March 2019

26Mar

UK Proposal Would Make Pension Mismanagement a Crime

Aproposal by the U.K. government to increase penalties and impose up to seven years in jail for bosses who recklessly risk pensions might prompt more employers to offer defined-contribution retirement plans instead of defined-benefits plans. "Overall, the proposal seems likely to make defined-benefits plans even more disfavored," said David Powell, an attorney with Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C. The proposed criminal offenses may make it more difficult for pension schemes to recruit trustees, he noted. If a plan...

March 26, 2019
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26Mar

How to De-risk a Pension Plan in 2019

Changes in interest rates, Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. premiums, and mortality assumptions may affect plan sponsors’ decisions to de-risk (or not de-risk) defined benefit plan liabilities in 2019. Note that for purposes of this article, by “de-risking” we mean paying out a participant’s benefit as a lump sum and thereby eliminating the related liability. We illustrate our analysis of the effect of interest rates and PBGC premiums on the de-risking decision by using a (relatively simple) example: the cost-of-benefit...

March 26, 2019
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26Mar

UK. Over a million pensions face 55% tax timebomb

The pension pots of around 290,000 UK workers have already surpassed the Lifetime Allowance (LTA), meaning that they could face a hefty tax on any additional retirements savings. In addition to those already past the point of no return, research by mutual insurer Royal London has revealed that there are around 1.25 million people at risk of breaching the LTA by the time they retire. This is because senior and well-paid employees with defined benefit or defined contribution pension...

March 26, 2019
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25Mar

How Korean pension service can be saved

The South Korean National Pension Service (NPS) is the third-largest national pension fund in the world with US$560 billion in assets. It was founded in 1988 to ensure that all South Koreans after retirement would have a stable source of income. Currently, a certain amount of money is automatically deducted from the salaries of employees and employers as a contribution to the NPS by law. However, many Koreans worry that the NPS will run out of funds in the...

March 25, 2019
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25Mar

Namibia. N$700m pensioners money at risk

THE Government Institutions Pension Fund is suing the South African company, Steinhoff Holdings International, for possible losses of around N$700 million invested in the company since 2014. Steinhoff Holdings International is a global retailer with more than 40 brands in over 30 countries. Some of Steinhoff's outlets are Incredible Connection, Hifi Corp, Hertz Car Rental, Timbercity, Pep Stores, Dunns, Shoe City, Pennypinchers, Tekkie Town and Ackermans, among many others. The company was hit by a N$100 billion...

March 25, 2019
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25Mar

Canada. A long-term fund with $370 billion under management shares some investing ‘themes’

Canada’s national pension fund invests for the long-term, its CEO told CNBC on Sunday, and he named trends that are helping to guide its decision-making. “We’re trying to go deep on certain areas where we see long-term trends and try to identify the best parts of those themes to invest in, companies to invest in, to express that view,” Mark Machin, president and CEO of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, told CNBC’s Martin Soong at the China Development Forum...

March 25, 2019
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22Mar

UK Pensions Secretary Backs Collective Defined Contribution Plans

Amber Rudd said new type of pension should ‘deliver improved investment returns.’ The UK’s Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd said she supports allowing Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) pension plans in the UK, a decision that was welcomed by postal services provider Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU). “These pioneering proposals should deliver improved investment returns for workers and savers while cutting costs and red tape for British job creators,” said Rudd. “The new type of pension...

March 22, 2019
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22Mar

401(k) managed accounts becoming more diverse

Some record keepers of defined-contribution retirement plans are diversifying the managed-account products they offer to employers and their employees in a bid to boost uptake and diversify their revenue streams in an environment of fee compression, according to experts. Empower Retirement is the most recent example. The record keeper — among the largest, with $590 billion in assets and more than 9 million participants — debuted its Advisor Managed Accounts product Mar. 20. Unlike a traditional managed account —...

March 22, 2019
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22Mar

Zimbabwe. NSSA pensioners are crying for attention

Both government and the private sector are doing something on 'hardship allowance' for their workers whilst NSSA pensioners continue to sing the blues. One Hon.MP raised the plight of the suffering pensioners in Parliament early this month but the discussion never went far, with Hon. Sekai Nzenza saying government was seized with the matter. To date the elderly NSSA pensioners are all ears hoping to hear something fruitful but the silence is alarming. Most NSSA pensioners are...

March 22, 2019
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22Mar

UK. Up To Three Million Self-Employed Workers Turning Their Backs On Pension Pots

Data from accountancy practice Nixon Williams shines a light on the vast numbers of contractors and freelancers snubbing personal pension schemes Study finds the number opting to avoid pension scheme payments has risen 12 per cent in a single year, as the Taylor Review sparks calls for a new auto-enrolment option for self-employed workers. Almost two-thirds (64 per cent) of self-employed people in the UK are avoiding paying money into a personal pension scheme to save for their retirement,...

March 22, 2019
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