October 2018

30Oct

Bulgarian Pensions to Increase by 5.7% From 1 July 2019

Bulgarian government approved the bill on the state social security budget for 2019. According to it by 5 July the pensions granted by the end of 2018 will increase, announced the press center of the Council of Ministers. As of 1 July 2019, the minimum amount of the retirement pension will be raised to BGN 219.43. From the same date, the maximum amount of one or more pensions received will increase from BGN 910 to BGN 1,200. In 2019, BGN 9,988.2...

October 30, 2018
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30Oct

Chile’s Pinera presents pension reform plan in bid to boost payouts

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera presented a plan on Sunday to reform the country´s ailing pension system in an effort to boost payouts seen by many as insufficient in one of Latin America´s most stable economies. Pinera said in a televised evening address that he would ask employers to pick up the tab for an additional 4 percent contribution to each of their workers´ pension funds, to be phased in and managed by an administrator of the employee´s choosing. Read also Chile. Piñera...

October 30, 2018
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29Oct

Bolsonaro will focus on Brazil pension reform, bilateral trade: Guedes

Brazilian president-elect Jair Bolsonaro’s top economic advisor and proposed economy minister, Paulo Guedes, said on Sunday that reforming the country’s costly pension system would be a top priority for his government. Guedes, speaking shortly after Bolsonaro’s commanding win, said that Latin America’s biggest economy would seek bilateral trade deals, criticizing the restrictions of South America’s Mercosur trade bloc. He said a proposed tax overhaul would generate some 10 million jobs by cutting payroll taxes. Read more Reuters

October 29, 2018
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29Oct

UK. Budget 2018: Dutch-style pensions revolution could see thousands of workers pool retirement pots

Tens of thousands of workers will be able to pool their retirement pots under a pensions revolution expected to be outlined in the Budget. Philip Hammond is expected to announce a consultation on Dutch-style pension schemes - known as "peoples' pensions" - which will thousands of members pay into a single pot. The approach is seen as a "middle way" between gold-plated final salary schemes, which guarantee income in retirement but can leave companies with huge deficits, and defined contribution schemes...

October 29, 2018
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29Oct

10 Climate change actions for pension fund managers

The International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) has put out a paper on climate change and on the difference it makes for investments. The issue of climate change has, in recent years, gone from “being considered a niche issue to one of potentially major financial consequences for all investors,” one that has already impacted and will increasing impact “companies, investment portfolios, and capital markets.” There are three particular issues that asset owners, including pension funds, must face: climate change is driving...

October 29, 2018
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26Oct

Namibia: Pension Funds Could Boost Economy Through Infrastructure Fund

"Investing in scary times" was the theme of an event held by Eos Capital, a private equity manager, in Windhoek on Tuesday. Speaking at the event was the CEO of the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), Tanya van Lill, with the key message that pension funds in Namibia can find attractive and safe returns during these times by investing in private equity and infrastructure funds while also helping to stimulate the economy. Pension fund assets as...

October 26, 2018
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26Oct

US. New York state sues Exxon Mobil for deceiving investors on climate-regulation risk

Company engaged in fraudulent behavior that went all the way up to ex-CEO Rex Tillerson, who went on to serve as Trump’s first secretary of state New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has filed a lawsuit against energy giant Exxon Mobil Corp., alleging that it misled investors about the true risks to its business posed by climate-change regulations. The suit comes after a roughly three-year probe and does not charge the company XOM, -1.03% with contributing to climate change as a...

October 26, 2018
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26Oct

South African state pension fund CEO denies corruption allegations

The chief executive of South Africa’s state pension fund denied corruption allegations on Thursday, as a judicial inquiry into governance at the 2 trillion rand ($137 billion) fund prepares to get under way. The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is Africa’s biggest pension fund and the biggest investor in South Africa’s economy, holding a large volume of bonds issued by government and state-owned firms and equity stakes in some blue-chip companies. President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered an inquiry into the fund after opposition...

October 26, 2018
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26Oct

UK Regulators Issue Joint Pensions Strategy

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator (TPR) have launched a joint regulatory strategy to address the fundamental changes that have altered the UK’s pension landscape in recent years. The strategy, which outlines how the two regulators will collaborate,, drew on a call for input the regulators published in March that sought views from industry and consumer group representatives. “Our goal is to ensure the people who run workplace pensions meet our expectations so that members can have...

October 26, 2018
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26Oct

Japan. AI to transform GPIF manager selection

AI will transform the way Japan’s ¥158 trillion ($1.4 trillion) Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) to select and monitor its asset managers. The world’s biggest pension fund, which outsources all its investment management, announced plans last year to use AI to better scrutinise its poorly performing active managers. Since then, AI specialists Sony Computer Science Laboratories and GPIF have developed a proof-of-concept prototype that uses deep learning to study manager styles and strategies. The latest progress report on the project promises...

October 26, 2018
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