April 2019

16Apr

UK. MP fights frozen pensions policy

Sir Peter Bottomley, a Conservative MP for Worthing West, has tabled an early day motion against government rules which dictate a freeze of some expat state pensions. The Department for Work and Pensions introduced rules in March that restrict the state pension annual increases in cases where the beneficiary is not ordinarily resident in Great Britain. Currently the majority of pensioners living in the UK have their state pension increased according to the triple-lock principle, meaning it is by...

April 16, 2019
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16Apr

China Urgently Needs a National Pension System

The problems in China’s pension system are widely known, but very difficult to solve. The central adjustment system for the basic pension funds for enterprise employees was established on July 1 last year and the system’s annual budget was recently made public. This is a step in the right direction. However, in order to thoroughly resolve the crisis in the pension system, national coordination is imperative. It is an inevitable requirement for the rational allocation of labor resources in...

April 16, 2019
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16Apr

Ghana. SSNIT identifies threat to scheme’s sustainability

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has identified the biggest threat to the sustainability of the scheme and has therefore adopted measures and policy interventions to deal with the emerging hiccups. “After prudent managerial auditing, we have identified among other things that in the current global technological advancement and changing phases of pension schemes good quality human resource or the lack of it, is critical to the survival of any pension scheme. “SSNIT Board and...

April 16, 2019
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16Apr

EIOPA identifies areas for improvement in the supervision of Prudent Person Rule compliance by institutions for occupational retirement provision

Peer review examined supervisory practices of national competent authorities in their assessment of how institutions for occupational retirement provision invest their capital in the best interest of their members and beneficiaries A risk-based approach or a risk-based approach complemented with quantitative limits is more effective than a compliance-based approach Supervisory practices are determined by legislative frameworks, types of scheme and the maturity of the pension industry The review resulted in 27 recommended actions for 19 NCAs in 16 countries...

April 16, 2019
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15Apr

OECD warns Japan of risks from ageing population

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Monday warned of the risks Japan faces due to its ageing population. In 2017, there were 50 Japanese people aged 65 per hundred, while the rest were aged between 20 to 64, and this ratio is projected to rise to 79 per hundred in 2050, according to a report presented by OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria here. "Half of the children born in Japan in 2017 are expected to live...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

The future of Spain: five parties, two models

On April 28, Spaniards will go to the polls in a snap national election triggered by a deadlock over the 2019 budget. Whichever government emerges from the vote will have to deal with this and other longstanding economic issues such as persistently high unemployment, ballooning debt and how to finance the pensions system with an ageing population. And on the political front, immigration and the Catalan crisis will continue to shape the national agenda. Spain in a snapshot Spain...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

How the World’s Largest Pension Manager Is Trying to Make ESG Investing More Popular

The financial industry has jumped on the impact investing and environmental, social or governance—or ESG—bandwagon. But Hiromichi Mizuno, the man who oversees $1.6 trillion in the world’s largest public pension fund, says true believers on Wall Street are still hard to find, so he is taking his own steps to push ESG and impact investing off the sidelines. As chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, Mizuno requires his asset managers to integrate ESG into their investment...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

How behavioral technology will improve retirement planning

Technology has always been the great disrupter. When robo-advisers came around, traditional advisers began preparing for battle. Now financial advisers are largely embracing technology, using it to free them up to be a better adviser. But technology isn't done evolving. The tech you have today is most likely more of a starting line than a finish line. Financial services is notoriously behind the times when it comes to technology. Does it strike anyone else as strange that social media,...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

UK. State pension age changes ‘risk creating new inequalities’

Making people work longer before they can collect their state pensions risks exacerbating social inequalities and threatens to create new gender inequalities, a report claims. Analysis by the thinktank International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) found that women who struggled to reconcile longer working lives with caring responsibilities would be badly hit by changes to the law. Worst hit, however, would be women with lower education levels, who were projected to lose up to 25% of their monthly pension entitlements...

April 15, 2019
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12Apr

Foreign insurers gear up to tap China’s $1.6 trillion pensions business – sources

Foreign insurers including Generali and Prudential Plc are in early talks with authorities to enter China’s private pensions sector, people with knowledge of the matter said, as Beijing opens up to overseas companies. Hong Kong-based AIA Group and Manulife Financial are also considering similar moves, they said. Beijing gave approval to the first foreign joint-venture firm to establish a pensions insurance business last month and two of the people said China has been running pilot projects in three provinces involving...

April 12, 2019
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