October 2021
20Oct

Pension, health costs to dwarf COVID debt legacy in long term -OECD

The costs of repaying debt raised to help households and businesses through the COVID-19 crisis will be dwarfed by those from long-term trends like funding pensions and health services as societies age, the OECD said in a report on Tuesday. Read also  Canada. Uber drivers, gig workers pressure Ontario government for employee status Examining the economic outlook out to 2060, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said governments will increasingly have to contend with the costs associated with aging populations...

October 20, 2021
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20Oct

They Fought Apartheid in South Africa. Now They Want Veterans’ Benefits.

Lesley Kgogo was 17 years old when he traded a school uniform for military fatigues and joined the armed wing of the African National Congress in the fight to overthrow the apartheid regime in South Africa. He was among thousands who trained and slept in bush camps in other countries and then returned to join the insurgency that ultimately helped to topple the repressive white-minority government. Read also South Africa. Millennials hardest hit financially in 2020, study shows More than 40 years...

October 20, 2021
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20Oct

US. Allianz, Calpers to Cut Portfolio Emissions by Up to 30% by 2025

By 2025, 29 of the world’s biggest pension funds and investment firms, including Allianz SE and the  California Public Employees’ Retirement System, intend to have cut the emissions of their portfolio holdings by at least 25%. The targets, which cover publicly-traded equities, corporate bonds and real estate portfolios, were announced in a statement Wednesday by the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance, which was convened by the United Nations. Other firms that are part of the group and have also made such  a commitment include  Aviva Plc and Swiss Re AG. Eliminating emissions generated from their holdings has...

October 20, 2021
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20Oct

Bahrain’s MPs urged to fast-track pensions debate

Pensioners are demanding that Bahrain’s MPs fast-track a government bill granting a three per cent increment to them, starting this year. Many of the pensioners, interviewed by our sister paper Akhbar Al Khaleej, have expressed their dismay at the delay in the discussion of a draft law on pension funds referred by the government to the council in March. The law includes granting pensioners an annual increment of 3pc beginning from this year. Postponements and procrastination rob pensioners of the badly-needed increment,...

October 20, 2021
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20Oct

Avoiding a pensions disaster at UK universities

After two years of pandemic-induced disruption, students at UK universities were hoping this term that things were slowly returning to normal. But life may soon get much worse again and this time it has nothing to do with Covid-19. Ballots on strike action by lecturers have been called at UK universities. The issue is pensions; more precisely, whether the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) — the largest pension scheme in the UK with 470,000 members and £85bn in assets — has sufficient...

October 20, 2021
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19Oct

These Are the World’s Best (And Worst) Pension Systems in 2021

Iceland has the best pension system in the world, according to a global study that shines a light on how nations are preparing their aging populations for retirement. The country took the top spot in the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index published Tuesday, drawing praise for being well governed and providing strong benefits to retirees, including a generous state pension. The Netherlands and Denmark came in second and third respectively after holding the top spots for the past decade. Read...

October 19, 2021
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19Oct

Canada. Why more retirees are looking to green their retirement portfolios

Many greying Canadians are adding a green hue to their investment portfolios to make money, manage risk and leave a better world for their children and grandchildren. Responsible investing – which considers both financial returns and social/environmental good – has long been on the radar of baby boomers and Gen Xers, with ethical mutual funds being widely available since the 1990s. Still, it was often seen as a niche strategy that potentially added risk to an investment portfolio. Consequently, considering only...

October 19, 2021
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19Oct

Kenya. Pension funds participation in market drops

Pension schemes cut investment in securities on Covid-19 disruptions, blunting local investor stake in the economy and making Kenya slip four positions in an index that ranks countries’ financial market attractiveness. The Absa Africa Financial Markets Index 2021 shows that reduced pension investment saw Kenya lost 17 points in the index that measures local investor capacity. The country scored 24 points out of 100, from 41 in 2020. The local investor capacity was based on the size of pension funds - key...

October 19, 2021
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19Oct

India’s pension system needs impetus to ensure adequate retirement income: study

India needs to undertake strategic reforms to revamp the pension system so as to ensure adequate retirement income, revealed the 2021 Mercer CFA Global Pension Index survey (MCGPI) released on Tuesday. The Indian pension system ranked 40th on the overall index ranking out of 43 systems and had the lowest rank in the adequacy sub-index. The primary objective of this annual survey by Mercer Consulting, a leading global management consulting firm, is to benchmark each retirement income system using more...

October 19, 2021
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19Oct

Irish pensions system at risk, new study says

The €5 hike in the State pension in last week’s budget, along with delays in increasing retirement age and introducing automatic enrolment into savings plans, all threaten the sustainability of the pensions system over the long term, according to a new study. The Mercer study points to considerable future challenges as the population ages due to the topping up of what is described as a “generous” pensions system, and a failure to address core issues. Also adding to the problem is...

October 19, 2021
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