March 2020

18Mar

BlackRock Converts Money Market Portfolio to Environmental Fund

BlackRock is converting its BlackRock Money Market Portfolio to the BlackRock Wealth Liquid Environmentally Aware Fund (WeLEAF), which the firm says is the first environmentally aware money market product dedicated for the US wealth market. Read also LGIM to launch its first fossil fuel-free pension fund after pressure “Client interest in our LEAF series has revealed tremendous demand for sustainable liquidity management,” Thomas Callahan, BlackRock’s head of global cash management, said in statement. “WeLEAF was designed to answer...

March 18, 2020
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18Mar

European regulator calls on insurers for business continuity amidst virus battle

With WHO warning that Europe is the new 'epicentre' of COVID-19 given its surging number of cases and related deaths, insurers there are likely to face progressively more difficult conditions navigating challenging market conditions and in maintaining operations, according to the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). Read also COVID19 checklist for pension schemes The independent European Union financial regulatory institution said it is monitoring the COVID-19 situation very closely in close communication and cooperation with the other European...

March 18, 2020
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18Mar

How are Canadian pension plans responding to coronavirus?

Across the country, public pension plans are releasing statements to assure members that their defined benefit pensions are secure and that they’re taking measures to protect the health and safety of their own staff. The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan said it regularly tests operations and will continue to make pension payments. “We are well prepared and feel confident your pensions will be paid on time,” it wrote in a statement. “Although our response times to...

March 18, 2020
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18Mar

UK. History repeats itself with pension reforms

By John Roberts Most aspects of our daily lives are affected by the whims and ambitions of politicians. This has been the case for pension provision right back to the early 20th century and beyond. For the financial services industry and the population as a whole, the effects of political decisions are coming home to roost for the second time in a generation. As part of the self-reliance philosophy – distaste for state provision and the population’s reliance on...

March 18, 2020
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18Mar

Antigua and Barbuda . COVID-19 puts thousands of pensioners at risk

A turn for the worse in the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) could be disastrous for thousands of pensioners who depend on the state to survive. “That timeliness of the benefit payment is what will determine the quality of life for an elderly person that is perhaps afflicted by a COVID-19 infection,” said the Executive Director of the Antigua & Barbuda Social Security Board (ABSSB), David Matthias. According to Matthias, 11,288 people over the age of 60 are...

March 18, 2020
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17Mar

France. Macron Suspended Pension Reform and Delayed Second Round of Elections

France will be quarantined by noon on Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement to the nation broadcast by the Elysee Palace. All residents are ordered to stay home and will only be able to leave their homes for substantial reasons. People's movement will be very restricted, Macron said. "We are at war," the French president repeatedly said. Macron announced a number of measures that put France in a martial law to combat the virus. Here are...

March 17, 2020
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17Mar

COVID19 checklist for pension schemes

As governments and central banks across the world introduce extraordinary measures to limit the damage of this pandemic to both health and the global economy, The Pensions Regulator has urged trustees to have appropriate contingency plans in place to mitigate risks that could have significant consequences for their schemes and members. As such, Buck has launched a checklist aiming to help trustees and employers understand these risks, including actions that can be taken to mitigate them. The checklist...

March 17, 2020
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17Mar

In Nagoya, scramble for hospital beds shows coronavirus challenge for aging Japan

Hospitals in Nagoya city in Japan's industrial heartland have more coronavirus patients than they can treat, forcing transfers to nearby areas and offering a glimpse of the challenges the outbreak poses for a country with a huge elderly population. Japan has closed schools and canceled public events, which experts say has helped prevent an explosive spread of the virus. But because testing hasn't been widespread, some medical experts say the extent of infection is understated, and a surge could...

March 17, 2020
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16Mar

Coronavirus: Stocks plunge despite global central bank action

Global stock markets have sunk despite central banks around the world announcing a co-ordinated effort to ease the effects of the coronavirus. London's FTSE 100 index has fallen more than 6%, and other major European markets have seen similar falls. Read also Coronavirus: FTSE 100, Dow, S&P 500 in worst day since 1987 On Sunday, the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates to almost zero and launched a $700bn stimulus programme. Read also COVID19 checklist for pension schemes It was part of co-ordinated action announced alongside...

March 16, 2020
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16Mar

LGIM to launch its first fossil fuel-free pension fund after pressure

The UK’s biggest fund manager has bowed to client pressure and agreed to launch its first fossil fuel-free ethical pension fund later this year. Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), which has been one of the most outspoken fund managers over the climate crisis, made the decision after a number of clients raised concerns that stocks such as Shell were still being included in its range of ethical funds. Those clients include PensionBee – an online pension provider that handles £750m-worth...

March 16, 2020
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