February 2019

07Feb

US. Retirement Security Bill Re-Introduced In Congress

More U.S. workers would get opportunities to participate in an employer-provided retirement under a bipartisan retirement security bill introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure contains several provisions which the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) has long-supported and advocated for enactment. Known as the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act, the bill was initially introduced in previous session. It was re-introduced by Reps. Ron Kind, D-Wisc., and Mike Kelly, R-Pa., as the House Ways and Means Committee conducted...

February 7, 2019
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07Feb

Institute of Race Relations launches campaign to warn South Africans about the risk to their pensions

A campaign to warn South Africans about the risks to their pensions, and to take a stand in urging the government to concentrate on growing the economy instead has been launched by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR). This follows the announcement that the governing African National Congress (ANC) is considering introducing a regime of prescribed assets. The IRR has warned that expropriation without compensation (EWC) will be about more than just land, and extend to other forms of...

February 7, 2019
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07Feb

Private equity eyes long-term with Latin American infrastructure buys

Global institutional investors are circling a swathe of energy-related infrastructure assets in Latin America to increase their exposure in a region rife with more uncertainties but offering greater returns than those in more developed markets such as the US. Private investors or pension funds with cash burning holes in their pockets are increasingly participating in leveraged acquisitions of assets from Chile to Mexico. Mainly in the energy and infrastructure fields, such assets come with assigned long-term operating concessions and...

February 7, 2019
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06Feb

OECD urges Hungarian policy change

Hungary should focus its efforts on inclusive reforms, such as overhauling public pensions and the healthcare system, the OECD has urged. Although the Hungarian economy is growing – driven by high employment levels – a shift in government policy is needed to ensure green growth and better social benefits, the Paris-based organisation said in its latest Economic Survey of the country. The survey highlighted that public spending on pensions is putting pressure on public finances – despite being one of the lowest in...

February 6, 2019
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06Feb

UK. Pension billions could be unlocked to boost economic growth and savers’ returns

Billions of pounds of investment could be unlocked by pension schemes to fund start-up companies and infrastructure projects, boosting Britain’s economy and savers’ returns, under proposals unveiled by the government on February 5. Members of occupational defined contribution (DC) pension schemes may be missing out on potential benefits of long-term investments in ventures such as small firms, housing, green energy and sustainable development, according to the Minister for Pensions. Assets in occupational DC schemes have almost tripled to £60 billion since the start...

February 6, 2019
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06Feb

Bahrain launches fintech talent programme

Bahrain FinTech Bay and the Labour Fund “Tamkeen” announced in a press conference yesterday the launch of its FinTech Talent Program focused on the training and development of Bahrainis and is the first and only of its kind in the Middle East. The inaugural FinTech Talent Program (FTP), supported by the Tamkeen ‘Labor Fund’, has been developed in partnership with global experts in finance and technology, including Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business- and international blockchain and artificial intelligence academies....

February 6, 2019
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06Feb

Puerto Rico Treasury Announces Qualified Retirement Plan Limits for 2019

The Puerto Rico Department of the Treasury recently issued Circular Letter Internal Revenue No. 18-21 (the “Circular”), which announced applicable qualified retirement plan limits for 2019, as required by the Puerto Rico Internal Revenue Code of 2011, as amended (the “PR Code”). For plans qualified only in Puerto Rico, the limits on elective deferrals, catch-up contributions, and after-tax contributions all remain unchanged for 2019, while the limits on annual benefits, annual contributions, plan compensation, and the highly compensated...

February 6, 2019
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05Feb

South Africa. Board walkout at PIC may risk investments

A deepening crisis at South Africa’s biggest money manager the Public Investment Corporation is threatening to cast a pall over the economy and throw into doubt potential deals, including the bailout of one of the nation’s largest clothing retailers.Nine PIC directors quit on Friday, saying the institution overseeing the pension funds of most South African civil servants has entered a “state of paralysis” following misconduct claims against some board members. Those included questionable investments in the bonds of cash-strapped state...

February 5, 2019
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05Feb

UK. Self-invested personal pensions (SIPP) complaints up 37% on last year

The number of new self-invested personal pension (Sipp) cases investigated by the Financial Ombudsman Service in the first three quarters of this year has already exceeded the number received in the whole of the 2017/18 financial year.The latest set of quarterly data published by the ombudsman today (February 5), showed the number of new Sipp cases had reached 2802 in the nine months between April and December 2018.This was a 37 per cent jump from the 2051 cases received in...

February 5, 2019
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05Feb

JP Morgan takes minority stake in Smart Pension

No financial details were disclosed. In terms of the bigger picture, this brings Smart’s total funds raised to date to £50 million. Will Wynne, Smart Pension co-founder and MD, says: “In October we won our first international competitive tender [with New Ireland Assurance] to build a savings technology platform in Ireland. This gives us an opportunity to demonstrate how our unique proprietary dynamic technology is plugging a huge gap in the workplace savings platform market, and performing on a global...

February 5, 2019
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