June 2017

28Jun

US. UPS to Freeze Pensions for 70,000 Workers to Reduce Costs

United Parcel Service will freeze a pension plan for about 70,000 nonunion U.S. employees because of escalating costs and volatility in determining future payments, replacing it with a different retirement benefit. UPS joins companies including DuPont Co. and Lockheed Martin in freezing pensions, which means that some or all participants may stop accumulating benefits. UPS’s retirement obligations are on top of a $1 billion jump in capital spending being planned for this year to handle a surge in e-commerce shipments. “It’s...

June 28, 2017
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27Jun

Taiwan. Reviews of pension reform bill drag on

As pension reform proposals are in the final stage of legislative review, draft provisions of the eligibility for death benefits and survivor benefits of civil servants received their second reading yesterday at a review marked by lengthy speeches by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers. A plenary legislative session reviewed dozens of clauses — 36 as of yesterday, with a total of 79 clauses to be reviewed — of a draft act on civil servant pensions, despite the KMT caucus continuing...

June 27, 2017
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27Jun

U.S. states’ pension plans’ funding ratio down in 2016: report

The funding ratio for state retirement systems fell 4 percentage points to 69 percent in fiscal 2016 due to weak stock price performance and a strengthening U.S. dollar, according to a report issued on Monday by advisory firm Wilshire Consulting. It is the second consecutive year the funded ratio dropped by 4 percentage points, and the first year since 2010 that the aggregate funded ratio is below 70 percent, according to the report. The report studied the funding ratio, or ratio...

June 27, 2017
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27Jun

Japan. One Pension Fund Manager Is Going Against the Grain

In the $870 billion world of Japan Inc. employee pension funds, he’s known as the unusual idealist who’s long danced to his own tune. Hiroichi Yagi filled the Secom Corporate Pension Fund with stocks when his peers hid in bonds, considering it his duty to support Japanese equities. He embraced environmental, social and governance investing as a way to reduce volatility. And he signed Japan’s stewardship code for institutional investors right at the start, making Secom the only corporate pension...

June 27, 2017
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27Jun

95% of European pension funds ignore climate change impact: Mercer

According to the European Asset Allocation Report, published by fund administration and research experts Mercer, despite a slight improvement since 2016, the vast majority of responding funds are “still not active” on climate issues. With NASA stating that April 2017 was the second hottest since records began in 1880 (with 2016 the hottest), Mercer’s recent report has found that only 5% of 1,241 European pensions schemes have considered the investment risk posed by climate change. As a result the consultancy has...

June 27, 2017
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27Jun

China’s Pension Gap Is Growing as Aging Becomes Economic Risk

It's no secret that China is an aging society facing a growing pensions bill. Just how much of that bill is unfunded seems to be one though. It's an increasingly urgent question, as nearly a third of the inhabitants of the world's most populous country will be over 60 years old by 2050, according to United Nations data. By 2015, the pension of each retired resident was borne by the contributions of fewer than three wage-earners, government estimates show. When China...

June 27, 2017
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26Jun

Thailand. State pension fund sees strong upside in local stocks

The Government Pension Fund will give more weight to the Thai shares in the second half, citing ramped up big-ticket infrastructure investment and the high price of foreign equities. Yingyong Nilasena, chief investment officer at the GPF, said Thai stocks have an upside potential as state spending in infrastructure projects will boost the country's GDP. This expanditure will increase local consumption and private sector expansion. Moreover, Thai stocks are laggards in the region, while stock prices in developed markets have skyrocketed. The...

June 26, 2017
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26Jun

US. High Police and Fire Pension Rates Send Lawmakers Scrambling

A group of Arizona House lawmakers is launching an effort aimed at cutting the soaring costs to communities of police and fire pensions, with its leader warning that cities could end up declaring bankruptcy if legislators fail to act. The new committee announced by House Speaker J.D. Mesnard comes just over a year after 70 percent of voters approved changes to the state's public safety pension plan designed to return it to solvency in 20 years. The voter approval and separate...

June 26, 2017
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26Jun

UK. New solutions needed for defined benefit pension schemes

The Cass Pensions Institute says new solutions are needed in stressed defined benefit pension schemes to prevent intergenerational inequities. The Institute has responded to the Department of Work and Pensions Green Paper, Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes. The Greatest Good 2 paper follows up and reconfirms the findings of an 2015 Pensions Institute discussion paper which found that 1,000 occupational defined benefit (DB) pension schemes are stressed as a result of having financially weak sponsors. Professor David Blake, Director,...

June 26, 2017
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23Jun

UK. ‘Triple lock’ is unsustainable, says new Pensions Secretary David Gauke

The pension triple lock is no longer a sustainable policy, the new Work and Pensions Secretary has insisted. David Gauke said the mechanism would remain until 2020, but would then be "reflected" on. The Conservative manifesto pledged to abandon the triple lock on state pensions rises, which sees the state pension rise in line with either wages, inflation or earnings - whichever is highest. However, the flagship pledge was not mentioned in the Queen Speech after the Prime Minister failed to secure...

June 23, 2017
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