January 2018

26Jan

Saint Lucia. Government explores social protection programme for seniors

Over the next 20 years the number of older persons in the Caribbean will double. This ageing of the population has important implications for public policy in areas such as pensions, health, and social care services. Consequently, there is an urgent need to strengthen social protection against the risks associated with ageing, for example loss of income, ill health, disability, loss of independence, isolation and abuse. At the same time, with older persons making up an increasing proportion of the...

January 26, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
26Jan

Ireland. Men hit by pension anomaly risk ‘being left behind’, Dáil told

Government moves to fix the pensions anomaly now risk discriminating against men hit by the same problem, the Dáil has been told. The Government was also under pressure over the decision to re-open Stepaside Garda Station in Dublin. There were claims that it was a “political trophy” for local Independent Alliance TD and Transport Minister, Shane Ross. Fianna Fáil welcomed Government efforts to fix the pensions problem which since 2012 has left some pensioners with €40 per week less. Read More: Independent

January 26, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
25Jan

Kenya. Jobs, pensions crisis as 37pc of civil servants set to retire

A jobs and pension crisis will hit the public service as the number of civil servants set to retire in the next decade rose to 37 per cent. The Public Service Commission (PSC), in a report to Parliament, said the percentage of civil servants above the age of 50 increased from 35 per cent in the year to June 2016, to 37 per cent last year. Read More: Business Daily Africa

January 25, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
25Jan

Canada. Morneau Shepell releases the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds

Morneau Shepell (TSX: MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the fourth quarter of 2017. According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2017, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 3.9 per cent before management fees. For 2017 as a whole, diversified pooled fund managers obtained a median return of 8.6 per cent. "Stimulated by strong and synchronized global economic growth, stock markets rose to record levels in 2017....

January 25, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
25Jan

Global Pension Funds Pump Trillions To Develop Africa

AFRICAN countries will be thrown a lifeline as two influential organisations in the development landscape, African Investor and the World Pension Council have taken a joint decision to mobilise one per cent of the $3 trillion owned by pension investors worldwide to contribute towards infrastructure development in the continent. In a statement sent yesterday, African Investor said the decision to plough into African infrastructure was taken ahead of the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. The World Pensions Council is...

January 25, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
24Jan

Sweden. Manager Overseeing $54 Billion Says She’s Looking for New Risks

As the global stock rally has many pondering just how bad the correction will be, Sweden’s AP7 pension fund is seeking out new risks. The 430 billion-krona ($54 billion) fund is looking at diversifying its portfolio to include more small cap investments after reducing the leverage it takes since 2015. “We seek diversification to get a better risk-adjusted return,” Ingrid Albinsson, the fund’s chief investment officer, said in a phone interview on Friday. “The reason for the diversification effort in the...

January 24, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
24Jan

UK. Universities face 14 days of strike action over pensions

Staff are angry at plans to change the Universities Superannuation Scheme from a defined benefit scheme, where they would have a guaranteed income in retirement - to a defined contribution scheme, where their pensions would be subject to changes in the stock market. UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: "Universities will be hit with levels of strike action not seen before on UK campuses if a deal cannot be done over the future of USS pensions." The union says it would...

January 24, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
24Jan

World’s Largest Pension Fund Needs More Risky Business: Gadfly

It’s time the world’s largest pension fund boosted its risk appetite again. Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund has been fleeing local government bonds ever since it doubled its allocation targets for domestic and overseas stocks in late 2014. It’s likely to have already exceeded that quota due to the global equities bull run. As of Sept. 30, the latest data available, GPIF’s portfolio weighting in local and international shares was already within 1 percentage point of its target of 25 percent...

January 24, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
23Jan

UK. Fears over 280,000 pensions as Barclays dumps final salary scheme on ‘casino bank’

Barclays has attracted stinging criticism over plans to give responsibility for its giant staff pension fund to its "riskier" investment banking division. Frank Field MP, who chairs the influential Work and Pensions parliamentary committee, has written to the chief of the Pensions Regulator over concerns that 280,000 savers' pensions have been put under threat by the move. Barclays offered staff a generous "final salary" pension scheme until 1997, when it was replaced with a "defined contribution" plan. The final salary fund,...

January 23, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...
23Jan

AIG to Expand Pension, Hedge Fund Ties After $5.56 Billion Deal

American International Group Inc. will expand its relationships with alternative-asset managers after it completes a $5.56 billion deal to buy Validus Holdings Ltd., Chief Executive Officer Brian Duperreault said. Validus’s AlphaCat unit, which oversees $3.4 billion, works with pensions, hedge funds and other investors to gain exposure to reinsurance assets, helping them bet on markets not closely correlated to financial securities such as stocks and bonds. Reinsurers provide backstop coverage for primary insurers. “Validus has been very, very good at matching...

January 23, 2018
News, Slider
Read more...