July 2018

Kenyan Pensions Managers Plan Fund for Infrastructure Projects

Kenyan pensions managers are working on a plan to pool resources and jointly invest in capital-intensive infrastructure projects, the nation’s biggest retirement-benefits administrator said. “We’re working together to come into a consortium to create a pool where we can jointly evaluate and jointly invest on bigger, bolder and better projects,” said Sandeep Raichura, the chief executive officer at Zamara, formerly known as Alexander Forbes East Africa Ltd. “We need to diversify onto the alternative asset space.” Read More: Bloomberg

Switzerland. Work pension challenge targets age-related unfair dismissals

The Workfair 50+external link group announced on Tuesday its intention of forcing a nationwide vote on the issue. It wants pension laws to be changed to make workplace pension fund contributions the same for everyone regardless of age. At present, both workers and employers pay increasing amounts as employees move into older age brackets. Workfair 50+ said it had conducted a survey that found 1,200 people who felt that age discrimination had led to their dismissal. Read More: Swiss Info

Fast-ageing Hong Kong district Kwai Tsing to test drive subsidised health care plan

Patients seeking out medical care at a new community health care hub in a Hong Kong district with one of the city’s fastest-ageing populations will get a government subsidy and fee caps on services. Details of the plan were revealed in a government paper on Tuesday, which set out proposals for a district health centre in Kwai Tsing, which is expected to open in the third quarter of 2019. First announced in Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s policy address in...

Pension directors banned from running companies for 21 years

Gleeson Bessent Trustee Services (GBTS) and Gleeson Bessent Trustees (GBT), based in Preston, were wound up in the public interest by the courts in March 2017. Investigations by the Insolvency Service into the conduct of the directors has led to the four directors giving disqualification undertakings totaling 21 years , which means they cannot run a company directly or on behalf of someone else. Roger Bessent, of Lytham St Annes, and Tracy Park, of Freckleton, were directors of GTBS, while Roger...

India. CAG report points to irregular sanction of pensions

A report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India tabled in the Assembly on Monday pointed out various defects in the implementation of pension schemes and brought out cases in which ineligible candidates were given pension, while some eligible candidates were not considered for the scheme. “Despite a 100% verification of pension eligibility in 2014, audit came across 118 ineligible beneficiaries receiving pension and 934 eligible beneficiaries not receiving pension, indicating the need for continuing periodical verifications,” the...

UK. Govt mulls flat-rate pension tax relief

The Treasury is considering whether to introduce a flat rate of pension tax relief to help fund the National Health Service. According to The Times, the Treasury has started to investigate the flat-rate proposal and says it could raise an additional £4bn in revenues. In June, the government promised to increase spending on the NHS by £20bn a year and a flat rate could help chancellor Philip Hammond raise money without breaching fiscal rules. Read More: Money Marketing

Greece. Government exploring ways to suspend pension cuts

The government is hoping that surpluses at the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) will allow the non-implementation of pre-legislated pension cuts on January 1 next year. With the latest forecasts suggesting that the EFKA surplus could reach 1.3 billion euros by the end of the year, Labor Minister Effie Achtsioglou told Skai TV on Monday she did not rule out that the measure may be suspended, saying that the government will examine the issue after August 20, when Greece leaves...

US. Social Security will survive, but will it be enough?

Many Americans have a curious attitude toward Social Security, presuming the program one day will disappear or get significantly scaled back, but not doing much to prepare for it by saving and investing more. The skepticism about Social Security's future shows up in one consumer poll after the other. For example, just 45 percent of current workers say they are very or somewhat confident that Social Security will continue to provide retirement benefits of roughly equal value to benefits currently...

Bahrain to host regional pensions conference

Supreme Council for Health (SCH)’s President Lt-General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, the Chairman of Al Hikma Retirees Society, today received a delegation from Takaud Savings & Pensions headed by the company’s chairman Samer Khanachet who delivered invitation to him to attend the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Pensions Conference 2018. The conference is slated to be held on October 31 under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB). Lt-General Dr. Shaikh Mohammed expressed his gratitude...

Japan’s pension fund posts best returns in three years

The world’s biggest pension fund posted its best annual gain in three years despite a loss during the final quarter of its business calendar. Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund returned 6.9 per cent, or 10.1 trillion yen ($91 billion), in the year ended March 31, with assets totaling 156.4 trillion yen, it said in Tokyo. Domestic stocks were the fund’s best performing investment, adding 5.5 trillion yen, followed by a 3.5 trillion yen increase in overseas shares. Domestic bonds gained...