March 2018

UK. Striking university staff irate over pensions deal

Strikes at UK universities are to continue after staff overwhelmingly rejected a revised offer on their pensions. The University and College Union was forced to throw out the deal it had negotiated with university employers after members voted against it. The union will now draw up detailed plans aimed at disrupting summer examinations in an escalation of the industrial action, which is now in its fourth week. The deal, which had been reached on Monday night after six days of talks...

Government invests £300m to address ageing society challenge

The Government is investing £300m from its industrial strategy challenge fund to help prepare for 'the challenge of an ageing society'. The funding will support better diagnosis for UK patients through artificial intelligence and technology at new regional centres, while 500,000 volunteers will have their genome sequenced to help develop early diagnosis and treatments. The grants also include an extra £40m for a new dementia research institute. Read More: Local Gov UK

Dumped Tahiti pension reform still priority – Fritch

French Polynesia's president Edouard Fritch says if he wins this year's election he will make the pension reform the priority of priorities. Mr Fritch made the comment after withdrawing the reform plan following a general strike during which demonstrators forced their way into the assembly. His government planned to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, saying failure to make the change would bankrupt the system in a couple of years. Read More: Radio NZ

Mexican state pension fund spent millions on failing builder – sources

Mexico’s state workers’ pension fund plowed more than $20 million into ICA (ICA.MX) and became the largest shareholder as the builder spiraled toward insolvency, according to people familiar with the matter, with the fund’s investment set to be wiped out in a restructuring. PensionIssste, which manages about 195 billion pesos ($10.5 billion) of mostly government workers’ retirement money, became the largest shareholder in ICA, with a stake of almost 10 percent, said three people with knowledge of the investment who...

EU and asset managers clash over ‘sustainable’ investing plan

The European Union has proposed making it a formal requirement for asset managers to consider “sustainability” when picking investments, a move the EU’s 23 trillion euro ($28.5 trillion) funds industry swiftly dismissed as a “tick-the-box” exercise. The EU wants more money going into sustainable and “green” projects that help cut greenhouse gas emissions, as part of a wider “capital markets union” project to expand funding from financial markets for companies and growth. In an “action plan” published on Thursday, the European...

French Polynesia pension march attracts thousands

As part of a general strike launched by a union umbrella group two days ago, marchers this morning converged on the centre of Papeete from three directions. Police said about 4500 people took part while the union says 10,000 people marched. The government wants the assembly to adopt the reform to hike the retirement age from 60 to 62 during this afternoon's sitting of the assembly. The government said it had no option but to change pension eligibility criteria to secure the...

UK retirement bill up more than £1 trillion in five years as pension crisis escalates

The UK’s pension funding crisis reached a new milestone this week as the Office for National Statistics revealed that liabilities rose to £7.6 trillion at the end of 2015. The figure, which is the total amount promised to pay for Britons’ future retirement income, includes £5.3 trillion of pension entitlements that were the responsibility of central and local government, most of which – about £4 trillion – came from State Pension entitlements. The remaining £2.3 trillion were private sector employee pension...

Northern Ireland. Pension fund urged to get out of fossil fuels

Fossil Free Northern Ireland wants the NI Local Government Pension scheme to cut its ties with major firms. They include companies like BP and gas firm Centrica which has interests in shale gas exploration, or fracking. But the fund has already said it will not take its money out of oil and gas. Climate change The pension scheme is the biggest in Northern Ireland and covers 118,000 workers employed by public bodies. Read More: BBC News

Exploring Belarus’s massive gender longevity gap

The Belarusian gender debate understandably focuses on women’s rights, but in reality, men deserve as much attention. Belarusian men have a far lower life expectancy than women; lower even than North Korean men. Both men themselves and state authorities bear responsibility for this. Belarus remains one of the most alcoholic nations in the world and Belarusian men generally treat their health with indifference. This has painful consequences. Families lose a parent and a money-maker, while the state loses a taxpayer. Even...

66% of Millennials have nothing saved for retirement

That's no surprise. After paying bills, rent and making student loan payments, there's often not much leftover each month for young people, many of whom entered the workforce at a time of stagnant wages and high unemployment. But a new report shows just how far off track they might be. About 66% of people between the ages of 21 and 32 have absolutely nothing saved for retirement, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security. The report is based on...