be a fairly straightforward example of a super major dispensing with non-core assets. For former employees of BP Zambia, though, it marked another setback in their struggle to win recognition for pensions earned. As BP’s new CEO Bernard Looney has set out his thoughts on tackling racial injustice and a desire to help the world “build back better”, the case of ageing...

June 30, 2020
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30Jun

UK. Regulator to focus on protecting savers amid Covid

The Pensions Regulator has said it will prioritise protecting savers during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as schemes continue to deliver benefits. The regulator's corporate plan for 2020-21, published this morning (June 29), sets out how it will continue to address the risks to the savers through regulatory interventions and scheme supervision. It also highlights the regulator’s determination to continue to fight against pension scams by taking action against fraudsters and working with other key industry organisations to...

June 30, 2020
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30Jun

WeBank, Huawei and KPMG Share Insights on Fighting COVID – 19 with FinTech

As part of their efforts to promote fintech solutions in the post-pandemic era, the Financial Services Blockchain Consortium Shenzhen (FISCO), Singapore FinTech Association, FinTech Association of Hong Kong and Shenzhen FinTech Association organized the "Financial Digitalization & Fintech Evolution in the Wake of COVID-19" webinar on June 23. It was the first joint event conducted by FinTech associations in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Singapore. Senior members from WeBank, Huawei and KPMG shared their insights on the trend of financial...

June 30, 2020
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29Jun

Raiding the pot: how the pandemic has deepened the pensions crisis

The arrival of coronavirus in Australia in March left Marie Piggo struggling to put food on the table. The 32-year-old hairdresser from Sydney quickly saw two-thirds of her income disappear as customers stayed at home. Worse still, her husband lost his job. So when the Australian government announced in March it would allow young people like herself to raid their retirement pots to ease financial pressures caused by the coronavirus lockdown, she jumped at the chance. “We didn’t take...

June 29, 2020
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