September 2021
06Sep

Biggest funds increase 11.5% to hit $21.7 trillion in 2020

Assets of the world's 300 largest retirement funds increased 11.5% to $21.72 trillion in 2020, despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic that ravaged stock markets and economies in the first half of the year, according to the latest annual survey by Pensions & Investments and Willis Towers Watson PLC's Thinking Ahead Institute. Read also Sweden. AP2 continues sustainability journey with stellar returns and costs The top funds' assets also grew at a faster rate than a year earlier, when they...

September 6, 2021
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06Sep

India. Atal Pension Yojana dominates social security scheme with 66% NPS subscriber base

Atal Pension Yojana has emerged as the most popular social security scheme under the National Pension System with over 2.8 crore subscribers, mainly from the non-metro centres. Out of 4.2 crore National Pension System (NPS) subscribers, over 66 per cent or 2.8 crore opted for the APY at the end of 2020-21, says the annual report of the National Pension Systems Trust (NPS Trust). The State Government Scheme ranks second with 11 per cent share, while the central autonomous bodies (CAB)...

September 6, 2021
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06Sep

Nigerian pension fund asset rises to N12.8 trillion as RSA contributors hits 9.4 million

Nigeria’s total pension asset value rose by N123.47 billion in July 2021 to close at N12.78 trillion compared to N12.66 trillion recorded in the previous month. This is contained in the pension funds industry report for the review month as released by the National Pension Commission. According to the report, the net asset value of Nigeria’s pensions fund recorded a 0.98% increase in the month of July 2021, while 22,349 RSA registrations were recorded in the same month increasing total...

September 6, 2021
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06Sep

South Korea. State pensions face mounting calls for reform

Calls are expected to grow for the reform of four state-run pension funds, as nearly 60 trillion won ($51 billion) will be allocated for public spending next year, up 6.2 percent from this year's 55.8 trillion won. The year-on-year increase will require a greater amount of taxpayers' money to slow the hemorrhaging of the funds, as a rapidly aging society and overall decrease in labor productivity cause government welfare expenditures to snowball. Mandatory spending by law cannot be curbed unless a...

September 6, 2021
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03Sep

U.S. corporate pension funding rises in August – 2 reports

Funding ratios for U.S. corporate pension plans increased in August, according to reports from Legal & General Investment Management America and Wilshire. LGIMA found in its monthly pension solutions monitor that the funding ratio of a typical corporate pension plan increased by 1.6 percentage points to 90.8% in August primarily due to strong performance from global equities. LGIMA estimated U.S. Treasury rates rose 3 basis points while credit spreads widened by 2 basis points, resulting in the average discount rate rising...

September 3, 2021
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03Sep

UK. Pension contributions hold up well despite Covid

Workers kept up with payments into their pension funds last year, confounding fears that many people might scrap or cut their contributions because of pandemic pressures, according to government data. Annual savings from eligible savers rose to £105.9bn, from £100.4bn in 2019, said the Department of Work and Pensions in a report on Thursday. That extends the increases posted since 2012, following the introduction of auto-enrolment into work-based pension schemes to boost retirement saving. The DWP said a fall in employee...

September 3, 2021
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03Sep

Why pensions engagement can’t wait for your retirement

Prospect pensions officer Stewart Mott looks ahead to the events that Prospect will be holding to mark Pensions Awareness Day later this month and explains why, even though your retirement might seem far off, it is still important that you start engaging with your pension now. It’s easy to neglect our pensions, we save for retirement over many years, and often don’t have a reason to engage with our pension unless we are moving to a new employer. Pension Awareness Day...

September 3, 2021
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02Sep

More Than 4 Billion People Have No Social Protection as COVID-19 Wreaks Havoc

The International Labor Organization reports more than 4 billion people globally have no social protection at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc upon their lives and livelihoods. Read also World Social Protection Report 2020–22 The ILO's World Social Protection Report 2020-2022 reveals the extent to which COVID-19 has devastated the world of work. It exposes the inequality between the rich countries that are beginning to rebound from the economic distress of the pandemic and the developing countries that...

September 2, 2021
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02Sep

South Africa. Govt revokes proposal to force employees to contribute to state-run pension fund

Mandy Wiener interviews Isobel Frye, Director at the Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute. The Studies in Poverty and Inequality Institute is disappointed that the government has withdrawn the green paper proposing mandatory contributions to a pension fund It says the response to the green paper by organised business was not “in good faith” Read also Plan for early pension access in South Africa could do more harm than good, authorities warn "There were far too many wide-ranging and negative impacts...

September 2, 2021
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02Sep

UK. Draft CDC regulations hampered by poor definitions, industry warns

The government’s consultation into draft regulations governing collective defined contribution schemes requires more work on definitions if these pension funds are to be properly implemented, with the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association warning it could create a “back door” for unscrupulous employers. In a CDC scheme, contribution rates for employers and employees are set in advance, and members pool investment and longevity risk. These pension funds provide income in retirement, though the rate of increase varies and pension reductions are...

September 2, 2021
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