July 2021
16Jul

Further Proof that Auto-Enrollment is Key to Saving Earlier for Retirement

If you automatically enroll them, they will save… sooner. A new survey has found the vast majority (84%) of workers that were automatically enrolled in their workplace retirement plan say they started to save for retirement sooner than if they had to take action to make the enrollment decision on their own. Read also US. Biden’s Pension Rescue Seen as Bigger Help for Corporate Bonds However, only one-third of employers currently offer automatic enrollment, and among those that do, just 21% have...

July 16, 2021
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16Jul

UK. Pension tax change proposals branded ‘tragic’ and ‘crazy’

On the go: Rumours that the Treasury is planning to raid pensions have been branded “tragic” and “crazy” by speakers at a Hymans Robertson webinar, who warned that any reforms harming incentives to save could undo the work put in to boost retirement standards. Pensions Expert reported in June on the rumours that Treasury officials have drawn up a list of three reforms to the way pension contributions are taxed, with the aim being to find the money to pay...

July 16, 2021
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16Jul

How geopolitics impact global public investors

In the world of institutional investing, geopolitical risk has emerged as a pressing concern. While some asset owners contend that they are fully capable of analysing and managing such risk, they appear to be in the minority. Many public investors are still largely unprepared, lacking proper analytical frameworks and relevant expertise to tackle geopolitics in a structured and rigorous way. However, there is a relatively simple and straightforward solution to this: asset owners can apply some of the same...

July 16, 2021
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15Jul

US. How Benchmarks Keep Pension Stakeholders in the Dark

There’s no shortage of studies arguing that pension funds and endowments would have been wise to put the kibosh on their complex portfolios and opt for a simple passive strategy over the last five, 10, or 20 years. But new research from Richard Ennis, one of the founders of investment consultant EnnisKnupp, details another fault line in the argument. Benchmarks in investing, just as in sports or healthcare, are designed to measure performance, costs, risk, and other data points against peers...

July 15, 2021
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15Jul

U.K. corporate pension fund surplus gains again in June

The total surplus of U.K. defined benefit funds covered by the Pension Protection Fund’s 7800 index increased 4.7% in June to £99 billion ($137 billion). The surplus was £94.6 billion at the end of May. A year earlier, U.K. corporate DB funds recorded a total deficit of £132.2 billion, the London-based PPF said Tuesday in an update. The PPF is the lifeboat fund for defined benefit plans of insolvent U.K. companies. The funding ratio increased to 105.8% as of June 30, up...

July 15, 2021
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15Jul

BlackRock Closes In on the Once Unthinkable, $10 Trillion in Assets

BlackRock Inc.’s second-quarter profit rose 14% on new money coming into the giant asset manager, a sign that investors are becoming more confident about an economic recovery. Read also He runs the worst-funded public pension in the country. Here’s his ‘good news’ story The company posted a quarterly profit of $1.378 billion or $8.92 a share, up from $1.214 billion or $7.85 a share a year earlier. Its revenue grew 32% to $4.82 billion. Read also Transferring A Business Following Insolvency In...

July 15, 2021
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15Jul

EU. ESG Disclosure Regulation: a closer look at Article 8 and Article 9

March 2021 saw Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 27 2019 on disclosure of information related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria in the financial sector (SFDR) finally becoming applicable. This regulation, issued in the context of the EU Commission’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, represents a major milestone by introducing unprecedented harmonised requirements on sustainability-related disclosure in financial products to a multitude...

July 15, 2021
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14Jul

Green pension 21x more effective than common climate change efforts

UK savers have been urged to make their pension green after research revealed that this was a “staggering” 21 times more effective at cutting carbon footprints than stopping flying, becoming a vegetarian and moving to a renewable energy provider combined. Read also Is there really an ESG bubble? The analysis, from Make My Money Matter (MMMM), Aviva, and Route2, found that those with an average sized pension pot of £30,000 who moved from a traditional fund to a sustainable option can...

July 14, 2021
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14Jul

Jamaica. Dead or alive? Pension payments continue

The Accountant General's Department (AcGD) is struggling to ascertain if some of its high-risk pensioners — aged 90 and over — are actually alive as it continues to make monthly payments to them. Accountant General Anya Jones says efforts to verify whether these pensioners are alive have been hampered by the novel coronavirus pandemic as officers of the department are sometimes barred from entering the homes of these individuals.The department has been paying out millions to pensioners, either without verification,...

July 14, 2021
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14Jul

He runs the worst-funded public pension in the country. Here’s his ‘good news’ story

It’s a safe bet that many people, seeing their work described in print as “among the worst in the country,” might cringe and try to avoid the media. But David Eager has spent the past five years running the Kentucky Public Pension Authority, with an eye to turning the system around. A big part of his work has been increasing transparency and educating people about the nitty-gritty of public pensions, how Kentucky got into the mess it’s in, and how...

July 14, 2021
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