August 2018

03Aug

British expat retirees warned over leaving pensions in sterling

The average pension pot for UK expat overseas is around £210,000, but currency fluctuations may cause losses of 20 per cent. A recent analysis of the plunging pound’s effect on British pensions paid in sterling on behalf of UK expats living overseas gives bad news for the estimated 247,000 Brit retirees living abroad. Put bluntly, pensions held in sterling but drawn in foreign currency via ATMs or bank to bank transfers are permanently open to currency exchange fluctuation risks. In...

August 3, 2018
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03Aug

US. Public Pensions Are a Disaster. Here’s a Fair Solution

Connecticut is at the cutting edge of a crisis unfolding across the U.S.: States and municipalities have promised their employees some $4 trillion in pension benefits that they can’t afford to pay. Now the state needs to help lead the way out, by setting aside partisan politics and moving to a better system. Thanks to decades of mismanagement by politicians from both parties, Connecticut has one of the largest pension funding deficits in the country, amounting to one fifth of...

August 3, 2018
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02Aug

Georgia. Galt & Taggart developed Government Pension Fund Calculator

The calculator is based on a new pensions savings scheme of the government and allows defining the estimated pension. Specifically, any interested individual using the calculator can identify the savings amount over the specific period. The calculator is given on the Galt & Taggart official website. “By developing the calculator the Galt & Taggart team gave the possibility to the savings scheme participants to calculate their estimated accrued pension. We take into account almost all the nuances of the pension...

August 2, 2018
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02Aug

Papua New Guinea. Top PNG pension fund officer arrested by fraud squad

David Brown is the Independent Non-Executive Director of an Australian wealth management product provider, ClearView Wealth Ltd. The company has confirmed in a statement that he was arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud by PNG's National Fraud & Anti-Corruption Directorate.   Read more Radionz  

August 2, 2018
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02Aug

MetLife Profit Beats Estimates, Aided by U.S. Tax-Law Revamp

MetLife Inc. has tax-code changes and a deal with FedEx Corp. to thank for second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ expectations. Earnings at the U.S. business surged 36 percent from a year earlier, fueled by a reduced corporate-tax rate and a pension-risk transfer contract won from FedEx, the New York-based life insurer said Wednesday in a statement. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.30, beating the $1.17 estimate from 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Chief Executive Officer Steven Kandarian has been...

August 2, 2018
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01Aug

UK Financial services exports to the EU reach a record high

UK exports of financial services to the EU reached an all-time high of £25.9bn in 2017, according to data released today by the Office for National Statistics. A £3.5bn increase in the surplus on financial services was the largest driver of the UK’s services surplus last year. By destination, Europe was the largest contributor to the improvement in the financial services trade balance, with a £26.5bn surplus accounting for £2.9bn of the headline gain. The record high on financial services exports...

August 1, 2018
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01Aug

Japan. Behind the Scenes / Only 40% pay national pension premiums

With many people, including the self-employed, not paying into the national pension plan, the system is becoming increasingly hollowed out. The officially announced payment rate is in the 60 percent range, but the actual situation is worse. The risk is growing that many elderly people will only be able to receive a meager pension in the future. Up for 6 straight years The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced in June that the national pension premium payment rate (see below) in...

August 1, 2018
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01Aug

China is trying to talk its way out of a growing problem with its military veterans

BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese officer appealed to military veterans on Tuesday not to take complaints about their treatment to the streets and to "rationally" lodge appeals for redress. At the annual meeting of parliament in March, China set up a Ministry of Veterans Affairs as part of a broader government reshuffle, aiming to better look after former soldiers whose complaints about poor treatment have flared into scattered protests in recent years. In February 2017, Chinese military veterans staged two...

August 1, 2018
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01Aug

UK. Calls for HMRC to scrap rule penalising parents’ pensions

The taxman is under pressure to ditch a rule that costs busy new parents thousands of pounds in state pension entitlement. Parents who have taken time out of work to raise their baby get just three months during the frantic first weeks of having a newborn to register for child benefits with HMRC, allowing them to continue to build up their state pension though they are not employed. Those who failed to do this have already missed out on as much...

August 1, 2018
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July 2018

31Jul

Canada. Morneau Shepell releases the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds

Morneau Shepell (TSX: MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the second quarter of 2018. According to the report, in the second quarter of 2018, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 2.9 per cent before management fees. "Most stock markets delivered excellent results in the second quarter, generating positive pension fund returns. Canadian and U.S. equities did particularly well, with returns of 6.8 per cent for the S&P/TSX and 5.6...

July 31, 2018
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