February 2018

07Feb

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announces senior executive changes

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has announced three key senior executives will be leaving the organization. After nine years with CPPIB, Nick Zelenczuk, senior managing director and chief operations officer, will retire at the end of May. Eric Wetlaufer, senior managing director and global head of public market investments, will also depart at the end of May after almost seven years with the organization. Following an announcement last July that Graeme Eadie would be stepping back from his role as global...

February 7, 2018
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07Feb

UK. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has given the trustee and trust manager of NOW: Pensions a deadline to fix long-running issues with the pension scheme.

TPR has required the master trust to act to resolve persistent administrative failings, over a number of years, which have led to some scheme members’ savings not being collected from employers and invested. TPR has fined the trustee (NOW: Pension Trustee Limited) a total of £70,000 for its failings and has issued it with an Improvement Notice. A related notice, called a Third Party Notice, has been issued to the trust manager (NOW: Pensions Ltd, or NPL). The notices direct that...

February 7, 2018
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07Feb

Stock market volatility raises risk for U.S. public pension funds

Recent stock market volatility could sting some U.S. public retirement funds in the short term and lead to bigger state and local government contributions in the event of a prolonged market downturn, pension analysts said on Tuesday. The portfolios of some funds have bulked up on riskier and more volatile investments over the past eight years, Eileen Norcross, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, said. “Some of these plans are going to suffer, at least in...

February 7, 2018
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07Feb

US. Bitcoin PENSION launched – but critics warn of HUGE risk as investors may lose ALL capital

BITCOIN could be used in revolutionary new retirement pension systems - although critics argue the new scheme by US company CoinIRA comes with a massive risk as investors could lose all their capital. CoinIRA provides investors the opportunity to save for retirement by investing in bitcoin, ethereum, and other digital currencies as part of a self-directed individual retirement account (IRA). A bitcoin IRA works much like any other retirement account. You make regular, tax-advantaged contributions to an IRS recognised retirement account that is...

February 7, 2018
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07Feb

South Africa. Why pensions are in very real danger: economist

Economist Mike Schussler warns that while many believe that the worst thing for South Africa’s economy would be getting a bailout from the International Monetary Fund, there are worse fates for its citizens – like the government dipping into the country’s R1.7 trillion pension fund. This week, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEFP) announced that it would be ‘investing’ R5 billion in Eskom, which would help the embattled power utility cover costs to the end of the month. Despite the injection, however,...

February 7, 2018
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06Feb

South Africa. Pensions Used For R5-Billion Eskom Loan

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) has granted Eskom a temporary lifeline by issuing a hefty R5-billion loan to fund the parastatal's operations during February. Fin24 reported on Monday that the PIC, on behalf of the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), advanced the R5-billion bridging facility to Eskom for one month. Read more Huffpost

February 6, 2018
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06Feb

Canada. A New Age for Sustainable Projects

To reach Canada’s and Ontario’s environmental commitments, the property management industry needs to renovate 3 per cent of its existing stock every year for the next 33 years. It’s no easy task, and it’s one that all stakeholders are committed to improving building efficiencies, reducing energy usage, and making other eco-forward investments. “We’ve known for a while that if we want to get moving on these environmental goals, we need to be focusing on existing buildings,” affirms Duncan Rowe, Associate,...

February 6, 2018
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06Feb

China’s Next Debt Bomb Is an Aging Population

China’s pension shortfall is emerging as the next big challenge for policy makers as they intensify their years-long campaign to keep rising debt from derailing the economy. Aging in the world’s most populous country means pension contributions by workers no longer cover retiree benefits, forcing the government to fill that gap since at least 2014. Pension expenses rose 11.6 percent to 2.58 trillion yuan ($410 billion) in 2016, leaving the government a 429.1 billion yuan tab to cover the shortfall,...

February 6, 2018
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05Feb

US. Eagles fan empties 401k to attend Super Bowl LII

Philadelphia Eagles fans have gone to extreme lengths for their team over the years. This particular fan may put himself towards the top of the list in terms of radical stunts done for the sake of the Eagles. A man entering U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday told NBC News' Shaquille Brewster that he emptied his 401(k) in order to have enough money to attend Super Bowl LII. Read More: 24/7 Sports

February 5, 2018
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05Feb

Global pension assets hit record high

Pension fund assets in the world’s 22 largest markets grew by $4.8trn to $41.3trn (£29.3trn) last year, according to a new report from Willis Towers Watson (WLTW). This is the highest total ever recorded by the firm in the last 20 years; with a 13% increase in asset value over the course of 2017 also the largest single-year growth registered. The US continues to be the biggest market, accounting for 61.4% of worldwide pension assets, followed by the UK and...

February 5, 2018
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