January 2019

31Jan

UN pension’s journey in sustainability

The Office of Investment Management (OIM) at the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund believes portfolios that integrate material ESG metrics into their investment decision-making process, supported by active engagement, have the potential to provide returns that are superior to those of conventional portfolios while exhibiting lower risk over the long term. This view is supported by several published academic studies and our own research. Journey on the path of sustainable investing The United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund...

January 31, 2019
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31Jan

Brexit Preparedness: European Commission adopts final set of “no-deal” contingency measures for social security coordination rules

Given the increasing risk that the United Kingdom may leave the EU on 30 March this year without a deal (a “no-deal” scenario), the European Commission has today adopted a final set of contingency proposals in the area of the Erasmus+ programme, social security coordination and the EU budget. This follows the calls by the European Council (Article 50) in November and December 2018 to intensify preparedness work at all levels, and the adoption on 19 December 2018 of...

January 31, 2019
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31Jan

Pension Milestones: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau take key steps in 2018

Pension experts from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau exchanged views and shared best practices on pensions and retirement savings issues across the region at the 10th Annual Cross Strait Pension Forum hosted by Hong Kong Retirement Schemes Association (HKRSA). The implementation of a Central Provident Fund (CPF) in Macau and the introduction of a tax deferral scheme for private pensions in China were among key milestones in 2018 for the pension sector, according to HKRSA Chairman Janet Li....

January 31, 2019
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31Jan

US. Lockheed to offload $1.8 billion in pension risks to Prudential

Lockheed Martin Corp, the Pentagon’s top weapons supplier, said on Tuesday it would transfer $1.8 billion in pension obligations to U.S. life insurer Prudential Financial Inc to reduce the risk and costs of pensions. Prudential will assume responsibility for pension benefits of around 32,000 former Lockheed employees as part of the agreement. U.S. companies such as Accenture, General Motors, Verizon and Kimberly-Clark have been offloading their pension obligations to insurance companies to cut down on costs and reduce the...

January 31, 2019
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31Jan

UK. PensionBee chooses Onfido to deliver frictionless KYC compliance

Leading identity verification provider Onfido today announces that it has partnered with PensionBee. Onfido’s machine learning-based identity verification technology allows PensionBee to streamline KYC processes, reducing manual overheads and bringing new users onboard. PensionBee helps users take control of their finances by consolidating all their old pension pots into one PensionBee plan. Government estimates place the value of unconsolidated pensions at £750bn in the next 3 years as pension-holders disengage with overly complex plans and processes. PensionBee aims to...

January 31, 2019
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30Jan

Mexico. AMLO Plan to Unleash Pension Fund Investing Has Critics Worried

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s plan to let Mexico’s giant pension funds invest in more diverse assets, including private equity funds, is sparking concern that the populist president will steer the funds toward his own pet infrastructure projects. "The worry is that this could be a way to finance projects of interest of the government, for which it lacks fiscal funds, but that are economically controversial," said Gustavo Rangel, the chief Latin America economist at ING Financial Markets LLC in...

January 30, 2019
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30Jan

Australia. Veterans accuse Federal Government of ‘ripping off’ thousands from retirement benefits

A Federal Coalition backbencher is lobbying the Government to investigate how much money he believes it owes some older Australian military veterans. Veterans, including some who served in Korea, Malaya and Vietnam, signed up for compulsory superannuation called the Defence Force Retirement Benefits (DFRDB) scheme between 1948 and 1972. The Defence Force Welfare Organisation (DFWO) estimated there are 2,305 pensioners still covered by this scheme. It calculated there are 52,000 pensioners who are members of the scheme that operated...

January 30, 2019
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30Jan

Chinese city seeks young blood: how ageing Nanjing lures new talent

“Nanjing has for the first time entered the phase of an ‘aged-society’, and the city’s burden of looking after both the young and the old is getting greater,” Zhao Jun, deputy director of the local statistics bureau, said last year. The burden of social support and caregiving will face “steep growth” until 2050, he warned. Hence Nanjing’s desire to boost its population of educated under-40s such as Tan. It is not alone: last year, more than 20 Chinese cities...

January 30, 2019
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30Jan

UK. Pension funds to up investment in smaller firms, consultant says

Jump in interest reverses a long-term trend where big investors gravitated towards the world’s largest companies Pension funds’ appetite for high-risk, high-return investments in smaller companies has surged in the past year, according to one consultancy — offering a piece of good news for beleaguered stock-pickers. The jump in interest reverses a long-term trend, according to bfinance, the investment consultancy. Big investors have gravitated towards portfolios of the world’s largest companies, often held through index trackers Read more @fn...

January 30, 2019
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29Jan

Serbian pensioners risk poverty less than many in EU

Pensioners are at risk of poverty in Europe, according to Eurostat data, while the number of those living on edge of poverty is growing. According to EU's statistical agency's analysis covering 2017, pensioners at risk of poverty in the European Union was estimated to be 14.2 percent, slightly above the figure of 13.8 percent in 2016. The rate has been rising gradually since 2013, when it was 12.6 percent, the organization has announced. Outside the EU, candidate country Serbia...

January 29, 2019
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