April 2021
29Apr

Next-Generation Retirement Plans Will Deliver Customized Retirement Income Solutions

While workplace retirement savings plans have evolved significantly over the past four decades, they still fall far short on delivering retirement income, investment manager PGIM says. But PGIM says that by relying on technology, retirement plans will soon be able to not only deliver retirement income solutions—but to provide customized options. Those personalized solutions could include managed accounts, model portfolios and advice engines, Josh Cohen, PGIM head of institutional defined contribution (DC), tells PLANADVISER. Cohen says he’s optimistic that after years of...

April 29, 2021
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28Apr

Chile’s president will sign into law third drawdown on pensions

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Tuesday abandoned his challenge to an opposition-led bill allowing citizens to draw down a third tranche of their pensions, saying he would sign it into law. Earlier in the day, the country’s Constitutional Court rejected a bid by Pinera to block the fresh drawdown on pensions, saying it would not overrule Congress, which gave final approval to the project on Friday. Read also Chile Pension Furor Grows Over Third Round of Withdrawals Pinera had also sought to...

April 28, 2021
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28Apr

A Graying China May Have to Put Off Retirement. Workers Aren’t Happy.

For Meng Shan, a 48-year-old urban management worker in the Chinese city of Nanchang, retirement can’t come soon enough. Read also Multi-pillar pension systems can help EU address the ageing of European societies Mr. Meng, who is the equivalent of a low-level, unarmed law-enforcement official, often has to chase down unlicensed street vendors, a task he finds physically and emotionally taxing. Pay is low. Retirement, even on a meager government pension, would finally offer a break. Read also Morneau Shepell releases the...

April 28, 2021
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28Apr

US. Multiple Employer Pension Plans May Need to Brace Themselves for Lawsuits

Multiple employer pension (MEP) plan sponsors should brace themselves as a potential target for litigation as the plans continue to emerge as a provider-based alternative to single-employer 401(k) plans, according to consulting firm October Three. In a recent article, the firm said that as MEPs begin to accumulate participants and assets, it is “inevitable that plaintiffs’ lawyers will train their sights on MEPs as a fiduciary litigation target” with the “the same sort of fiduciary litigation that has afflicted the...

April 28, 2021
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28Apr

Latin America. What Comes After the Commodity Super Cycle and the Pandemic? Policies to Tackle Poverty and Inequality in Latin America

Latin America entered the pandemic as one of the most unequal regions in the world. And like much of the rest of the world, it will come out of the pandemic poorer and more unequal. Early estimates suggest that 19 million more people in the region have fallen into poverty and inequality increased by 5 percent compared to pre-crisis levels. Large scale public support in many countries prevented an even worse outcome, but this pushed public debt levels from...

April 28, 2021
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28Apr

US. What’s Happened to Retirement Expectations During the Pandemic?

More than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers are focusing on the future—including sizing up how their prospects for retirement have changed. For many, the pandemic hasn't harmed their finances and may have increased their ability to save, given fewer spending opportunities. Meanwhile, others found it necessary to withdraw funds from their retirement account so they could pay their bills. A Roller Coaster Year According to Fidelity Investments' 2021 State of Retirement Planning Study: 82 percent of workers in...

April 28, 2021
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27Apr

NY State Pension Commits to $400 Million in Sustainable Investments

The $247.7 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund has committed approximately $400 million to two funds as part of its Sustainable Investments and Climate Solutions (SICS) Program. The commitments are part of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s climate action plan to lower investment risks from climate change and help shift the pension fund to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions within the next 20 years. “While climate change poses investment risks, it also creates opportunities for the state pension fund to...

April 27, 2021
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27Apr

Morneau Shepell releases the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds

Morneau Shepell (TSX: MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds for the first quarter of 2021. According to the report, in the first quarter of 2021, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 1.8 per cent before management fees. “The stock market continued to rise in the first quarter and the MSCI World Index delivered a 3.5 per cent return. The Canadian Equity S&P/TSX Composite Index posted a return of 8.1 per...

April 27, 2021
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27Apr

Redington and Fidelity announce net zero pension plans

Redington has announced it will align all default client advice with the goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, as outlined in the Paris Agreement. The investment consultant estimated that, as a result of the change most clients will achieve a 50 per cent reduction in their carbon emissions by 2030. The move sits alongside the firm's broader seven-point climate action plan to integrate sustainability considerations across its entire business, including commitments to reduce and offset its...

April 27, 2021
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27Apr

UK. MSP pension fund under fire for investing almost £1m in fossil fuels

Analysis of the Scottish Parliamentary Pension Scheme by Friends of the Earth Scotland based on a freedom of information request shows that the estimated fossil fuel investment is £923,585 - around £7,160 for each of the 129 MSPs. With Glasgow due to host the Cop26 UN climate conference later this year environmental campaigners are calling on local authorities to divest from fossil fuels. The Scottish Parliament’s pension fund was found to have an estimated £733,000 stake in BHP, a major coal,...

April 27, 2021
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