July 2017

06Jul

Canada. Executive shakeup at CPPIB reveals apparent change of heart about risk management

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which stood apart from other major pension plans and Canadian financial institutions because it didn’t have a chief risk officer, appears to have had a change of heart. Neil Beaumont, who was most recently vice-president of Finance Minerals America for BHP Billiton, will become chief financial and risk officer at CPPIB on July 24. Beaumont will take over some functions from Benita Warmbold, who is retiring, but adds duties to reflect the pension fund’s “continued...

July 6, 2017
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06Jul

Why Uganda should continue with pension sector reform

  The roadmap for reform of Uganda’s pension sector was drawn more than a decade ago. In 2003, the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development constituted the Stakeholders Transition Group (STG) to assist the Government with the development of a comprehensive legal, regulatory and financing framework for social security reforms. Following the STG recommendations another taskforce was established, the Pension Sector Reform Task Force, Chaired by Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MOFPED). The main role of this task...

July 6, 2017
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06Jul

UK’s Ageing population ‘as big an issue as climate change’

The UK’s ageing population is ‘as big an issue as climate change’ according to John Cridland. Former CBI director general Cridland was appointed to review the state pension age (SPA) by the government. He published his report earlier this year. It made a number of recommendations to help the UK deal with the UK's growing pensioner population, including increasing the SPA to 68 quicker than planned. Speaking at an insurance industry conference, Cridland warned more needed to be done to address problems...

July 6, 2017
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05Jul

US. How rising healthcare costs are changing the retirement landscape

It’s hard enough getting employees to save for their retirement. It’s even harder to get them to think about how much they need to save for medical expenses in retirement. “Most Americans don’t think about what the medical component will be for them,” says Robert Grubka, president of employee benefits at New York-based Voya Financial. “They often think that Medicare and government-provided healthcare is enough and what people quickly find out is, it is helpful but it doesn’t mean it’s...

July 5, 2017
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05Jul

Ireland. Public-sector pensions worth millions, new figures show

Public-service pensions paid to TDs, doctors and judges would cost private-sector workers between €2.4 million and €3.7 million if they were to seek the same retirement benefits, new figures show. The State uses taxes to fund the guaranteed pensions paid to its civil and public servants, including the €378,000 lump sum and €326,000 a year that former taoiseach Enda Kenny is receiving. The full value of this in private-sector terms is €5.17 million. Calculations by the Association of Pension Trustees of...

July 5, 2017
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05Jul

India. Penniless KSRTC fails to pay salary, pension

The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is running from pillar to post to mobilise Rs. 300 crore needed to pay this month’s salary and wages of employees and empanelled staff and three-and-a-half months’ pension arrears to retirees. With the government not coming forward to bail out the ailing corporation with a further loan to pay the salary and pension, the management of the transport utility is groping in the dark to mobilise funds. Though the KSRTC approached the Kerala...

July 5, 2017
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05Jul

UK. How to adapt to survive the post Brexit pensions world

This article highlights key insights from Barnett Waddinghams Employer Conference, which focused on the impact of change on companies’ pension strategies. We explain how to set a dynamic pension strategy that will be resilient in the face of changes in markets, whilst remaining cost effective over the longer term. Pension strategies have evolved Current levels of deficits arising from low gilt yields may have felt like a bolt from the blue, but this was no meteorite to kill the DB dinosaur....

July 5, 2017
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04Jul

UK. 1 million to opt out of pension in 2019

A million people will choose to miss out on crucial retirement saving in 2019, Government figures predict. This is despite the fact that auto-enrolment will be fully in place by then, at least for all employees that meet the current criteria. We've taken a closer look. The figure is based on the current percentage of members who have opted out of their workplace pension schemes, which is 10%. This is estimated to increase to 21.7% in 2018 and 27.5% in...

July 4, 2017
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04Jul

Kenya introduces new retirement plan for its 500,000 civil servants

Kenya’s introduction of a new retirement plan for civil servants is set to spur growth in the pension fund industry, potentially helping to triple assets under management, according to the head of the new government employee fund. The country’s 500,000 public workers were required to contribute 7.5% of their salaries to the new fund from this month, which would be supplemented by a 15% contribution from the government, Edward Odundo said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi. The fund sought...

July 4, 2017
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03Jul

US. Retirement savers ditch the ‘do it yourself’ approach, opt for target dated funds and professional guidance

It turns out "do-it-yourself" investing is not all that it's cracked up to be. Employees saving for retirement in workplace 401(k) plans are increasingly eager (or willing) to autopilot their allocation and portfolio management decisions. Vanguard reports that among the more than 8,500 retirement plans it administers, with more than 4.6 million participants, usage of target date funds, balanced funds or managed account services has tripled in the decade. This explosive growth has taken place since Washington gave its blessing for...

July 3, 2017
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