June 2020
18Jun

US. Trump SEC Chairman Urges 401ks To Gamble Away Coronavirus Losses

By Edward Siedle Trump SEC Chairman Jay Clayton urges 401k plan sponsors and investors to gamble on private equity funds as a means of recovering coronavirus losses. Since when is it the job of the Chairman of the world’s premier securities regulator to encourage reckless risk-taking by American workers already reeling from pandemic losses? Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor opened the door for plan sponsors to add private equity funds to their 401(k) plans. The Trump administration claims...

June 18, 2020
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18Jun

Nationwide anger as Iraq announces pension cuts

Iraq is facing its worst economic crisis since 2003, worsened by the global drop in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s government has proposed austerity measures, including capping the amount and number of state salaries and pensions people can receive. Many people rely on pensions and reparations from the government. Al Jazeera's Simona Foltyn reports from Baghdad, Iraq. Read more @Aljazeera

June 18, 2020
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17Jun

UK. Sustainable Investment And The Race to Zero Emissions During The Covid-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) threw the world's health, economic and financial systems into disarray, but the pandemic did little to distract the U.K. from the climate crisis. A recent survey by Ipsos shows two-thirds of Britons consider climate change to be as serious as the pandemic, and the majority support a green economic recovery. Their voices are not unheard, since leaders at all levels of society are strategizing ways to "build back better" for our planet. The UN's...

June 17, 2020
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17Jun

Countless South Africans are owed pension benefits, and yet claiming is a constant battle

While few immediately associate youth issues with pensions, the reality is that many young people actively participate in and even depend on the pensions industry. This includes their participation in the ongoing struggle of millions to access more than R42-billion in pension benefits owed to individuals and families. Young people interact with the pensions industry in various ways. Some in formal employment already contribute to a pension or benefit fund or are considering which fund to choose. Those counted...

June 17, 2020
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17Jun

Netherlands moves closer to defined contribution system

The Dutch cabinet moved closer to a new agreement with employers, employees and unions that will see the country phase-out defined benefit arrangements by 2026. Following an initial "in principle" agreement in June 2019, talks over a new retirement legislation progressed on June 12 toward a new mandatory defined contribution system. The details of the system will be outlined in new legislation, which is expected to be in place by January 2022. The new legislation is expected to state...

June 17, 2020
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17Jun

UK. Pensions triple lock at risk from Covid-19 fallout

Rishi Sunak is preparing to break the Conservative party’s “triple lock” state pension pledge, amid Treasury fears that the policy could soon become unaffordable because of the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. The UK chancellor’s willingness to break a 2019 Tory manifesto commitment is a sign of how the Covid-19 pandemic is forcing the government to confront political taboos. Mr Sunak has been warned that unless he breaks the pledge next year, the value of the state pension could...

June 17, 2020
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17Jun

Ghana. Public sector pensioners call for better packages from SSNIT

Scores of pensioners and public sector workers have expressed dismay at the pension package offered by the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) saying they would embark on industrial action if the anomaly was not rectified. “There will be total lockdown of public sector activities on June 25, if SSNIT does not follow the correct procedure and formula in paying past credits to pensioners,” Mr Isaac Bampoe Addo, Chairman of the Forum for Public Sector Registered Pensions Schemes,...

June 17, 2020
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16Jun

Global pension assets rose to $32 trillion in 2019

According to information and data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, pension fund assets rose to $32 trillion in OECD area and $0.7 trillion in 29 other selected (non-OECD) reporting jurisdictions in 2019. A country by country analysis shows that the United States of America has the largest amount of pension fund assets in the amount of $18.8 trillion. The US is followed by the United Kingdom with pension assets of $3.6 trillion, Australia, $1.8 trillion,...

June 16, 2020
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16Jun

Australia’s Biggest Pension Fund Eyes PE, Credit Amid Low Rates

AustralianSuper, the nation’s largest pension fund, is seeking private-equity opportunities and looking to lift credit holdings as it sees limited returns from government bonds. The fund is holding more cash than it would traditionally, Mark Delaney, the chief investment officer of Melbourne-based AustralianSuper, told Bloomberg’s Inside Track series Tuesday. It is underweight government bonds and maintained its long-term weightings in equities during the market turbulence amid the coronavirus pandemic, Delaney said. “If we get a chance and the markets...

June 16, 2020
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16Jun

The future of aging in the US

What does the future of aging in America look like? For answers, every year we ask some of our newest Influencers in Aging to offer their views at the American Society on Aging’s Aging in America conference. The pandemic turned this year’s in-person panel into a June 11 webinar, and the Influencers’ forecasts — as well as their laments — couldn’t have been timelier. “I want to acknowledge that we as a country have had a few rough months...

June 16, 2020
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