March 2021
18Mar

U.K. Pensions Regulator seeks to streamline codes of practice

The U.K. Pensions Regulator is consulting the retirement industry on its proposal to create a new online-based code of practice, the regulator said Wednesday. The consolidated code, which would encompass updated rules on plan governance and management, would replace 10 other existing codes. The regulator intends to clarify expectations on retirement plan governing bodies to help them better assess how well their policies address financial and operational risks. "The new code of practice represents TPR's ambition to create a single point of...

March 18, 2021
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18Mar

Too much, or not enough: the risks of drawdown

For many people approaching retirement, there is a sense of dread when it comes to navigating the rules about accessing their pensions. Pension drawdown has grown in popularity since 2015. It enables savers to take a tax-free lump sum from their defined contribution pension, but keep the remainder of the money invested to provide an income during retirement. Currently, three times the number of savers are opting for drawdown plans than those who are buying annuities, according to the Financial Conduct...

March 18, 2021
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17Mar

Uber Grants Vacation Pay, Pensions to U.K. Drivers in Change of Job Status

Uber Technologies Inc. said it will grant its U.K. drivers an employment status entitling them to vacation pay and pension contributions, a costly shift in one of its largest overseas markets amid a global debate over the treatment of gig-economy workers. Read also UK. Pension longevity risk transfers reach record-breaking £55.8bn in 2020 The changes may presage legal wrangling, however, because the ride-hailing company says it will guarantee its drivers the U.K.’s minimum wage only after they have accepted a trip—not...

March 17, 2021
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17Mar

Pension Fund Managers: PFRDA Board clears licence award under new framework

Most of the ten applicants may get licences in the latest round The Board of the pension regulator, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), has given its approval to award licences to pension fund managers under its recently floated Request for proposal (RFP), for selection of sponsors of pension funds for National Pension System (NPS). Read also Virus exacts toll on women’s retirement savings, workplace diversity efforts – panel It may be recalled that as many as ten applicants, including new...

March 17, 2021
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17Mar

Virus exacts toll on women’s retirement savings, workplace diversity efforts – panel

The issues facing women in saving for retirement dominated discussions at Pensions & Investments' Defined Contribution Spring Virtual Series held March 8-11. With the pandemic bringing those issues into sharp relief, talk centered on the "shecession," a reference to the COVID-19-triggered exodus of women from the workforce as they wrestled with the lack of child care options. During a panel discussion on the first day of the conference, which coincided with International Women's Day, speakers lamented the departure of women from...

March 17, 2021
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17Mar

What Is The Pension Provision In The Stimulus Package? An Explainer

By Teresa Ghilarducci Included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed by President Biden on Thursday is an $86 billion aid package for participants of about 185 to over 300 employer-union pension plans. If aid had not been available more than a million retired retail clerks, candy makers, truck drivers, construction workers and others would have faced severe cuts in their pensions. These plans are part of a larger system of about 1500 multiemployer pension plans covering about 10 million workers. These plans...

March 17, 2021
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12Mar

China. Power or Profits: Beijing’s Pension Dilemma

When it comes to China’s economy, the sexy issue is the annual growth target for gross domestic product or carbon emissions or corporate debt defaults or the property market. But only one topic is really important for the longer-term survival of the Communist Party regime: pensions. And the party seems to know it. Read also India. NPS Scheme: PFRDA empowers National Pension System subscribers by offering this facility – Check benefits That’s why pension reform popped up, albeit in attenuated form,...

March 12, 2021
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12Mar

U.K. Pensions Regulator proposes new criminal charges against sponsors

By Paulina Pielichata The U.K.'s The Pensions Regulator is looking for industry input on its new criminal sanctions policy, including two new charges the regulator may bring against pension fund sponsors. Read also Italy. Pension funds seize first Italian green bonds offering The regulator was given new powers under the Pension Schemes Act 2021, which was enacted in February and allows TPR to investigate and charge company executives for misconduct related to pension funds. Read also Warning lights flickering for South Africa’s wealthy...

March 12, 2021
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12Mar

Italy. Pension funds seize first Italian green bonds offering

Pension funds and insurance companies snatched up the largest share of green bonds (14.3%) issued by the Italian government among the investors with a long-term investment horizon, the Finance Ministry said in a note. Central banks and government institutions bought the remaining 10% of the total 24.3% of the green bonds allocated to long-term financial investors, it added. Hedge funds secured 3.6%, while fund managers acquired 53.1% of the total green bonds issued, with banks underwriting 18.5%. A total of 530 investors...

March 12, 2021
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11Mar

US. House Passes $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 Stimulus Package; Biden Plans to Sign Friday — Update

The House passed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus-relief bill and sent it to President Biden for his signature, with Democrats muscling an expansive round of new spending and antipoverty measures through Congress just as America begins to emerge from a year of pandemic-related shutdowns. Read also Puerto Rico debt-restructuring plan filed amid criticism The relief bill offers a $1,400 check to many Americans, an extension of a $300 weekly jobless-aid supplement, and a one-year expansion of the child tax credit. It also...

March 11, 2021
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