May 2020
07May

S. Korea’s NPS joins int’l buyout of Portuguese toll roads operator Brisa

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) joined Dutch pension manager APG Asset Management and Swiss Life Asset Managers for multi-billion dollar acquisition of a combined 81.1 percent stake in Portugal’s leading toll roads operator Brisa – Auto-Estradas de Portugal (Brisa). The consortium in the biggest-ever Portuguese buyout amidst an ongoing virus pandemic will assume 40.55 percent from London-based Arcus European Infrastructure Fund 1 (Arcus) and another 40.55 percent from Portuguese conglomerate Jose de Mello Group (JdM), according to industry...

May 7, 2020
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06May

UK Corporate Pension Funding Hammered by Pandemic in April

The accounting position of the defined benefit pension plans of the UK’s FTSE 350 companies plummeted in April as it swung from a surplus of £10 billion ($12.4 billion) at the end of March to a deficit of £52 billion at the end of the April due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from consulting firm Mercer’s Pensions Risk Survey shows that liabilities of the UK’s 350 largest listed companies surged by £102 billion to £897 billion...

May 6, 2020
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06May

Kenya. State pension pay to rise 29pc next year

The Treasury will spend nearly a third more on paying pensioners in the fiscal year beginning July, with the actual total amount to be spent for the first time expected to exceed Sh100 billion. According to estimates released to Parliament, the total pensions and gratuities paid will amount to Sh119.19 billion, from revised estimates of Sh92.49 billion of the fiscal year ending in June. This is Sh26.7 billion or 29 percent higher. It underlines the extent of liabilities the...

May 6, 2020
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06May

What are the implications for pension funds coming out of coronavirus crisis?

By Janet Rabovsky Last August, I wrote about whether central banks were creating a financial bubble with their coordinated easing programs intended to spur economic growth and/or lift inflation. In January 2020, I wrote about the end of the economic cycle, the potential for a recession and what that might mean for positioning an investment portfolio. Little did I know, when I wrote these articles, that we would be experiencing further central bank action as a result of COVID-19,...

May 6, 2020
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06May

Ara Partners closes USD-400m industrial decarbonisation fund

Private equity firm Ara Partners has achieved a USD-400-million (EUR 369.5m) close for its debut fund, Ara Fund I LP, which was created to support the decarbonisation of the industrial economy through investments in North America and Europe. Capital commitments came from various institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations and family offices. "We seek near-term, tangible carbon reductions and profitable growth through rapid adoption of sustainable industrial products and...

May 6, 2020
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05May

COVID-19 Is Exposing the Holes in Latin America’s Safety Nets

Governments around the world need to get cash into the pockets of families who lost their income due to the coronavirus, and Latin America might seem well-equipped for the task. The region helped pioneer massive cash transfer programs for low-income families over the past three decades, with notable success in Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere. But the pandemic has instead exposed existing vulnerabilities in Latin America’s social safety net. If policymakers aren’t careful, it could create new ones as well....

May 5, 2020
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05May

White House Makes Appointments That Could Impact Pension Fund Decision to Invest in China

The White House on Monday named three nominees to sit on a board that oversees federal employee pension funds, a move that could see the reversal of a decision to allow one of the funds to invest in Chinese companies under scrutiny from Washington. If confirmed by the Senate, the three individuals would sit on the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) which administers the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a retirement savings fund similar to a 401(k) for federal...

May 5, 2020
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05May

Nigeria. PenCom dissolves interim management committee for First Guarantee Pension, appoints new board

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has dissolved the interim management committee of First Guarantee Pension Limited. The committee was set up in August 12, 2011 to handle the affairs of the Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), as part of the commission’s intervention pending the resolution of legal disputes. The intervention was also based on findings of routine and especial examinations carried out by the pension regulator. In a public statement that was released on Monday, PenCom announced that...

May 5, 2020
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05May

Should UK millennials be worried about their retirement savings over the coronavirus crisis?

Experts weigh up whether job losses and stock market volatility from the coronavirus crisis has caused lasting damage to the retirement savings of British millennials. Research has shown young workers are among the most vulnerable to job losses or a reduction in working hours as a result of the financial strain of the Covid-19 outbreak. Jamie Smith, financial advisor at advice firm Foster Denovo, highlighted that in these circumstances a person is less likely to continue to save...

May 5, 2020
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04May

Top US pension plans eye private credit.

Some of America’s largest pension funds are looking to pour money into private credit to capitalise on dislocations across the market stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. Both the $227bn California State Teachers Retirement System (Calstrs) and the $215bn New York State Common Retirement Fund have identified private credit as an opportunity for investors that have enough liquidity to lend to struggling companies. Meanwhile, data from FT Specialist publication MandateWire shows that numerous other public funds in the US are also looking...

May 4, 2020
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