January 2018

18Jan

Is China going down the same path as Japan with its ageing population?

China’s demographic picture is starting to look a lot like Japan’s, with new births in decline, a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, according to the latest official data. While China’s headline growth accelerated to 6.9 per cent in 2017 from 6.7 per cent in 2016, its demographic statistics are less positive. Despite the nationwide introduction of a two-child policy in 2015, the number of new births fell to 17.23 million last year, from 17.86 million in 2016, the National Bureau...

January 18, 2018
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18Jan

Norges Bank excludes Evergreen from pension fund over scrapping practices

Norway’s central bank has excluded Evergreen Marine from one of its two sovereign wealth funds, citing the Taiwanese company’s vessel scrapping practices as causing “serious human rights violations and severe environmental damage”. The fund’s Council on Ethics claimed that “Evergreen Marine has for several years disposed of decommissioned vessels by sending them to be broken up for scrap on the beaches of Bangladesh and Pakistan, a practice known as beaching, where working conditions are extremely poor”. “There are no indications that...

January 18, 2018
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18Jan

Those Corporate Pensions Weren’t Always So Great

Spend a little time with the U.S. District Court case of Millsap v. McDonnell Douglas Corp., and it may leave you aghast at the heartlessness and mendacity of the people who ran the aircraft manufacturer (since acquired by Boeing Co.) in the 1990s. That certainly seems to have been the effect on Judge Sven Erik Holmes, who in his 2001 ruling in favor of James R. Millsap and the other workers who lost their jobs when McDonnell Douglas shut...

January 18, 2018
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17Jan

CPPIB and Australia’s Lendlease partner to invest 1.5 bln pounds

Australian property manager Lendlease Group and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said on Tuesday they would partner to invest 1.5 billion pounds ($2.07 billion) in UK’s build-to-rent private rental sector. The partnership will initially invest 450 million pounds. “This investment is a great opportunity for CPPIB to further diversify our European real estate portfolio,” Andrea Orlandi, head of real estate investments Europe at CPPIB, said in a statement. The companies will also pursue “opportunities” within Lendlease’s residential urban activities in London...

January 17, 2018
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17Jan

Carillion’s collapse could highlight a much wider problem for UK pensions

Carillion's pension savers will see a minimum of a 10 percent drop in their retirement income, but more broadly, the collapse of the firm should be a "wake-up call" for every U.K. pension saver, according to a financial consultancy. "The collapse of Carillion further underscores the colossal black hole in many defined benefit pension schemes. For instance, the combined deficit of the FTSE 350 firms has now reached 70 percent of their profits," Nigel Green, the chief executive and founder...

January 17, 2018
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16Jan

4 Reasons Americans’ 401(k) Balances Are Too Small

Only around half of all households have 401(k) accounts. Even for those who do, the median 401(k) balance for those approaching retirement was just $135,000 in 2016. With few employees having access to defined benefit pension plans to provide guaranteed income, and with average Social Security benefits providing an income just above poverty level, it's clear there's a retirement crisis in America. The Center for Retirement Research identified four key reasons why 401(k) balances are too small for most Americans....

January 16, 2018
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16Jan

Thailand. Baby-making tax breaks aim to slow population ageing

The government has given reluctant parents a big push in the form of generous tax breaks aimed at encouraging them to have more than one child. Nathporn Jatusripitak, the spokesman for Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, said on Tuesday the cabinet had approved three tax deductions to lure couples to have more babies. They will take effect this year and taxpayers can take advantage of them when they file personal income tax next calendar year, he added. Read more HERE: Bangkok Post

January 16, 2018
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15Jan

UK. Carillion collapse: will pensions still be paid?

Debt laden construction firm Carillion has fallen into liquidation after it failed to reach an agreement with creditors during crisis talks over the weekend. In addition to debts approaching £1bn, the company has an enormous pension deficit. What does that mean for members of its staff pension schemes? Carillion operates 13 "final salary" pension schemes in the UK, with around 28,500 members, more than 12,000 of whom are already claiming a pension. Read more Telegraph

January 15, 2018
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15Jan

UN appoints Adeosun into pension fund investment committee

The United Nations has appointed Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun into the Investments Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF). In a statement signed by the Adeosun’s Special Adviser, Media and Communication, Mr Oluyinka Akintunde, on Sunday in Abuja, the minister would serve a one-year term effective from January 1, 2018. According to the statement, UN Under-Secretary-General, Jan Beagle, in a letter said that the appointment was ratified at the 55th plenary meeting of the 77th session...

January 15, 2018
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15Jan

Strong opposition to French Polynesia pension reform

There is strong opposition in French Polynesia to the government's pension reform which would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. The consultative body, the Economic and Social Council, almost unanimously rejected the reform plan at its meeting in Papeete. The plan also requires those seeking to have a full pension to contribute to social security for 38 years and not for 35 as now. The adjustments are being proposed because of the poor financial state of the pension fund, with...

January 15, 2018
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