July 2019

16Jul

South African State Pension Fund to Invest More Offshore

South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund is planning to invest more of its 2 trillion rand ($144 billion) under management outside the country and in unlisted assets to reduce risk of overexposure to locally traded companies. The strategy was outlined by GEPF Principal Executive Officer Abel Sithole to a commission of inquiry into allegations of wrongdoing and poor governance at the Public Investment Corp., the fund’s biggest manager. The GEPF has more than 93% of its assets invested in...

July 16, 2019
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15Jul

Egypt. Draft bill to end debt conflict between Treasury, Social Insurance

The draft new social insurance and pensions bill prepared by the government and approved in principle by the House of Representatives last week includes mechanisms and measures that would resolve the existing and future debt crises between the Treasury Authority and the National Social Insurance Authority. The key features pertinent to conflict resolution are: The Treasury Authority pays to the National Social Insurance Authority a sum that increases annually by 5.7 percent for 50 years and that...

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

Kenya: We Are Not Paying Ghosts, Pensions Chief Tells Auditor

The Pensions Department has accused Auditor-General Edward Ouko of misrepresenting facts by saying Sh67.9 billion was paid to ghost retirees. Mr Ouko, in a report tabled at the National Assembly two weeks ago, said individuals at the National Treasury may have taken advantage of the weaknesses in the Pensions Management Information System (PMIS) to authorise irregular payments. Of the money paid out, some 962 claimants received Sh1.6 billion -- which was made way before the end of their service...

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

Morocco’s Head of Government Fails to Cancel Ministers’ Pensions

The Head of Government, Saad Eddine El Othmani, declared on July 9, that in order to save pension plans, wage cuts and the retirement age would have to be increased, starting this year. Speaking in the House of Councils, he admitted to being unable to cancel ministers and parliamentarians’ pensions. His statement came in response to the countrywide campaign for pensions’ abolition. The civil pension plan El Othmani’s new initiative comes after the publication of the 2017...

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

Australia. Pensioners gain $1000 boost as deeming rates cut

Pensioners will be up to $1000 a year better off from September when the Morrison government changes the income test for pensioners. The government will cut deeming rates, used to estimate how much some pensioners earn on their financial investments, for more than 630,000 pensioners and nearly 350,000 people receiving other income-tested Read more @AFR

July 15, 2019
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15Jul

US. Congress Moves to Put Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation On Taxpayer Dole

The Ways and Means Committee of the House just approved a bill for a big taxpayer bailout of private multi-employer/union-sponsored pension plans. Many of these plans are hopelessly insolvent. In other words, they have committed to pay employee pensions far greater than they have any hope of actually paying. In the aggregate, the assets of multi-employer plans are hundreds of billions of dollars less than what they have solemnly promised to pay. There is an inescapable deficit...

July 15, 2019
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12Jul

Informality and the Challenge of Pension Adequacy: Outlook and Reform Options for Peru

Past reforms have put the Peruvian pension system on a largely fiscally sustainable path, but the system faces important challenges in providing adequate pension levels for a large share of the population. Using administrative microdata at the affiliate level, we project replacement rates in the defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pillars over the next 30 years and simulate the impact of various reform scenarios on the average level and distribution of pensions. In the DB pillar, the...

July 12, 2019
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12Jul

China to step up state asset transfers to pension funds amid sustainability concerns

China will expand a pilot program this year to transfer government holdings in state-owned enterprises to social security funds nationwide in response to concerns about the sustainability of the pension system, said Caixin. The State Council decided at an executive meeting this week to fully push for the transfer of 10% of the equity in state-owned companies to the national social security fund and relevant local entities. The move is a further implementation of a 2017 trial plan that was limited to...

July 12, 2019
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12Jul

Pensions in Germany will be 100 percent taxable by 2040

Many-a-person in Germany breathes a sigh of relief upon entering retirement: “Finally, an end to all that taxation!” It may come as a nasty surprise, therefore, that around a quarter of pensioners in Germany still have to pay income taxes - and the number is set to increase over the next few years. One in four pensioners in Germany paid income tax in 2015 According to official figures from Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, in 2015 around 21,2 million people in Germany were receiving either a...

July 12, 2019
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12Jul

World Finance declares winners of 2019 Pension Fund Awards

Pension funds are on the precipice of a dramatic overhaul. Due to the sector’s historically risk-averse nature, underperforming players have been able to slip under the radar, with retirement savers simply accepting low returns as par for the course. This year, however, has seen a substantial rise in regulatory appetite, meaning funds that are not delivering for investors risk being wiped out. In these testing times, a strong sense of direction and adaptability are key qualities that set leading firms...

July 12, 2019
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