February 2020

12Feb

ABP: accelerating sustainability with investments

Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP has expressed a desire to break away from ‘dirty’ investments and focus on sustainability instead. In a press release on the company’s website, ABP set out its goal to reduce its investment portfolio in high CO2 emitting industries (coal mines and tar sands) by 40% by 2025. Concurrently, the company intends to invest €15bn in sustainable energy instead. With an overall strategy aimed at gradually weaning off companies that use fossil fuels to...

February 12, 2020
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12Feb

UK. State pension warning: Retirement age set to increase even further in just two years

The state pension age for men and women is currently 65 but will increase to 66 by October 2020. The pension age will then rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. However, it is “likely” the age will increase further as the Government will review the system from 2023. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Age UK policy expert, Sally West said: “The legislation has been passed to increase the state pension from 66 later this year. “There’s also a law that’s...

February 12, 2020
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12Feb

Need for pensions reform in Zimmbabwe

By Abisha Ndoro The occupational pension fund industry in Zimbabwe is a national crisis. A collective introspection by industry practitioners, boards of trustees, regulators, policymakers and other stakeholders is now necessary in addressing the myriad of underlying problems and reposition pension funds on a platform of long-term sustainability for future generations of retirees. The purpose of this, and subsequent articles, is to begin a process of stimulating debate as we examine the problems besetting the pensions system and crystallise...

February 12, 2020
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11Feb

UK. Government mulls tax raid on top earners’ pensions

According to the Financial Times, chancellor Sajid Javid is weighing up cutting tax relief on pension contributions for higher earners as a way of raising revenue for the state. Under the current system, individuals receive tax relief on their personal contributions at the same rate as their marginal income tax rate. However, the FT reports Javid may cut pension tax relief for higher earners from 40% to 20%, raising more than £10bn extra a year for the state. Inheritance...

February 11, 2020
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11Feb

Zimbabwe pension funds to invest offshore

During an inaugural insurance and pensions industry breakfast meeting yesterday, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube said Parliament would receive the Pensions and Provident Fund Bill, the Insurance Act and the amendments of the Insurance Commission Act soon. "In the first half of the year, all three Bills will come before Parliament . . . It is going to be contained in one of the Bills (Pensions and Provident) that eventually what we are saying is that for now we...

February 11, 2020
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11Feb

US. The Impact of the SECURE Act on Tax Qualified Retirement Plans

On December 20, President Trump signed into law the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019,”[1] known and referred to colloquially as the “SECURE Act.” The law’s stated purpose, among other things, is to increase the coverage of American workers in employer-sponsored savings arrangements. The new law generally affects retirement plans and programs that include employer-sponsored and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), among others. Many of the SECURE Act’s provisions that impact employer-sponsored plans took effect...

February 11, 2020
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11Feb

Australia. Pension minimums ‘nudge’ retirees to spend less, not more

Australian retirees are interpreting minimum pension drawdown rates as proxy financial advice from the government and holding back on spending more of their savings, according to a recent study out of the University of New South Wales (UNSW). The October 2019 study, ‘Spending from regulated retirement drawdowns: the role of implied endorsement’, found that 30 per cent of retirees were influenced by the “implied endorsement nudge” of a mandated minimum pension drawdown rule. “While regulated drawdowns compel regular withdrawal...

February 11, 2020
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10Feb

Asian pension markets post nearly 12% jump in assets under management

Asia-Pacific’s seven top pension markets – Japan, Australia, South Korea, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and India – saw their assets under management climb by 11.6 per cent in 2019, according to Thinking Ahead Institute’s Global Pension Assets Study released Monday. Also Read Asia Hedge Funds Brace for Lean Times as Investors Stay Away Japan is the largest of Asia’s pension markets, followed by Australia, with both countries in the top seven pension markets globally, the study said. “Asia Pacific...

February 10, 2020
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10Feb

UK. Only six out of 10 pensions to appear on new ‘dashboards’

Savers hoping to use new “pension dashboard” services to track their retirement savings will only be able to see six out of 10 accounts due to poor data quality, according to a new analysis. Dashboard services are expected to be launched in the UK later this year, giving savers the ability to see all their pension pots — and their combined value — in one online hub for the first time. A new analysis suggests they will offer...

February 10, 2020
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10Feb

Deal reached to cut bankrupt Puerto Rico’s debt by $24 bln

Puerto Rico would shed about $24 billion of debt and move closer to exiting bankruptcy under an agreement with bondholders announced on Sunday by the U.S. commonwealth's federally created financial oversight board. The deal would cut $35 billion of bonds and claims to about $11 billion as it increases the ranks of general obligation (GO) and Public Buildings Authority (PBA) bondholders that signed onto a plan to restructure core government debt and more than $50 billion in pension obligations...

February 10, 2020
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