August 2017

Canada Pension Plan reform to boost assets above $15 trillion by 2090

The upcoming enrichment of the Canada Pension Plan will help fuel a 48-fold boost to the public fund’s assets over the long haul – to more than $15.8 trillion by 2090, according to federal calculations. In comparison, the public plan’s investment manager reported $326.5 billion in net assets at the end of the first quarter of 2017-18. Long-term projections on the evolution of the CPP’s post-reform assets were included in an internal briefing note prepared for federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau...

UK. What makes a good pension investment strategy?

In the last 18 months, the UK has experienced a Brexit referendum, the appointment of a new prime minister, the triggering of Article 50 to leave the European Union, a General Election in which the government lost its majority, and the beginning of critical negotiations with the EU on trade, citizens’ rights and financial contributions post-Brexit. This has all been amid a Trump presidency, European elections, and an unpredictable global economic climate. It’s no surprise then that the political and...

Companies, Investors Report on SDG Contributions

August 2017: Companies are continuing to announce plans to align their business goals with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to integrate the SDGs into their strategies and plans. Companies in Japan, Kenya and the US have adopted practices to promote sustainability. A Danish pension fund is promoting sustainable infrastructure investment. Other recent private sector contributions include reports on inclusive business models and impact investing. In Japan, Sumitomo Chemical introduced an in-house certification programme for products and technologies that contribute...

UK. Ex-BHS owner Dominic Chappell prosecuted by pensions regulator

Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, is to be prosecuted by the pensions watchdog for failing to provide information for an investigation into its sale. Chappell headed Retail Acquisitions, the company that acquired BHS for £1 from Sir Philip Green in 2015. A year later, it collapsed with the loss of 11,000 jobs and a pension deficit of as much as £571m. The Pensions Regulator is prosecuting Chappell for failing to comply with three notices for information issued under Section...

Nigeria. PenCom against Devolution of Power Bill

The National Pension Commission (PenCom), has kicked against the ongoing amendment on pension in the Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 on Devolution of Powers by the National Assembly. The Acting Director-General, Mrs. Aisha Dahir-Umar, said the amendment if passed into law, will bring chaos and regulatory arbitrage in the country. She said acceding to the proposed amendment which allows State Houses of Assembly to enact laws establishing regulatory agencies on pension matters would directly be in conflict with the Pension Reform Act...

73% of Aussies plan to use the Age Pension

Most Australians (63 per cent) do not have a plan for how they will live in retirement and 73 per cent plan to use the Age Pension when they retire, according to Sunsuper. Sunsuper’s latest report surveyed over 1,000 Australians and found that 30 per cent of people never thought about their retirement and four per cent did not care about retiring. The remaining 66 per cent had vastly mixed feelings. Those who felt positively (33 per cent) about retiring were...

UK government announces measures to tackle pension cold-calling

It is hoped that this “two-pronged” attack on scammers will not only put a hurdle in the way in which fraudsters contact would be retirees, but will also limit their options in getting access to savings. Former pensions minister, Baroness Ros Altmann, said: “The government has bowed to the overwhelming pressure from politicians, consumer groups and the pensions industry to urgently introduce a ban on pensions cold-calling. “This is great news. It is also going to toughen rules on transfers out...

US. How Far Does $1 Million Go in Retirement?

A million dollars—it has a nice ring to it. But as Dr. Evil learned after spending 30 years cryogenically preserved, it may not be enough—for many people, certainly not enough to comfortably retire on, depending on where and how long they live. A new report from GOBankingRates measures how long a million dollars would last for retirees 65 and older, state by state. It did that by multiplying the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ mean annual expenditures for that age group...

Here’s how China’s Ageing will Narrow Income Gaps in West

In recent years politicians and thinkers in the developed world have found themselves struggling to explain three trends that have gripped advanced economies: the long-term fall in real interest rates adjusted for inflation, the fall in workers’ real wages, and the sharp rise in inequality between rich and poor. In truth, these three trends are easy enough to understand if you take a global, rather than a national or regional view. They can all be explained by the economic rise of...

UK. Scale of pension scams revealed as ministers pledge fraud action

Sir Steve Webb demanded urgent action to protect savers as new figures showed £43m had been illegally siphoned off over the last three years. Critics have claimed moves in recent years to give savers more options over their pension pots has created new opportunities for fraudsters. Proposals put forward by ministers include a ban on all cold calling in relation to pensions and tougher rules on transferring money between pension schemes. Full Content: The Yorkshire Post