March 2020

05Mar

Gender pay gap in Europe: facts and figures

This year marks 25 years since the adoption of the UN’s Beijing Declaration aimed at the advancement of women around the globe, the 10th anniversary of UN Women - dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women - and five years since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is gender equality. So where do we stand? Progress has been made, but inequality between men and women persists, including on the labour market. On average,...

March 5, 2020
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05Mar

UK. Record Numbers Saving into Workplace Pensions

More than three-quarters of British employees are now members of a workplace pension scheme, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. And for the first time, occupational defined contribution (DC) pensions have overtaken all other types of pension, including defined benefit (DB) or final salary schemes. The proportion of employees in a workplace pension hit 77%, the highest since comparable records began in 1997 – it marks a huge advance on the 47% in these schemes...

March 5, 2020
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04Mar

Global Economic Policymakers Scramble as Coronavirus Threatens Growth

Global policymakers moved to ease public anxiety over the coming economic hit from the coronavirus on Monday, as analysts warned of a severe slowdown in growth and a possible recession if the virus continued to spread. Finance ministers and central bankers from the world’s advanced economies said the Group of 7 would hold an emergency call on Tuesday morning to discuss economic responses to the outbreak. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund signaled they were also ready to...

March 4, 2020
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04Mar

South Africa. Pension funds shouldn’t be ‘fearful’ of Eskom – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has given the strongest indication yet that the savings of pension funds will be used to bail out Eskom’s debt obligations. Briefing the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) in Cape Town, Ramaphosa said South Africans "weren’t that good" at saving money and that pension funds were the main sources of money to save Eskom. The national power utility has to repay over R450bn in debt. "You have to go to the source of investments. Where...

March 4, 2020
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04Mar

France. Macron’s pension reform survives two confidence votes

French President Emmanuel Macron's government has defeated not just one but two no-confidence votes, allowing it to force an overhaul of the retirement system through the lower house of parliament despite months of protests. Thousands of people took to the streets of Paris and other cities the day before the vote to denounce the pension changes, which they fear will oblige people to work longer for less money. Currently the eligibility age for a full pension is 62. As...

March 4, 2020
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04Mar

Milliman Launches Index to Track Pension Risk Transfer Market

By Michael Katz Actuarial and consulting firm Milliman has launched a pension buyout index that estimates the average cost of a pension risk transfer strategy. The firm said it created the Milliman Pension Buyout Index (MPBI) because plan sponsors considering a plan termination or de-risking strategy need to be able to monitor the annuity market, which continues to show strong growth. According to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, almost half of all defined benefit pension plans in the US...

March 4, 2020
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04Mar

Uganda. World Bank update, a reminder of our development strategy

For the first time, Uganda’s major external funding partner, the World Bank, in its 14th Uganda Economic Update, emphasised Social Protection programmes as an important policy tool for building resilience, mitigating risks and supporting households to invest in human capital development. Uganda has continuously prioritised investment in physical infrastructure over the years and indeed, the proposed budget for the financial year 2020/21 has works and transport taking up the biggest share of the resource envelope at 19.7% up from...

March 4, 2020
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03Mar

UK. Pension transfer market needs regulation, says industry

Ministers are facing calls to give powers to regulators to supervise the corporate pension transfer market after claims that companies are pressuring employees to quit their valuable retirement schemes. Senior figures in the pension industry said a voluntary code of practice that is meant to prevent abuses by employers was no longer working. The concerns centre on how employers have the ability to initiate exercises under which workers who are members of their defined benefit pension schemes can swap...

March 3, 2020
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03Mar

South Africa. Ramaphosa backs plan to trim public servants wage bill, instead of affecting pensions

The decision to try cutting the government’s runaway wage bill was a better available option in trimming down the state’s spending. This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa who, in his weekly newsletter, said that the other available option would have had a bigger and negative impact on civil servants and South Africans in general. According to Ramaphosa, the government had two options available in cutting down its spending - renegotiate 2020 salaries increases with public sector unions or...

March 3, 2020
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03Mar

Ukraine. Pensions will increase by average of $50 by 2023, – Sokolovska

In 2020, pensions will be indexed - people over 80 years old will increase payments by an average of $22 / month. By 2023, the average pension will increase by $50 / month. Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Yulia Sokolovska on her Facebook page. "There will be an indexation of pensions! And with it, a new pension growth strategy that the government team and the deputy corps developed on behalf of President Vladimir Zelensky! The initiative is to...

March 3, 2020
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