October 2021

Pension Fund Management Software Market to Witness Huge Growth by 2026: Oracle, Visma, Aquila Software

Advance Market Analytics published a new research publication on “Pension Fund Management Software Market Insights, to 2026” with 232 pages and enriched with self-explained Tables and charts in presentable format. In the Study you will find new evolving Trends, Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities generated by targeting market associated stakeholders. The growth of the Pension Fund Management Software market was mainly driven by the increasing R&D spending across the world. Some of the key players profiled in the study are: Oracle Corporation (United...

Australian Pensions See Foreign Currencies as Cushion From Shock

Australia’s pension funds are set to boost foreign currency holdings as an alternative to fixed-interest assets to shore up their portfolios against market shocks. That’s the view of Mark Delaney, the Chief Investment Officer of AustralianSuper Pty, who sees this happening over the next five years amid persistently low yields on government bonds. Given the Australian dollar’s link to demand for commodities and global growth, holding overseas currencies can be a good hedge against market volatility and downturns, he told the...

Trans women granted backdated state pension in UK

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWS) has recognised that transgender women in the UK are eligible for backdated state pension. This follows a court ruling which states that a trans person who has had gender reassignment surgery and lived in their acquired gender for a “significant period” must be recognised in their acquired gender for state pension purposes. But the move will only apply to a small number of trans women. The DWP said that only those born between 31 October...

2021 End-of-Year Plan Amendment Deadlines and Other Considerations

As the year draws to a close, it is helpful for employers to pause and evaluate employee benefit plan amendment deadlines and other crucial fourth quarter benefit considerations, as described below. Plan Amendment Deadlines Many benefit plan changes must be amended by year end to reflect pandemic relief provisions implemented under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. CAFETERIA PLAN AND FSA...

More Holocaust survivors to receive pensions from German government

The Claims Conference, which negotiates payments for Holocaust survivors with the German government, announced Wednesday it had secured pensions for an additional 6,500 Holocaust survivors who endured the siege of Leningrad, as well as other groups who were able to flee Nazi terror in other parts of Europe. In its annual negotiations with the German government, the NGO works to expand the number of people eligible for compensation. The 6,500 survivors who will benefit from the latest announced payments will...

Assembly candidate: New Jersey should mine Bitcoin to pay off its debts

New Jersey ranks 50 out of 50 when it comes to its financial state. According to Truth in Accounting, New Jersey has accumulated $189.6 billion (as of September 2020) in debt. Ballpark best guess, we each owe $57,900 — and we have Trenton insiders to thank for this ever-escalating burden. The state’s financial grade is an F and we are going to have to get creative to settle our accounts. I’ve not even mentioned the over $225 billion in retirement...

BlackRock Adds Annuity Product to Meet Participant Demand

BlackRock’s annuity product just got a lot more popular. The New York-based investment management company announced that five plan sponsors, representing $7.5 billion in target date investments, are electing to use BlackRock’s annuity product as their default investment option in company retirement plans. BlackRock is anticipating a 2022 adoption by the plans of its LifePath Paycheck, which will affect 120,000 U.S.-based 401k plan participants, including those in the Tennessee Valley Authority Retirement System. The announcement comes on the heels of its...

Hong Kong Policy Address: MPF offsetting – allowing employers to dip into pensions – will be scrapped

Hong Kong’s controversial Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) offsetting mechanism will be scrapped, Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced on Wednesday in her policy address. The mechanism allows employers to dip into workers’ pension funds to make long-service and severance payments, a system which has come under fire for years from unions and fundholders themselves. The offsetting will be fully scrapped as early as 2025, when the launch of an electronic management platform for the MPF (eMPF) is completed. According to a government source,...

Ros Altmann: Could pensions be used to boost more sustainable investing?

As we rebuild the economy after Covid-19 and pursue the government’s aims to ‘Level up’ and ‘Build back better’, the greening of finance has become increasingly important. With the impacts of climate change ever more apparent, politicians seek to appeal to the ‘green vote’. The legislative measures to boost the battle against climate change include: mandating the UK’s main financial regulators to factor in climate-related issues; statutory requirements for pension schemes to address the international Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures...

German occupational pension execs call on next govt to ease rules

Executives of company pension schemes in Germany are calling on the country’s political parties, which are discussing to form a coalition for the next government, to tackle the complexity surrounding occupational pensions in favour of opting-out solutions, according to a survey conducted by Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The research – carried out last week during the annual WTW’s occupational pension conference bAV-Konferenz – showed that 44% of respondents believed the decision by the next government to simplify occupational pensions schemes...