October 2021
18Oct

US. Trends in Retirement: Focus on Retirement Income

DC plans are addressing a wider range of participant circumstances via more customization, layered communications and programs that build financial resilience The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing variant spread has transformed the U.S. workforce, causing many to retire earlier than planned, others to retire later than planned, and adding to concerns about financial security across the board. For defined contribution plan sponsors, it has honed their participant retirement outcomes using a wider array of products and services,...

October 18, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
18Oct

UK. Survey highlights lack of pension tax awareness amongst DC savers

Over a third (38 per cent) of defined contribution (DC) pension scheme members aged 50-65 are unaware of their tax-free pension allowance, a survey from Hymans Robertson has found. The research found that a further 32 per cent believed, incorrectly, that they can withdraw their entire pensions pot without paying tax, whilst nearly a fifth (17 per cent) wrongly believe that they do not have to pay any tax on income from their pension. Hymans Robertson partner, Kathryn Fleming, said that...

October 18, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
18Oct

South Africa. Millennials hardest hit financially in 2020, study shows

Young people employed in medium to large companies and belonging to a retirement fund were harder hit financially by the pandemic than their middle-aged colleagues, with higher retrenchment rates and higher levels of financial stress, as measured by their credit scores and their default rates on debt. This is one of the findings of the annual Alexander Forbes Member Insights report, released this week, which surveyed almost a million members across the hundreds of retirement funds Alexander Forbes administers. While...

October 18, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
15Oct

China to encourage development of pensions, insurance for delivery sector

China's top banking and insurance regulator said it would encourage insurers to accelerate the development of commercial pension products and accident insurance for gig-economy workers such as couriers and takeout deliverymen. Read also Hong Kong government proposal for residents to convert pensions into annuities ‘absurd’ if made mandatory, labour minister says China has in recent years experienced a delivery boom powered by millions of couriers who work for companies such as Meituan Dianping and Alibaba’s Ele.me to deliver packages and meal...

October 15, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
15Oct

UK. Govt launches consultation on NHS pension scheme changes

The government has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the contributions that members pay into the NHS Pension Scheme in light of the move to a career average revalued earnings (CARE) model. Under the proposals, members’ contribution rates would change to be based on actual pensionable pay instead of members’ notional whole-time equivalent pay. This would mean that many part-time members would see their contribution amounts reduce, and is a reflection of the increasing number of scheme members with no...

October 15, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
15Oct

Puerto Rico board agrees to remove pension cuts from debt plan

Puerto Rico's financial oversight board has agreed to remove proposed public employee pension cuts from a plan to restructure the island's debt, a major concession from the panel that aims to get commonwealth lawmakers to approve new restructuring bonds and lift the island out of bankruptcy. Read also South Africa: A New Social Assistance Assessment Aims to Help Strengthen Policies and Programs for the Poor The board included a 8.5% reduction to some pension benefits in the debt adjustment plan that...

October 15, 2021
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
15Oct

Use positivity to beat savers’ pensions defeatism

Pension scheme communications need to focus on members’ progress and the steps they can take to improve income, rather than barriers they could face without action, Nest Insight research finds. Members can be put off by current communications that present barriers in terms of a lack of affordability, a feeling of being overwhelmed, and low confidence - all of which contribute to a "sense of defeatism". Small Steps to a Better Future, written in conjunction with Invesco and Maslanksy + Partners,...

October 15, 2021
News, Slider,
Read more...
14Oct

U.S. Labor Department proposes counter rule to Trump-era investment measures

The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday proposed a rule aimed to override a pair of Trump-era measures that had barred retirement and pension plans from considering climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when they select investments. Read also U.S. Labor Department proposes counter rule to Trump-era investment measures The DOL proposal, which is subject to a 60-comment period before it can be adopted, comes after the agency in March said it would not enforce the 2020...

October 14, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
14Oct

Hong Kong government proposal for residents to convert pensions into annuities ‘absurd’ if made mandatory, labour minister says

A Hong Kong government proposal to encourage residents to convert their pensions into annuities would be “absurd” if made mandatory, the city’s labour minister said on Thursday. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said that while studying the proposal was necessary, making it mandatory to convert Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension plans into annuities was never going to happen in Hong Kong. “If anyone just thought about it, forcing everyone in Hong Kong to switch to an annuity is absurd,...

October 14, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
14Oct

​Icelandic pensions major blacklists 138 firms as new policy kicks in

Iceland’s second-biggest pension fund, the Pension Fund of Commerce (Lífeyrissjóður verzlunarmanna, LV), announced it is blacklisting 138 firms as the result of its new responsible investment policy, revealing it has already sold ISK3bn (€20m) of investments, with more to follow. Read also Sustainable investment ‘rebooting’ Europe’s private markets, research finds The ISK1trn pension provider said most of the exclusions were firms producing coal and oil sands, while 22 made “controversial weapons”, 15 were considered to be in breach of the UN...

October 14, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...