July 2019

26Jul

The Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act of 2019: No Solution to America’s Pension Crisis

The House of Representatives just passed a bill that would bail out private union pension plans by giving them taxpayer dollars to invest in the stock market, as well as loans to cover their broken pension promises, which amount to $638 billion and counting. The bailout-without-reform plan would do nothing to fix the underlying problems and would instead incentivize union pension plans to become more underfunded so they could receive taxpayer funds. Risking taxpayer money in the stock market...

July 26, 2019
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26Jul

Canada. Positive returns for pension funds in second quarter of 2019

Morneau Shepell (MSI.TO) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the second quarter of 2019. According to the report, in the second quarter of 2019, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 2.2 per cent before management fees. Since the beginning of the year, the return has been 11.1 per cent. "In general, markets posted positive returns in the second quarter, continuing the rebound started early in the year. The FTSE Canada...

July 26, 2019
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26Jul

Industry sets out demands for newly appointed UK chancellor

Boris Johnson started his first day as UK prime minister by sacking 11 members of his predecessor Theresa May’s cabinet in a mass Brexiteer reshuffle. After being elected leader of the Conservative party on Tuesday, Johnson has placed his faith into former home secretary Sajid Javid to become the chancellor of the exchequer. Javid is reportedly set to make drastic changes to prepare for a potential no-deal Brexit, something Johnson is adamant he will carry out if the withdrawal agreement with the...

July 26, 2019
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26Jul

Zimbabwe. Zimdollar return hits pensions

Zimbabwe Association of Pension Funds (ZAPF) is saying the introduction of Statutory Instrument (SI) 142 has reduced confidence in policyholders and shareholders in the pensions industry that has been on recovery path during the multi-currency regime. The multi-currency regime was introduced in 2009 after a decade-long hyperinflation which eroded prescribed assets and cash at banks for pension fund members. However, it was scrapped last month by authorities. In an e-mailed response by ZAPF director-general Sandra Musevenzo, policyholders and shareholders were starting to...

July 26, 2019
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25Jul

US. House approves loan program for troubled pension plans

The House voted 264-169 on Wednesday to pass legislation that would create a new Treasury Department agency to provide taxpayer-backed loans to endangered multiemployer pension plans and some other types of endangered plans. The loans would be distributed by a Pension Rehabilitation Administration and would go to programs listed in “critical and declining” status by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, the federal agency that insures the plans. The bill, which is dubbed the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act, or...

July 25, 2019
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25Jul

Social pensions and accountability in Uganda

Across Africa, millions of older people live in poverty. Without access to pensions and eroding traditions of family support, many have no choice but to continue working into older age doing small-scale, low-paid farming or petty trade. For those who have disabilities or are in ill health, they may have no option to work. Without reliable incomes, older people lead precarious lives on the brink of poverty. Social pensions are key to addressing this. They have great...

July 25, 2019
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25Jul

Dutch Pension Plans to Merge, Creating a $23.4 Billion Fund

Looks like Dutch transportation pension funds SPF and SPOV will be merging after all. The two plans have agreed to consolidate their assets under management into a $23.4 billion plan, IPE reports. SPF covers railway pensioners and SPOV handles the retirement assets of public transportation workers. Both funds had talked about merging in 2016, but negotiations collapsed after they decided there wouldn’t be sufficient benefits for them to meet their obligations. Recently, SPF restarted discussions, arguing that a joint...

July 25, 2019
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25Jul

China. ETFs fast gaining popularity

Chinese fund management companies should ride the boom of pension fund-of-funds providers and work closely to develop more exchange-traded fund products for longer-term retail wealth, according to a new survey. Assets under management of China's outstanding ETF products reached 381 billion yuan ($55.4 billion) in 2018, hitting a historical high, according to a study by consultancy Oliver Wyman released on Wednesday. Meanwhile, assets under management rapidly grew with close to 40 new funds launched during the year. ETFs are...

July 25, 2019
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25Jul

How healthcare can enable healthy aging

One of the most pressing issues facing healthcare today is population aging. Sometimes called the “grey wave” or “silver tsunami,” population aging is the shift in average age of a population from younger to older ages. Current projections from the U.S. Census Bureau point to 2030 as a milestone year in which older people will outnumber children for the first time in history. All baby boomers will be older than age 65 and one in every five residents will...

July 25, 2019
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24Jul

US.New Rule to Encourage Retirement Plans by Smaller Companies Coming Soon

Small businesses would have an easier time banding together to create joint 401(k) retirement plans for workers under a rule the Labor Department is set to finish soon, according to a senior administration official. The expected rule would broaden the ways companies could join together to offer retirement accounts. Under a proposal floated in October, different types of businesses, say landscaping companies and real-estate firms, could create a joint plan as long as they are located in the same...

July 24, 2019
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