November 2021
03Nov

Pension funds commit $130 billion to fight climate change at the COP26 summit

Nordic and British pension funds on Tuesday committed to invest $130 billion by 2030 to fight climate change, and report annually on the progress of their green investments. Denmark said $75 billion of the funds were new commitments. The pledge, launched at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, included asset owners in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom, plus a fund from Greenland. "Green transition requires massive investments. Governments have to do their part...

November 3, 2021
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03Nov

U.S. corporate pension funding rises in october-4 reports

Funding ratios for U.S. corporate pension plans increased in October, according to reports from Legal & General Investment Management America, Wilshire, Northern Trust Asset Management and Insight Investment. LGIMA found in its monthly pension solutions monitor that the funding ratio of a typical corporate pension plan increased by 2 percentage points to 91.7% in October primarily due to strong performance from global equities. LGIMA estimated that U.S. Treasury rates dropped 4 basis points while credit spreads remained relatively unchanged, resulting in...

November 3, 2021
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03Nov

UK. House of Lords votes for changes to pension triple lock freeze

The government has been defeated in the House of Lords over its one-year suspension of the "triple lock" formula to increase the state pension. Ministers plan to temporarily break the link between pensions and the rise in earnings, breaching a manifesto pledge. It followed concern that a post-pandemic rise in average wages would have meant pensions increasing by 8%. Peers voted to restore a link with earnings. But MPs could still go on to reject their amendment. The House of Lords backed an...

November 3, 2021
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03Nov

Waiting to save: The cost of delaying your retirement funding

Putting enough money away for a comfortable retirement is a daunting task and, while we all know that starting early is critical, the numbers are alarming. Statistics from the 2021 10X South African Retirement Reality Report which has just been released are frightening. Around half the people surveyed indicated that they are making no provision for retirement at all, while the other half indicated they have some form of savings plan in place. 74% of survey respondents accept that...

November 3, 2021
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03Nov

Knowing the difference between ethical, responsible and impact investing

Climate change awareness and environmental concerns have never been more important, and over the past few years these issues have been spoken about in abundance when describing financial investments. Three phrases in particular have been commonly used to describe investment products and strategies, but there is still confusion as to their exact meaning. Mike Appleby, investment manager on the Liontrust Sustainable Investment team, outlined the difference between ethical investing, responsible practices and impact investing. “Ethical investing looks to avoid controversial industries such...

November 3, 2021
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02Nov

Gender gap in pensions is real and needs to be fixed

By Margaret Franklin Women get paid less than men. In fact, it’s been well documented that, worldwide, women make only 77 cents for every dollar earned by men. Less well-known, and partially a result of that very pay gap, is the pension gulf between men and women. The gender gap in pensions is a real issue and it needs to be fixed. This year, “The Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index Report” explored the gender pension gap that exists in every retirement...

November 2, 2021
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02Nov

Ghana. NPRA raises alarm bells – Only 6% informal sector workers on pension scheme

Only about 600,000 out of an estimated 10.2 million workers in the informal sector are currently enrolled on at least a pension scheme, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Mr Hayford Attah Krufi, has disclosed. He said the figure represented just six per cent of all informal sector workers who form 85 per cent of the country’s entire active labour population. “As a regulatory authority, we are worried that only six per cent of workers...

November 2, 2021
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02Nov

UK academics begin legal action to halt proposed cuts to pensions

UK university academics have launched legal action to try to halt proposed cuts to their pensions as well as speed up their retirement scheme’s divestment of shares in fossil fuel companies. Documents requesting permission to launch proceedings against the £80bn Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the UK’s largest private sector pension plan, were last week submitted to the High Court. The crux of the move is a decision by the trustees and managers of the 430,000-member scheme to undertake a health check...

November 2, 2021
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01Nov

US. DOL ESG investing rule could be here to stay

Democrats and Republicans in Washington broadly view retirement plan fiduciaries considering ESG factors in investment decisions much differently, with the Trump and Biden administrations promulgating vastly dissimilar regulations on the issue. A new rule proposal from the Department of Labor, which marks the latest move in a long-lasting regulatory fight, would explicitly permit retirement plan fiduciaries to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance factors when selecting investments and exercising shareholder rights. The proposal, which was unveiled Oct. 13...

November 1, 2021
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01Nov

South Africa Pension Funds To Exclude Non-CBDC Crypto Assets

South Africa Restricts Non-CBDC Crypto The South African government, in an effort to push its CBDCs, has introduced legislation that restricts non-CBDC crypto from being invested in pension funds. The new regulations are in sharp contrast to the older regulations that allowed portfolio managers to invest around 2.5% of funds into the category of “other assets,” which also included crypto assets. The new rules, however, exclude cryptocurrencies, citing a lack of protection. The Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System in the...

November 1, 2021
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