June 2019

21Jun

India becomes investment darling for sovereign wealth and pension funds

Sovereign wealth funds are piling into India, buying stakes in everything from airports to renewable energy, attracted by political stability, a growing middle class and reforms making it more enticing for foreigners to invest. Wealth and state pension funds are expanding their horizons to private markets, to complement an existing focus on stocks and bonds. “India is popular with sovereign wealth funds,” said Tihir Sarkar, London-based partner at Cleary Gottlieb, which counts several prominent sovereign funds as clients. “Almost...

June 21, 2019
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21Jun

Kenya Pension Funds Too Big on Bonds, $39 Billion Firm Says

Kenyan retirees may be missing out on better returns because of the over-emphasis local pension fund managers place on domestic fixed-income assets, according to money manager Allan Gray. Retirement fund managers in East Africa’s largest economy invested less than 2% of their assets offshore, well short of the 15% allowed by the industry regulator as of the end of 2018, figures from the country’s Retirement Benefits Authority show. They cut allocations to equities to 17%, the lowest in at...

June 21, 2019
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20Jun

Brazil’s Central Bank Keeps Key Rate at Its Record Low

Brazil held its benchmark interest rate at a record low and signaled it can cut borrowing costs to help a frail economy once a key austerity measure advances further in Congress. The bank’s board, led by its President Roberto Campos Neto, on Wednesdaykept the Selic unchanged at 6.50% in a decision expected by all but one of the 39 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Officials have held borrowing costs steady for over a year. In the statement accompanying the...

June 20, 2019
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20Jun

Nigeria eyes share of pensions for mortgage industry

Nigeria's National Pensions Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria are currently exploring a framework where workers under the contributory pensions scheme can access 25 per cent of their contributions for personal home investments. Niyi Falade, CEO of Crusader Sterling Pensions joins CNBC Africa for more. Watch the video @CNBC Africa

June 20, 2019
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20Jun

Australia to Fix Flaws in World’s Fourth-Biggest Pension Pool

Australia’s third-largest pension fund is boosting its financial services division as a wave of baby boomers look to exit full-time work over the coming decades. The government will try again to stop the common practice of young workers automatically being charged for life insurance through their pension plans, Senator Jane Hume, the new assistant minister for superannuation, financial services and financial technology, told a Bloomberg conference Thursday. It will also work to ensure people are given better options for...

June 20, 2019
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20Jun

Why letting young people plunder their pensions to buy property is a terrible idea

Housing minister James Brokenshire floated recently the controversial idea that young people should be allowed to raid their pension pots to fund a home deposit as first-time buyers. He’s not the first to do so and he probably won’t be the last. Brokenshire argued in a Policy Exchange speech intended to influence the Conservative party’s leadership contest that this would help aspiring home buyers to make that all-important, first-time purchase in a difficult housing market, where prices relative to...

June 20, 2019
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20Jun

UK Workplace Pension Members Saved £90.4 Billion in 2018

Eligible UK employees contributing to workplace pensions saved a total of £90.4 billion ($114.6 billion) in 2018, a £7 billion increase over the amount saved the previous year, according to the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). DWP data shows that annual total amounts saved increased for both public and private sector pensions compared with 2017, although this was far more pronounced among private sector employers whose savings rose £4.5 billion, while the amounts saved in public...

June 20, 2019
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19Jun

The World’s 10 Best National Retirement Systems

When it comes to the world's retirement systems, each is not necessarily created equal. Pension systems around the world, including social security systems and private sector arrangements, are now under more pressure than ever as more people enter retirement, according to a new report. While some systems are structured to withstand the pressure, others cannot. "The major causes of this demographic shift are declining birth rates and increasing longevity," stated the report, which was issued by Mercer, the global...

June 19, 2019
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19Jun

Brazil lawmakers open pension debate as Bolsonaro pushes private savings accounts

Brazil's congressional committee on pension reform began debating a revised bill on Tuesday, as President Jair Bolsonaro urged lawmakers to rethink their move to drop his plan to introduce a retirement system based on private savings accounts. The debate, which could extend into next week, comes ahead of a committee vote on the bill by June 26, according to lower house Speaker Rodrigo Maia, before it is considered for plenary approval. Committee Chairman Marcelo Ramos said he hopes for...

June 19, 2019
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19Jun

NYC Pensions to Expand Prison Investment Ban With Platinum Equity

New York City pension funds and Platinum Equity LLC are hammering out the details of a provision to let the funds opt out of future investments in the prison services industry, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York City Comptroller’s office is working to expand existing restrictions barring investment in private prison operators to now include companies providing services to correctional facilities, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private....

June 19, 2019
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