June 2021
02Jun

UK. Pensions Regulator Urges Robust Liquidity Risk Analysis

Trustees of retirement saving schemes have improved their understanding of the liquidity risks facing their programs, but they should be more robust when they analyze those dangers, a director at the pensions watchdog has warned. David Fairs, an executive director at The Pensions Regulator, said that major government and central bank intervention programs around the globe in late 2020 — such as lowering interest rates — helped to stabilize markets during the coronavirus outbreak. But interventions in the future cannot...

June 2, 2021
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02Jun

Kenya’s civil service is ageing, but adjustments aren’t being made

The demographic profiles of countries like Kenya, where a high percentage of people are young, would suggest that it’s swiftly renewing its workforce with fresh talent. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. We conducted a study in a public sector organisation three years ago. We found that the bureau had an ageing workforce. More than half of its staff were 50 years old and above. The majority of employees were aged between 51 and 60. This suggests that, in...

June 2, 2021
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02Jun

Nigeria. Still on corruption in pension scheme

The recent expose by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on corruption in Cross River State, shocking as it were, is but one of the many plagues currently ravaging this country, which would explain why it barely elicited the deserved reaction from average Nigerians, as they have to deal with these situations on a daily basis. It is no longer a question of the magnitude of corrupt practices in the system, which is not in doubt, but one of who...

June 2, 2021
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02Jun

CPPIB, Phoenix Mills to Develop Retail Center in India

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is developing a shopping center in the affluent Alipore, Kolkata, neighborhood in India, as part of a new joint venture with mall operator Phoenix Mills. India is an important destination for CPPIB, the pension fund said last week. The joint venture will fund the mall with about $77 million (C$93 million), which will be invested in tranches into Mindstone Mall Developers Private. After construction is completed in the latter part of 2024, CPPIB will...

June 2, 2021
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May 2021
31May

German court rejects complaints against double taxation of pensions

Germany's federal fiscal court on Monday rejected as unfounded a retired couple's objection to their retirement benefits being double taxed. The court case resulted from a 2005 change in the law that made pensions liable to tax. Until then, pensions had been essentially tax-exempt as the contributions were made from taxed salaries. Under the 2005 law, pension contribution payments gradually became essentially tax free while the taxable share of pension income was increased in a process set to conclude by 2040. The...

May 31, 2021
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31May

Net-zero future confronts oil-rich nations

Ali Allawi, Iraq’s Finance Minister, found himself in a quandary last year as the spread of coronavirus cut demand for oil and prices tumbled. Allawi’s treasury, which receives more than 90 per cent of its revenues from crude sales and spends 45 per cent of its total budget on salaries and pensions, suddenly didn’t have enough money to pay millions of public employees and retirees. OPEC’s second-largest producer borrowed billions of dollars, mostly from local banks, to bridge the shortfall. But...

May 31, 2021
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31May

China. ‘Third pillar’ of pension cover can help aging society

Two important documents－this year's Government Work Report and the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035－put forward that the so-called third pillar of endowment insurance will develop in a well-regulated way. China entered the club of aging societies in 2000. While the total population is growing at a low speed, the elderly group has been growing at a high speed in recent years. According to the seventh national population census,...

May 31, 2021
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28May

UK pension asset owners join Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance

Three UK pension asset owners have signed up to the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance. As reported by our sister publication, European Pensions, Phoenix Group, Legal & General (L&G) and Rothesay all joined alongside Germany’s largest pension fund under public law, Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK), and Asia- and Africa-focused insurance group, Prudential plc. The five new signatories have added a combined USD 900bn AUM to the alliance, meaning it now consists of 42 assets owners managing a combined USD 6.6trn of assets. By...

May 28, 2021
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28May

US. Market Rebound Spurs Record 33.55% Return for NY State Pension Fund

The New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) reported a 33.55% investment return for the fiscal year ending March 31, the largest one-year investment return in the fund’s history. It easily beat its long-term expected rate of return of 6.8%. Read also US. New York City Pensions to Fund $250 Million Apartment Venture The performance, which reflected the financial markets’ rebound from last year’s market crash after the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, raised the fund’s asset value to an estimated $254.8...

May 28, 2021
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28May

Africa’s Biggest Fund Manager Loses Head of Impact Investing

Roy Rajdhar, the executive head of impact investing at Africa’s biggest fund manager, has quit. Rajdhar’s departure comes after South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. told staff on May 6 that his 14-month suspension had been lifted. Rajdhar on Thursday confirmed his departure, but declined to comment further. The executive’s exit comes after employees of the Isibaya Fund, which includes the department Rajdhar ran, accused some of the money manager’s senior leaders of causing an “existential crisis” by allowing a mandate with...

May 28, 2021
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