September 2017

13Sep

Zimbabwe. Rhodesian pensioners in SA ‘turn destitute’ as Mugabe govt ‘scraps payouts’

Zimbabwean pensioners who served under the Rhodesian government before relocating to South Africa have reportedly turned destitute after President Robert Mugabe's government "scrapped their payouts without explanation". According to NewsDay, an organisation set up to keep track of the affected pensioners and their welfare, Flame Lily Foundation, said its 300 members aged between 78 and 101 had been "dumped" by the Zimbabwean government. The pensioners were said to have relocated to South Africa at independence in 1980. "We established a project to...

September 13, 2017
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13Sep

UK. Judge attacks Department for Work and Pensions for failing to tackle benefits cheats

A judge has attacked the Department for Work and Pensions for failing to tackle benefits cheats and said he thinks they should be forced to pay back money sooner. Judge Nicholas Dean QC said long delays made it harder to send fraudsters to prison as prosecutions take several years to reach court. The wait means offenders are able to dispose of money and assets which could be seized by the Government and used to make up for the fraudulent payments,...

September 13, 2017
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13Sep

South Africa. Sweating pensions in the post-retirement phase

Only 6% of South Africans (about 3.4 million) are over the age of 65. On the other hand, in the United States 15% (46 million) are over the age of 65 and in the UK, 18% of the population (nearly 12 million) are over 65. Our political focus is quite rightly focussed on the needs of the youth. In developed countries relentlessly aging populations have forced governments to change the political agenda away from an exclusive focus on youth to...

September 13, 2017
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12Sep

Tata Steel UK’s pensions deal approved by regulator

Steel firm Tata's bid to separate its UK pension scheme from the business has been approved by the pensions regulator. The £15bn British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) has been a significant barrier to any potential merger between Tata and German steel producer ThyssenKrupp. The deal affects thousands of current and former workers, with 130,000 members across the UK. All members of the BSPS will now be invited to transfer to a new scheme. It would have lower future annual increases for...

September 12, 2017
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12Sep

Why the presidency should save PenCom from politics

The Nigerian constitution reposes a lot of powers on the Office of the President. For the most part, the incumbent rightly exercises these powers powerfully and seamlessly. At other times, the office encounters challenges, confrontations, and contestations in exercising these rights. The latter scenario usually attracts divergent views as to the propriety or otherwise of presidential powers, as enshrined in the constitution. The recent tussle between the senate and the presidency with regards to the confirmation of Mr Magu, as...

September 12, 2017
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12Sep

UK. NEST withdraws investment from low carbon laggards

NEST, the workplace pension scheme set up by the UK government, will today urge investment managers to push for higher environmental and corporate governance standards as it announces further progress against the green investment strategy deployed across its £2bn portfolio. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST), which provides 5.4 million UK workers with pensions under the government's auto-enrolment scheme, revealed it has withdrawn £27.2m of investments in the past year from companies it said were not making sufficient progress towards...

September 12, 2017
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11Sep

Fintech has transformed payments but not savings, says BlackRock’s chief executive

The financial technology boom has transformed the way over a billion people engage with financial services, particularly when it comes to making payments, but Larry Fink, chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, said that no company has yet managed to use technology successfully to get people investing for the long term. “I believe that if we give more people more confidence about savings, about how to save – like Warren Buffett – then that would transform many...

September 11, 2017
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11Sep

Korea’s Stubborn Leviathan

Sentencing the billionaire leader of South Korea's largest and most powerful company, Samsung Electronics Co., to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement sent a strong signal the country might finally push through long-promised corporate reform. But if Korea really wants to clean up the overly cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship between the government and large family-owned business groups, known as chaebol, it will have to look inward to its own national pension fund. Since most workers must contribute...

September 11, 2017
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11Sep

US. Workers Wanted: Aging population presents double challenge in health care

Wisconsin’s growing worker shortage presents a particularly difficult challenge for the health care industry, especially in rural areas and at facilities that care for the elderly and disabled. As Wisconsin’s baby boomers retire in greater numbers over the coming decades and live longer than previous generations, there will be more consumers of health care while the working-age population that provides those services is projected to stay about the same. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, those age 65 and...

September 11, 2017
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09Sep

Nigeria. Digitization, fintech as panacea to financial inclusion

One of the compelling aspirations of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the last two years has been to ramp up the numbers for financial inclusion in the country. To this end, Nigeria’s apex bank, alongside other regulators in the financial services sector, including the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), has vigorously pursued the agenda of financial inclusion through various initiatives with a clear intent to bring millions of Nigerians, especially those in the informal...

September 9, 2017
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