February 2018

14Feb

State Lawmakers Say New Pension Bill Is Coming This Week

Republican leaders of the state legislature say a new proposal to overhaul the state’s public retirement systems will be unveiled later this week. Kentucky’s pension systems are among the worst-funded in the nation and Gov. Matt Bevin, along with many in the Republican-led legislature, wants to change how much state workers earn in benefits in order to reduce the state’s pension liability in the future. It’s unclear what will be in the new proposal, but lawmakers have hinted that it won’t...

February 14, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
13Feb

EU regulators warn Bitcoin investors of ‘pricing bubble’

The European Union's top banking, securities and pensions watchdogs have all warned cryptocurrency investors could lose all their money as Bitcoin enters a "pricing bubble". Bitcoin soared in value in recent months before losing more than half its value, leaving investors who bought in at the highest prices out of pocket. Prices increased to as high as $20,000 in December, before falling to under $7,000 last week. The trio of regulators - the European Banking Authority, European Securities and Markets Authority,...

February 13, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
13Feb

UK regulators working on joint pensions strategy

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Pensions Regulator said they intend the strategy to set out how they will work together "to tackle the key risks facing the pensions sector" over the next five to 10 years. "As part of our ongoing efforts to ensure the sector works well for consumers and workplace pension savers, we are working together on a pensions strategy which will look at how we will work together, and with stakeholders, in the coming years,"...

February 13, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
13Feb

Croatia pension funds seek higher contributions, deeper market

Croatia’s government should press on with plans to gradually double the amount of money citizens pay into pension funds to help turn around the loss-making pension system, the head of the main industry body said on Tuesday. Damir Grbavac, chair of the UMFO pension funds association, told Reuters his members also needed more opportunities to invest in the local economy, saying there was a shortage of Croatian companies seeking listings or funding on the capital market. Both the IMF and the...

February 13, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
12Feb

Ghana. GNAT urges teachers to take advantage of Third Tier Pension Scheme

The Pension Plans Central America Report gives Market Consumption / Products / Services for 31 countries by each Product by 3 Time series: From 1997- 2016 and Forecasts 2017- 2024 & 2024-2028. Countries covered include: Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent/Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands....

February 12, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
12Feb

US. Can ESG help make NJ’s pension-fund investments more ethical?

Some states are using ESG factors - environmental, social, and governance - to evaluate investments in companies. Will New Jersey follow suit? The federal government's inaction on issues like climate change and gun violence has led elected officials in New York City, California, and other places to start using public-employee pension funds to exert more influence, including by pulling back investments in oil companies and gun manufacturers. That hasn't been the case so far in New Jersey, but policymakers for the...

February 12, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
09Feb

Bosnian workers go hungry in fight for full payment

"If we must, we will die for our rights," says Jasmin Arific. Every morning Arific and his former colleagues from the Hidrogradnja public construction company gather in front of the government's headquarters in Sarajevo to demand their pensions. Hidrogradnja was once a jewel in the Yugoslav construction sector, an industrial mammoth employing up to 4,000 people. But after Bosnia's war in the 1990s, business gradually went downhill like at many state-run firms hit by both the transition to a market economy...

February 9, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
09Feb

Greece. Pensions keep getting smaller

One in three pensioners has to live on less than 500 euros a month at a time when pensions in Greece have been constantly falling, according to the Helios online data system’s monthly reports. The Labor Ministry platform showed that the average income of Greek retirees amounts to 894 euros per month: The average main pension from all social security funds comes to 722 euros a month while the average auxiliary pension amounts to just 171 euros a month. The...

February 9, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
09Feb

Protected rights: urgent action required by UK pension scheme trustees

Between 6 April 1988 and 5 April 2012, it was possible for schemes to contract out of the earnings-related element of the state pension by providing “protected rights” which were a form of DC benefit. Certain contributions had to be paid into a member’s DC “protected rights” account, and the pot of money that resulted had to be used in particular ways laid down in legislation on the member’s retirement or death. This form of contracting-out was designed for DC...

February 9, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...