Slider Archives - Page 440 of 454 - Pension Policy International

30AugAugust 30, 2017

US. The top 1 percent have more than 200 times the retirement savings of the typical American

When it comes to retirement savings, Americans are falling short: Most families have little or nothing stashed away. That being said, some are more prepared than others, and the wealthiest Americans have significantly more in savings. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which looked at the state of American retirement in a 2016 report, the top one percent of families had $1.08 million or more stashed away in 2013. That's 216 times the median working-age family (50th percentile), which had...

August 30, 2017

News, SliderUS

30AugAugust 30, 2017

Ghana. SSNIT’s investment strategies must change now – Bright Simons

Vice President of IMANI Africa, Bright Simons, is advising Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) to urgently change its investment strategies it is to see a turnaround from its current bleak standing. Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Simons noted that about half of the money SSNIT has invested is generating negative returns. “When you look at how much SSNIT invests and the mechanisms through which it invests, you have to start becoming very worried. No wonder SSNIT itself says that...

August 30, 2017

News, SliderGhana

30AugAugust 30, 2017

Ageing population keeps Swiss millennials up at night

Switzerland’s ageing population is the most serious issue facing the country today, followed by inequality and climate change, according to Swiss millennials who took part in a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Shapers community. Around 63% of Swiss people aged 18-35 believe the ageing population is the most serious problem affecting the small alpine nation right now, followed by inequality (51%), climate change (38%) and loss of privacy (34%), the WEF reported on Monday. The third edition...

August 30, 2017

News, SliderSwitzerland

30AugAugust 30, 2017

South Africa. Can the average investor afford such significant underperformance?

I recently attended a board meeting of an independent financial advisor, and the following graph was included in the board pack: The Asisa average for SA Multi Asset High Equity funds over the last 12.5 years makes for interesting reading. This particular category in the Collective Investment Scheme (CIS) space averaged 363.3, which means that if a R100 was invested on December 31, 2004, a client would see an amount of R363.30 returned to him on the June 30, 2017, that...

August 30, 2017

News, SliderSouth Africa

30AugAugust 30, 2017

Pension deficit now equals 70% of UK companies’ entire annual profits fuelling retirement fears

The huge deficit in the pension funds of the UK’s biggest listed firms rocketed last year, adding to concerns over how companies’ schemes will fund workers’ retirement incomes. The gap between the expected returns of FTSE 350 companies’ pension funds and the amount they are projected to pay out jumped by £12bn to £62bn in 2016, according to new research by actuaries Barnett Waddingham. The yawning gap is equivalent to 70 per cent of the entire annual profits of those firms...

August 30, 2017

News, SliderUK

29AugAugust 29, 2017

UK. Report hits out at lack of advice for DB members

Just five per cent of defined benefit schemes provide access to a named financial adviser selected by the trustees or employer. While nine in ten schemes stress the importance of seeking financial advice to members, a new report from Royal London and management consultants Lane, Clark and Peacock shows significant gaps in getting the required help. The report says: “Whereas a transfer out of DB rights worth £30,000 or more carries a requirement to take financial advice, there may be no...

August 29, 2017

News, SliderUK

29AugAugust 29, 2017

US. Pensions May Yank Up to $1 Trillion From Stocks to Trim Risk

Pension funds are poised to shift as much as $1 trillion from stocks to bonds in coming years to lock in gains and limit the potential for big losses, according to Wells Fargo & Co. “Definitely there’s a lot of money that will want to move,” said Andy Hunt, head of global credit and liability-driven investing at Wells Fargo Asset Management, predicting it will happen within roughly five years. “Best case, it’ll be between a half a trillion and a...

August 29, 2017

News, SliderUS

29AugAugust 29, 2017

Pension Fund Dumps Stocks Because ‘There Is No President In The U.S.’

A $53-billion public pension fund isn't sure, so it's dumping the American stocks in its portfolio. Finland's Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company— the country's largest pension fund— told Bloomberg it has reduced its exposure to stocks by five per cent, most of that reduction coming from U.S. stocks. "It seems as if there is no president in the U.S.," Varma CEO Risto Murto said. "If I look at what is the moral and practical power, there is no longer a traditional...

August 29, 2017

News, SliderUS

28AugAugust 28, 2017

Nigeria. Pension fund investment in govt securities is driven by returns, safety – Leadway Pensions

Mr. David Alao is Acting Asset Manager of Leadway Pensure and a member of the Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria (PenOp). In this discourse he maintains that pension funds investment in government securities should be channelled into infrastructure development. A total of 77 per cent of pension fund is invested in federal government instruments and about four per cent in corporate bonds while about six per cent is in money market. If the federal government instruments can yield returns...

August 28, 2017

News, SliderNigeria

28AugAugust 28, 2017

Australia. Time for longevity risk-pooling: Mercer

Mercer consultants have told a gathering of institutional investors and advisers they must incorporate longevity pooling into portfolios to provide the peace of mind retirees want. Mercer Australia senior actuarial partner Dr David Knox argued that investment managers need to take “an integrated, more holistic approach than just concentrating on investment portfolios”. He said longevity pooling should be incorporated into retirement income portfolios in a way “that maintains the growth ratio, the exposure to growth assets, and the expected return, and...

August 28, 2017

News, SliderAustralia

August 2017