June 2021
14Jun

Black tax, debt and inadequate pensions – South Africans have little to nothing left to save

How do you tell a person avoiding debt collectors and cutting down food spend that they need to save more for retirement? This was one of the burning questions at Allan Gray's first retirement benefits conference last week. Confronted with "black tax", rising food costs, exorbitant electricity prices and a debt-to-disposable-income ratio of 75.3% in the last quarter of 2020, saving for retirement is the last thing in the minds of many South Africans. According to the Mercer CFA Institute Global...

June 14, 2021
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14Jun

US. Pensions under fire after PE underperforms

For decades, state pension funds have relied on the private equity industry to invest retirement savings for teachers, firefighters and other public-sector employees. But in recent years, critics of alternative assets have argued that pension managers, who oversee some $4.5 trillion across the US, would be better served investing in low-cost index funds that track the S&P 500 and avoiding PE's high fees. This past week, public pension fund managers threw PE detractors more red meat, raising larger questions about...

June 14, 2021
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11Jun

Pensions – 5 things for policy makers to close the gender pensions gap

Three tenths (30%) of women do not have any private or workplace pensions, and will receive a state pension only at retirement, almost double the amount of men (17%) in the same position – showing that women have less savings and are less prepared for a financially stable retirement. • The pensions gap widens even more, later in life. Almost two fifths (38%) of women over 55 will rely on a state pension only, compared to 17% of men...

June 11, 2021
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11Jun

Kenya. Pension payments fast-tracked as Treasury proposes stiffer measures

National Treasury CS Ukur Yatani revealed that a national retirement policy that will harmonise pension-related laws and enhance accountability is in the pipeline and will be ready by the end of this year. While unveiling Kenya’s 2021/2022 Ksh3.03 trillion budget in Parliament, Yatani said the policy seeks to achieve comprehensive pension coverage across the formal and informal sector so as to protect the interests of beneficiaries and rights of pension contributors. “Mr. Speaker, given the disparities in the design of the...

June 11, 2021
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11Jun

US. Public pensions lose on hedge funds — again

By Brett Arends One of these days I’m going to write about a bunch of retirees and future retirees who have just made a ton of extra money thanks to the financial brilliance of elite, exclusive, high-fee hedge funds. Today, however, is not that day. Instead, here comes more news about a public pension fund allegedly missing out on billions of dollars because of hedge funds and other high-fee funds. And the news that retirement systems and other institutional investors continue to pour...

June 11, 2021
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11Jun

GE to freeze U.K. pension plans

General Electric Co said on Thursday it would freeze pension benefits for about 2,700 employees in the United Kingdom from January and take a related charge. GE’s pension benefit obligation in the U.K. was about $14 billion at the end of 2020. The company’s pension plan has been closed to new entrants in the UK since September 2011. “The affected employees will automatically be enrolled into GE’s existing defined contribution scheme,” the company said. GE, which makes power plants and aircraft engines,...

June 11, 2021
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10Jun

Switzerland raises retirement age for women to 65

At Switzerland Women should work up to age 65 in the future. This was decided by the National Assembly, the second chamber of Parliament, after intense discussion. Her retirement age was previously 64 years. Read also Kenya. Pension payments fast-tracked as Treasury proposes stiffer measures The move aims to bring financial stability to the State Pension Fund (AHV) through 2030. The Greens and Social Democrats spoke unanimously against it and demanded that the National Bank’s profits be used instead to provide...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

UK. A third of DB schemes now have professional trustees

According to data obtained from the Pensions Regulator through a Freedom of Information request, 32 per cent of DB schemes used a professional trustee company in 2020-21, which compares with 20.1 per cent in 2015-16. This means one in three DB schemes now use a professional trustee company, while in 2015 only one in five pension funds used these services. LCP stated that the rise was due to the increased complexity and weight of new regulation, requirements and guidance on DB...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

Angela Merkel – Germany’s Scholz rejects further hike of retirement age to 68

Angela Merkel – Germany’s Scholz rejects further hike of retirement age to 68 Olaf Scholz, German Finance Minister and Chancellor candidate of the Social Democratic party SPD for the upcoming September general elections speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, Germany June 2, 2021. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday a proposal by economic advisers to raise the retirement age further to 68 was wrong and that citizens could rely...

June 10, 2021
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10Jun

Fintech Plum expands into retirement savings

Fintech company Plum is launching its first-ever pension product with the subscription-free Plum Sipp. It is designed to get a new generation engaged with their lifetime finances. The Sipp can be found alongside customers’ day-to-day spending, saving and other investments in the Plum app. The onboarding system consists of six steps, so customers can use the pension platform, consolidate their old pensions or start making automatic payments straightaway. According to Plum customers benefit from its smart saving algorithm designed to tuck away as...

June 10, 2021
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