July 2018

31Jul

Nigeria nets $26,6b in pension funds

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) said that the total pension fund assets stood at $26.6 billion (about N8.14 trillion) as at May, 2018.The Commission said in a statement signed by its spokesman, Mr. Peter Aghahowa, on Sunday in Abuja that the assets rose from $24.5 billion in December 2017, to $26.6 billion in May 2018. It also said that $16.9 billion had been invested in Federal Government Securities by the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). According to the statement, the investment represented...

July 31, 2018
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30Jul

Kenya. Land deal worsens Kenya Railways pensioners’ woes

As Kenya Railways pensioners’ woes deepen, officials of the former Kenya Railways Workers Association, the umbrella body for all the pensioners of the institution, have expressed fear that they risk losing 10 of their properties in a land swap deal in lieu of accrued land rates. They are reading a secret plot to defraud them of their properties. “The Nairobi County government and the sole corporate trustee, Corporate and Pension Trust Services Ltd, have hatched a scheme to possess 10 of...

July 30, 2018
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30Jul

Ireland. The State pension wasn’t designed to support the lifestyles people have in mind

“PENSIONS” – A TOPIC that can often be met with a glazed eye by the young professional, or with a flutter of panic by the 40-something employee. I’m unsure why planning for sustainability and longevity regarding our finances is something that so many people close themselves off to, but there’s a common assumption that pensions and planning for retirement is something that can be put off, and off… until, well, some other time. The CSO Quarterly National Household Survey 2015 reported...

July 30, 2018
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30Jul

Georgia’s divisive pension reform splits opinion

Georgia’s parliament finally adopted a new pension law on July 21, its third hearing. According to the country’s deputy minister of economy Ekaterine Mikabadze, whose ministry initiated the law, the primary goal of the pension reform is to improve the ratio of pension income to earned salary, and to ensure fiscal sustainability. “The introduction of pension reform could potentially be complementary to the effort to develop the Georgian capital market by supporting the accumulation of professionally managed savings,” Ms Mikabadze...

July 30, 2018
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30Jul

Peru central bank raising foreign investment ceiling for pension funds

Peru’s central bank will raise the foreign investment limit for the country’s privately managed pension funds to 49.5 percent in August and 50 percent in September, from 49 percent now, the bank said in a statement on Sunday. The change aims to diversify the pension funds’ investments and will allow them to invest $480 million more in instruments on global markets, the bank added. Source: Reuters

July 30, 2018
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30Jul

Protesters chant anti-Putin slogans at Moscow rally against retirement age plan

Thousands protested in central Moscow on Sunday against a proposed increase to the retirement age and the crowd chanted slogans critical of President Vladimir Putin whose approval ratings have been dented by the bill. The rally organized by the opposition Libertarian Party chanted “Putin is a thief” and “away with the tsar,” slogans common at anti-Putin and anti-government protests. The retirement age proposal is politically sensitive for Putin, who was re-elected in March, because it has prompted a series of protests...

July 30, 2018
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30Jul

China Veterans, military personnel get pension boost on Army Day

China will further increase pension allowances and subsidies for veterans, families of martyrs and other personnel who have served the country in dangerous jobs, which experts say will boost their social status. Pension allowances for disabled soldiers, police officers, state officials, and militia members as well as for family members of martyrs and deceased soldiers will increase by 10 percent from China's Army Day which falls on Wednesday, according to an announcement made jointly by the Ministry of Veterans Affairs...

July 30, 2018
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27Jul

Azerbaijan. Pensions increased in country

The average monthly size of labour pension in Azerbaijan increased by 5.2 percent, the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population reported. Thus, on July 1 the size of the pension reached 219.15 manats ($128.9), moreover the size of the pension by the age increased and reached 246.36 manats ($144.9). By the order of President Ilham Aliyev, the total amount of labour pensions was reindexed in accordance with the growth rate of the average nominal wage in 2017. Read more @Azernews

July 27, 2018
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27Jul

India. Ageing population will increase advanced tech-backed solutions demand

As per data from July 2017, 6.4% of the Indian population fell into the ‘elderly’ category. This essentially means that roughly 80 million Indians are currently above the age of 65. Sadly, a major chunk of the elderly is living a life of stark loneliness. According to the 2011 census of India, more than 15 million people over the age of 60 are either living completely alone or with a partner, who is roughly the same age as them. Considering...

July 27, 2018
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27Jul

FRC finds audit failures in UK pension scheme reporting

Auditors have been called out by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) due to problems found in almost half of the audit work around pensions valuations they have inspected this year. The FRC’s annual ‘audit of defined benefit pension obligations’ report, published 26 July, explained it had examined the audit quality of pension balances and related disclosures among 51 of its overall inspections for 2017/18. In nearly half of these, improvements needed to be made in at least one aspect of the...

July 27, 2018
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