September 2017

21Sep

Kazakh pension scandals stir criticism of government

Media trainer Anara Kuandikova, 29, is typical of the generation of post-independence professionals who have most to lose if anything goes wrong with oil-rich Kazakhstan's scandal-struck Unified Pension Fund. "I still see my pension contributions as a real investment in my future," said Kuandikova, who works in Astana and pays a tenth of her $600 monthly salary -- one-and-a-half times the national average wage -- into the fund. "But the more negative information you hear, the more you begin to...

September 21, 2017
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20Sep

El Salvador: Protests against pension fund ‘monopolies’

Representatives of various social organizations and unions in El Salvador rejected the “monopoly” Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) and the management of profits created by workers’ savings. Around 50 people protested the morning of September 18 at the headquarters of one of only two AFPs in the Central American country. Dionisio Flores, representative of the union of state-run National Aqueduct and Sewerage Administration, declared that they stand “against a monopoly in which private enterprise has taken over workers’ funds.” Salvadorean President Salvador...

September 20, 2017
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20Sep

Hong Kong needs to reform pension fund system: PwC report

Hong Kong's pension fund, Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), a system which covers 73 percent of the employed population in Hong Kong, needs to address problems to manage risks, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report said on Tuesday. The problems include high fees, unattractive returns, a reliance on paper-based processing, and a blanket approach that offers few incentives for members to pay more into their MPF portfolios, said PwC's Review of Hong Kong's MPF System: Recommendations for Key Reforms. Hong Kong is not immune...

September 20, 2017
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20Sep

ASEAN Conference to help address issues and challenges of ageing in the region

The 1st ASEAN Conference on Healthy Ageing is set to take place this 10th-12th October in Sarawak, Malaysia. Themed Ageing - Challenges, Successes and the Journey Ahead, the conference is aimed to help address the issues and challenges of rapidly ageing populations in the region. The conference is organised by the Malaysian Healthy Ageing Society (MHAS) in collaboration with the Sarawak Convention Bureau. Clinicians from various disciplines, allied health professionals, the legal fraternity, financial institutions, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, policy makers,...

September 20, 2017
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20Sep

Ireland. Calls on government to abandon increasing the pension age to 70

Speaking in response to ESRI recommendations Deputy Kenny said: “In 2014 the government caused huge distress people by increasing the pension age from 65 to 66.  People expecting to receive their state pension at retirement were forced into Jobseekers' payments. “It’s outrageous for this government to suggest that working people and especially those doing physical work like builders and farmers must now continue working for a further four years before they can receive the pension to which they have contributed...

September 20, 2017
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19Sep

How robots can save an ageing world

Many doomsayers have argued that an ageing population poses a huge threat to economic growth. They believe that rich countries in the West are headed towards secular stagnation as the size of their young, working-age population shrinks rapidly due to low fertility rates. On the other hand, countries like China and India are predicted to enjoy much higher economic growth in the coming decades as more young people get added to their workforce due to favourable demographics. The primary...

September 19, 2017
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19Sep

APG and E Fund Management will launch the world’s first China Sustainable and Responsible Focus Investment Strategy

APG, the largest European pension asset manager and administrator, together with E Fund, the third largest fund manager in China, announced today that it will launch the first concentrated equities strategy that invests in ChinaA-shares and adheres to sustainable & responsible investing frameworks and criteria. "APG is a firm believer and promoter of responsible investing. We are happy to partner with E Fund to establish this milestone to embrace our role and duty as responsible long term asset manager, for the benefit of our clients....

September 19, 2017
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19Sep

Kenya: Retirement Body in List for Top Award in Africa

A Johannesburg-based international investment research and communications group has nominated Kenya's Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) for its 2017 top award. The Ai Capital Market Index Series Awards look at Africa's best bourses and the role played by individual pension regulatory agencies in promoting investments within their countries. Judges consider how investments by various entities support the development of Africa's capital markets, promotion of pension fund investments in Africa as well as stimulating increased pensions fund investments and membership. Africa investor...

September 19, 2017
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19Sep

Mexico readies bill to regulate fast-growing fintech industry

Mexico would regulate its fast-growing financial technology sector, including firms that use crypto-currencies like bitcoin, to protect consumers and spur competition, under a proposed bill seen by Reuters. The proposed legislation, which Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said this month would be unveiled in the Senate before Sept. 20, seeks to ensure financial stability and defend against money laundering and financing of extremists. The new measures will allow Mexico to join a small list of countries, including the United States...

September 19, 2017
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18Sep

Portugal. Government wants to squeeze foreign pensioners too

Portugal’s finance minister, Mário Centeno, acknowledged on Friday that the government has been looking into introducing a minimum income tax bracket for foreign pensioners for some months, to ensure a “good tax relationship” with other European countries. Following an informal meeting of euro zones finance ministers in Talin, when he was asked about an article in Friday's edition of business newspaper Jornal de Negócios saying the government was studying changes to the income tax rules for non-habitual residents because of...

September 18, 2017
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