February 2018

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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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08Feb

Kenya. Over 5,000 senior citizens to benefit from social protection programme

Over 5, 000 elderly persons will benefit from the government’s social protection programme this year in Siaya County, area Social Development Officer Maxwel Anyona has said. Anyona said 5,182 people aged over 80 years will benefit from the programme that will see them earn sh2,000 monthly from the state coffers. He said that apart from the programme that targets those aged 80 years and above, another programme that benefits selected old persons aged 70 years and above will also see another...

February 8, 2018
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08Feb

Brazilian gov’t presents softer pension reform bill

A new version of Brazil's controversial pension reform bill that lowered the minimum contribution period to receive a pension was presented to the Congress on Wednesday. The proposal was presented by Arthur Maia, rapporteur for the pension reform in the Chamber of Deputies, to gain the two-thirds majority needed to pass the reform. The new bill lowered the minimum contribution period to 15 years from 25 years in the previous draft. The revamped bill maintains the same minimum retirement ages at 65...

February 8, 2018
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08Feb

Malaysia’s KWAP aims to have 70% of AUM be ESG-compliant

Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), Malaysia’s second largest pension fund, hopes to have 70% of its assets under management (AUM) be environmental, social and governance (ESG)-compliant. KWAP, a pension fund for civil servants, had AUM of 137 billion ringgit (US$32.1 billion) as at end-September 2017. Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad, the fund’s chief executive officer, says currently, about 50%-60% of the AUM comply with ESG principles. Read More: Asia Asset

February 8, 2018
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