March 2020

11Mar

UK. FCA mulls carbon rating rules

The Financial Conduct Authority has warned UK consumers do not yet understand how their investments and pensions impact the environment, as it flirted with the idea of imposing a carbon footprint rating system. It comes as MPs challenged the financial watchdog and the Bank of England on their plans to help consumers navigate financial products from a "sustainability and climate risk perspective". In recent letters sent to both Andrew Bailey and Mark Carney, published today (March 10),...

March 11, 2020
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11Mar

China’s total pensions assets grew by 19 percent to RMB 15 trillion in 2019, forecasts KPMG

China's three-pillar pension sector sees healthy growth prospects, improving investment returns and growing participation following regulatory changes. China's total pension assets are expected to have grown by 19 percent in 2019 to more than RMB 15 trillion. This is a year-on-year growth rate similar to its long-term average of 17 percent recorded over the last decade. According to KPMG's latest China Pensions Outlook report, the increase was due to the development of occupational annuities and continued capital injection under...

March 11, 2020
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11Mar

South Africa. The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund overpays for underperformance at the expense of Eskom employees

The Eskom Pension and Provident Fund (EPPF) is South Africa’s second-largest retirement provider of defined benefits. Most investors are focused on its solvency ratios and metrics of material costs, and less so on operational costs because of the proportion of the assets under management. A few percentage point changes in the operation costs has never been much of a cause for concern. But when operational costs become a significant financial burden, pensions should take notice. The CEO and principal...

March 11, 2020
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10Mar

PEPPs unlikely to survive after closer look by EU regulators

Money managers and consultants say that voluntary pan-European personal pension products could be dead on arrival with the watchdog European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority taking a tougher approach to its supervision. Read also ​Swedish Pensions Agency sees need for new pension savings scheme The European Commission launched PEPPs in 2019 to simplify retirement saving for self-employed and mobile workers seeking employment across the European Union. Through a portable cross-border plan design for individuals, a PEPP was developed to help...

March 10, 2020
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10Mar

What the coronavirus market fall means for UK pensions

Savers are nursing losses approaching 10% in their pension schemes since the start of the coronavirus market panic, while holders of share Isas have lost as much as a quarter of all their money in some funds. The stock market rout means someone who had accumulated £250,000 in their pension scheme at the start of this year will have seen it shrivel to about £225,000 on Monday. Holders of final salary-style pensions, mostly in the public sector, lose nothing...

March 10, 2020
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10Mar

Norway’s Pension Giant Calls for Improved ESG Metrics

Norway’s $1.07 trillion Government Pension Fund Global, which owns stakes in more than 9,200 companies and owns 1.5% of all listed stocks, is pressing the companies it invests in to provide more tangible data regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. The fund said it’s no longer enough to hear promises of responsible investing, and that it’s time for companies to start providing hard data to show they’re being true to their word. “In recent years, we have...

March 10, 2020
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10Mar

US. Retirement plans and the coronavirus: What moves do you make?

Linda is in a panic. She’s a 65-year-old divorcée who knew she had a very risky investment strategy for her age. She’s recently retired and receives about $1,300 in Social Security. Financial support she is receiving from an ex will end next year. All was going well until the coronavirus outbreak sent stock markets around the world tumbling. Linda has 100 percent of her retirement money invested in equities. She has a home and about $60,000 in cash, which is...

March 10, 2020
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09Mar

Stock Markets Plunge Across the World as Coronavirus Sparks Oil Price War

Global stock markets, already reeling from intense panic over the spread of the novel coronavirus, plunged on Monday as oil prices nose-dived by more than 30 percent—the biggest daily drop since the Gulf War in 1991—after Saudi Arabia shocked the world by launching a price war against Russia. The drop comes as the number of confirmed cases of the virus reached nearly 110,000 worldwide. Read also PPI Coverage: Coronavirus’s effects on pensions Economists in the United States and Europe are now bracing for what...

March 9, 2020
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09Mar

Mexico. ‘Unsustainable’: Mexico’s Pemex Buckling Under Crushing Pension Debt

Straining under a massive debt load and at risk of a ratings downgrade, Mexican state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) was hit with a record jump in its pension liabilities last year as more workers retired on generous benefits. Pemex [PEMX.UL] is fighting to avoid having its bonds cut to "junk" or speculative grade, which would put pressure on Mexico's sovereign rating and deal a heavy blow to populist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has vowed to revive it. Read...

March 9, 2020
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09Mar

Growing Coronavirus Epidemic Is Straining Europe’s Health-Care System

Doctors say the continent is ill prepared to face a worsening coronavirus outbreak, with shortages of equipment including protective gear and hospital beds. Doctors in European countries where the coronavirus has just begun to spread are warning that their health-care systems aren’t prepared for an outbreak on the scale seen in China, South Korea or Italy. The Italian government on Sunday started to enforce a lockdown of some northern regions including the cities of Milan and Venice in a bid to...

March 9, 2020
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