July 2018

06Jul

Australia. Solvency Of Pension Funds At Risk From Prolonged Low Interest Rates, Say Central Banks

The solvency of private pension funds and insurers would be at risk from continued prolonged low interest rates, the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) said in a report released today. Banks would suffer too, but to a lesser degree, predicted CGFS, a consortium of central banks. The report warned “low-for-long” interest rates could shrink the profitability and strength of financial firms. Read More: Forbes

July 6, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
06Jul

Latin America Seen Poised for Rally as Political Dust Settles

The political clouds are clearing, and one of Latin America’s biggest asset managers likes what he sees. "Now that the round of elections in the region have finished, demand and confidence are increasing, and we’re expecting a stronger second half that will help us to reach a 7 percent return," Ignacio Calle, chief executive officer of Medellin, Colombia-based Sura Asset Management SA, said in an interview at his office. Read More: Bloomberg

July 6, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
06Jul

Ghana. Government To Pass National Aging Bill

Mr Thaddeus Arkum Aasoglenang, Nandom District Chief Executive (DCE) has hinted that government has initiated processes for the passage of the National Aging Bill. According to him, a National Aging Council is also to be established soon by the government. Mr Aasoglenang gave the hint in a statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the Senior Citizens Day Celebration in Nandom. The statement explained that the rational for this bold step by the government was to mainstream...

July 6, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
06Jul

30 million are ‘in the dark’ over pensions savings

This equates to 30.4 million working age people across the UK who risk not being able to afford the lifestyle they want in later lfe. The findings were made in the PLSA's Hitting the Target report ­ which aims to help people achieve better retirement incomes. It calls for the introduction of retirement income targets showing the lifestyle someone could afford on different levels of income. The PLSA has commissioned researchers to develop these. Seven in 10 (70 percent) people think retirement income targets would encourage them to save more, increasing to more than three­quarters of (78 percent) millennials aged 18 to 34, the PLSA found. Read More: Express

July 6, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
05Jul

Italy pensions chief criticizes government over migrants, planned reforms

Italy needs more migrant workers to help pay for the nation’s growing army of pensioners, the head of state pensions agency INPS said on Tuesday, openly criticizing the government’s anti-immigration agenda. Tito Boeri also warned that government plans to reform the pensions system would be much more costly than coalition parties were predicting, saying demographic trends meant that even the existing system was unsustainable. Italy’s new interior minister, right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, who has promised a severe crackdown on illegal immigration...

July 5, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
05Jul

UK. Tiny pension pots putting £1bn at risk

Ministers have been accused of ignoring a proliferation of tiny, inefficient pension pots that could drain £1 billion a year from retirement incomes. The cost of administering millions of trivially small pension pots will rise exponentially because a new pot is created every time someone moves job, Hargreaves Lansdown, the wealth manager, said yesterday. With the typical employee expected to change jobs 11 times in the course of a career, they can expect to have 11 pots. Couples might have to...

July 5, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
05Jul

Australian Pension Giant Will Cut Exposure to Stocks

Australia’s largest pension fund says it will cut exposure to equities as the current global growth cycle gets closer to ending and escalating trade tensions weigh on the economy. Returns from equities will be limited by the Federal Reserve continuing to tighten policy and a persistence of trade war concerns, according to Mark Delaney, AustralianSuper Pty.’s chief investment officer. The money manager that oversees A$140 billion ($104 billion) will cut its allocation to shares to about 55 percent from about...

July 5, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
04Jul

Africa’s pension funds can be quite handy

In Africa, there has been the emergence of an ecosystem built around pension funds. A recent institutional investor study estimated that the ten largest funds in Africa held a combined $310 billion in assets. This has transpired for a number of reasons, not least being the fact that many of these countries are switching from defined benefits to defined contribution schemes. In Botswana, where the shift took place in 2001, there are more than 100 pension funds jostling for funds...

July 4, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
04Jul

Thailand’s $26 Billion Pension Fund Shuns Emerging Markets

The slide in emerging markets is spooking Thailand’s $26 billion Government Pension Fund. The fund will continue to avoid investing in developing-nation equities and bonds because of the risk of increased outflows due to global trade tensions and weakening currencies, according to its Secretary General Vitai Ratanakorn. The return on investment has been “disappointing” this year, compared with a 6.4 percent gain in 2017, as the value of domestic and foreign equities has slumped, Vitai said. The fund has boosted holdings...

July 4, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
04Jul

Croatia. Government Further Explains Pension Reform and Tax Cuts

The relevant cabinet ministers presented outlines of the pension reform plan and the second phase of the tax reform to the leadership of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party on Monday evening, Prime Minister and HDZ leader Andrej Plenovikc told the press after a three-hour meeting of the HDZ presidency and the national council. He said that the ideas presented were received well and that he expected further public consultation and debate on the best and viable solutions. He...

July 4, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...