May 2019

30May

Australia. Accountants seek voice in retirement advice provision

Accountants have sought a place at the table when the Government initiates a review of the retirement income system, suggesting an essential element is proving access to affordable financial advice. The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has welcomed a recent announcement by the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg that he will be commissioning a review of the retirement income system which will be inclusive of the interfaces between superannuation, government pensions and taxation. Commenting on the move, IPA chief executive, Andrew...

May 30, 2019
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30May

Bank of Greece chief warns of pension drag on state budget

Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras on Tuesday sounded the alarm over the cost of social security, warning that the margins are “extremely narrow” for pensions to continue being paid out of the state budget. Speaking at a conference on private health insurance, the former finance minister warned of the challenges of an aging population and said that “poor implementation or backtracking on reforms have increased demands on public pension funds and resulted in higher pension costs.” He also...

May 30, 2019
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29May

US. New Bill Would Conduct the Largest Investigation of Private Pensions in 40 Years

Bipartisan US senators are proposing legislation in an effort to secure workers’ retirement benefits in the long run, through the formation of a new retirement commission that would guide private retirement plans to a more sustainable future. Coined the Federal Retirement Commission Act, Sens. Todd Young, an Indiana Republican, and Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, would create a group responsible for reviewing private benefit programs and submitting to Congress recommendations on how to improve or replace the programs....

May 29, 2019
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29May

South Africa. PIC’s $250m investment in Ecobank was ‘highly speculative’, inquiry hears

A former executive of West Africa’s Ecobank who was suspended for blowing the whistle on alleged accounting irregularities within the organisation has questioned the soundness of an investment made by the Pubic Investment Corporation (PIC) in the bank. The pan-African bank, which is based in Togo, operates in 36 African countries and four other countries outside of Africa. It has the largest footprint among all banks on the continent. Nedbank holds the biggest share in Ecobank, with a 21.1%...

May 29, 2019
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29May

UK. Unnecessary disability reassessments for disabled pensioners to be phased out

Work and Pensions Secretary of State Amber Rudd announced in March that people receiving PIP who have reached State Pension age will no longer have their awards regularly reviewed, instead moving to a light touch review at 10 years. Nearly 290,000 people of State Pension age are in receipt of PIP. From Friday, new claimants to PIP whose review would have been scheduled after they had reached State Pension age will receive an ongoing award with a light touch...

May 29, 2019
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29May

Canadian pension fund Caisse replaces lending unit CEO after ethical failures

Canada’s second-largest pension fund said on Tuesday it had replaced the chief executive and overhauled the board of its commercial real estate lending unit, after an outside investigation found ethical failures by a handful of employees. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which managed C$310 billion ($230 billion) at the end of 2018, named Rana Ghorayeb as the CEO of Otera Capital, replacing former chief executive Alfonso Graceffa who left earlier this year, the real estate lending unit...

May 29, 2019
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29May

US. Public Pensions Had a Good Q1

The country’s 100 biggest public defined benefit pension plans experienced a funding increase of $185 billion in the first quarter, thanks mainly to robust investment gains of 7.3% in aggregate, Milliman, a consulting and actuarial firm, reported Monday. This improvement was the largest quarterly funding increase since Milliman rolled out its public pension funding index in September 2016. It came on the heels of the biggest quarterly decrease of $306 billion in the fourth quarter. Milliman estimated that first...

May 29, 2019
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28May

Norway’s pension fund KLP bans investment in alcohol, gambling firms

KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund, said on Tuesday it will no longer invest in gambling companies and alcohol makers, and recently sold stocks and bonds in such firms worth about $320 million. The decision affects around 90 companies, which have been added to KLP’s exclusion list alongside industries it previously divested from, including tobacco firms, certain weapons makers and those involved in the mining or usage of coal. Explaining its decision, KLP said it did not want to make...

May 28, 2019
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28May

UK: Pensions Ombudsman Finds Pensions Trustees Personally Liable For Investment Losses

The Pensions Ombudsman has found two trustees personally liable to account for over £2.4 million of investment losses to a pension scheme. With exoneration clauses common in trust deed and rules, it is rare for trustees to be personally liable for breaches of duty. The facts are also unusual with the Scheme invested in high risk investments and it is unlikely to be a situation replicated often (if at all), but this case is a reminder that trustees cannot...

May 28, 2019
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28May

Pension pressures: The future of Australia’s key seniors’ payment

Australia’s age pension appears under increasing pressure. Seniors are living for longer while the workforce that pays the taxes that help fund pensions is a shrinking proportion of the population. It might worry people that the money tap will run dry, but finance specialists say the future of this vital government payment looks safe. They say the growing size of superannuation nest eggs will continue to ease the strain on the public purse, and future governments still have plenty...

May 28, 2019
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