October 2019

24Oct

Denmark’s Biggest Pension Fund Just Unveiled a Record 40% Return

Denmark’s biggest pension fund, ATP, more than doubled its rate of return in the first nine months of this year as most of the asset classes it invested in grew in value. Read also European private pension industry hit by negative returns in 2018 The upshot was a return of 36.9 billion kroner ($5.5 billion), before costs and taxes, said ATP, which oversees about $130 billion of assets from its headquarters north of Copenhagen. Read also SA retirement...

October 24, 2019
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24Oct

Chile’s Pinera announces price cuts, new wage after protests

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera has announced new measures aimed at resolving one of the country's worst political crises in years following weeks of protests. In a televised speech on Tuesday, Pinera promised an immediate 20 percent increase in government-subsidised pensions, a guaranteed monthly wage of $480, cheaper medicines for the poor and stabilised electricity costs. He also announced a new tax bracket of 40 percent for those earning more than $11,000 a month, as well as potential wage cuts...

October 24, 2019
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24Oct

Five Ways to Improve Retirement Security in the U.S.

Given the fact that nearly half of households headed by someone age 55 or older have no retirement savings and that one estimate puts the median retirement account balance across all savers at $40,000, the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program convened its third annual Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings. More than 70 experts and industry leaders explored feasible solutions over the course of two days. By Forum’s end, participants had identified five ideas most ready for advancement. The first...

October 24, 2019
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24Oct

SA retirement funds are ahead of the pack with ESG investing

Worldwide, retirement funds are warming up to the idea of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. However, most funds have yet to move from appreciating the rationale for ESG investing to actually making such investments. The reason is regulation that, with a few exceptions — notably SA — is not particularly ESG friendly. SA retirement fund regulation goes much further in encouraging ESG investing than jurisdictions such as the US, making the country worth watching — as we saw...

October 24, 2019
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24Oct

A step closer towards universal health coverage for an ageing world

HelpAge attended the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) at the United Nations, New York. UHC is essential for ensuring all people, everywhere, can access quality health and care services with financial protection. At the meeting and in the months leading up to it, we have heard countless examples of how affordable, accessible, quality health and care services unlock people's potential and how UHC is therefore one of the smartest investments countries can make. Older people face specific...

October 24, 2019
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23Oct

Brazil Pension Reform Clears Congress, Stocks Hit New Highs

Brazil's Senate on Tuesday approved a sweeping overhaul of the country's pension system to stabilize public finances and restore business confidence, setting up President Jair Bolsonaro to sign his keystone economic proposal into law. Read also Japan. No excuse for inaction on pension reforms The Senate approved the main text of the landmark pension reform by a margin of 60-19 in a late Tuesday session before moving on to consider amendments. Read also Irish pensions need urgent reform, industry specialist...

October 23, 2019
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23Oct

German Bundesbank recommends raising retirement age to 69

Imagine working until at least the age of 69 - that’s what the experts at the Bundesbank in Germany are recommending. They argue that such a change is necessary; otherwise pension payments will fall too low in the face of rising life expectancies. Demographic change puts pressure on German pension system Discussing the prospect of a future reform of the pension system in Germany, the Bundesbank has proposed a long-term increase in the retirement age to 69 years...

October 23, 2019
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23Oct

UK. British pensioners in Europe struggle to make ends meet, committee told

Retired Britons in Europe are not sipping prosecco on a warm terrace but are struggling to make ends meet and fear further poverty because of Brexit, a parliamentary committee has been told. Jeremy Morgan QC said retirees in the EU living exclusively or almost exclusively on British pensions have already suffered a decrease in their income because of the depreciation in sterling since the referendum. They were hit by a second blow last month when the government revealed it...

October 23, 2019
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23Oct

What Does It Take To Build The World’s Best Pension Systems? Ask The Netherlands And Denmark

By Elizabeth Bauer The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index 2019 edition has been published, and the United States has been given a rank of C+ in this comparison of pension systems of 37 rich and middle-income countries, with a score of 60.6, slightly above the average of 59.3. Also in the C+ category were the UK and France; among the C countries were Spain, Austria and Italy; B countires included Canada, Ireland, and Germany. Which countries were at...

October 23, 2019
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22Oct

Biggest public pension fund in U.S. dumps private prison firms that run ICE migrant detention centers

The largest public pension fund in the United States is divesting from the two major for-profit prison companies running migrant detention facilities for the federal government, the California Faculty Association announced following a meeting with the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) on Friday. Read also Where does retirement income come from in the US? The move by CalPERS is part of a larger trend by pension funds and businesses that have pulled their financial backing from GEO Group and...

October 22, 2019
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