June 2019

Zimbabwe pensioners face delay in payments amid currency row

Payments to 200,000 retirees on Zimbabwe’s public pensions scheme could be delayed this month, the national social security agency said, after a foreign currency dispute erupted between local banks and a payments software vendor. Zimbabwe is battling an extended foreign currency crisis which has affected key imports such as electricity, fuel and medicines. Many firms with foreign ownership are also struggling to repatriate dividends to non-resident shareholders. Its National Social Security Authority, a mandatory public pension scheme, said on...

Minding the gap between the sexes in Switzerland

In Switzerland, equal rights for women and men are enshrined in the Federal Constitution – which is what voters wanted. But nearly 40 years after the popular vote of June 14, 1981, the goal of equality has yet to be achieved. Here are five key indicators illustrating day-to-day gender inequality in Switzerland. “Men and women have the right to equal pay for work of equal value,” states the constitutional article on equal rightsexternal link. The law also expressly prohibits...

Bermuda. Athene adopts pension risk analytics platform from RiskFirst

Athene Holding Ltd., one of Bermuda’s leading retirement services companies, has become the first insurer to adopt PFaroe, the pension risk analytics and reporting platform from RiskFirst. Using PFaroe’s on-demand liability and transaction price monitoring services, Athene plans to help sponsors evaluate risk and purchase annuities at the optimal time. “We see real value in moving from monitoring liabilities and insurance prices on an ad hoc basis to a more frequent – even daily – basis,” said Sean Brennan,...

Puerto Rico: Jubilados llegan a acuerdo de pensión con junta

Un grupo de empleados públicos pensionados que confrontó al gobierno de Puerto Rico alcanzó un acuerdo con la junta de control que supervisa las finanzas de la isla y que trata de reestructurar más de 50.000 millones de dólares en pasivos de jubilación, informaron las autoridades el miércoles. El acuerdo anunciado molestó al gobierno de la isla, que insiste en recortar el sistema de pensión pública en medio de una recesión de 13 años. El acuerdo todavía...

México. Ahorro en afores debe complementarse: actuarios

Concentrar el ahorro pensionario en una administradora de fondos para el retiro (afores) no es la mejor opción, ya que no garantiza una pensión digna a los trabajadores, por lo que sería conveniente complementarlo con planes privados de pensiones, comentaron actuarios. “Se necesitan planes privados de pensiones, especialmente los que son híbridos, es decir, los que se conforman del régimen de beneficio definido y contribución definida; es lo más adecuado”, dijo Salim Afiune, presidente de la Asociación Mexicana de...

Diputados brasileños comienzan a tratar mañana reforma en sistema de pensiones

La Cámara de Diputados del Brasil votaría la reforma al sistema de pensiones en la primera semana de julio y el proyecto comenzará a ser tratado mañana en comisión, según informó Rodrigo Maia, vocero de ese cuerpo en Brasilia. En rueda de prensa, Maia dijo que "el proyecto será presentado mañana para ser discutido en las comisiones. Hay suficiente tiempo y las comisiones pueden votarlo hasta la última semana de junio". La reforma al sistema de pensiones es un...

El fondo soberano de Noruega retira 11.000 millones de los combustibles fósiles y apuesta por las renovables

El Parlamento noruego ha aprobado la decisión del Fondo de Pensiones de Noruega (también conocido como el Fondo del Petróleo y considerado como el fondo soberano más grande del mundo) de desinvertir en las empresas de petróleo y gas, por valor de 11.000 millones de euros, para volcarse en las renovables. Esta decisión se basa en el descenso permanente de los precios del petróleo, principal fuente de ingresos del país nórdico, y tiene el objetivo de "reducir la vulnerabilidad...

Puerto Rico oversight board reaches deal over retiree pensions

Puerto Rico’s federally created financial oversight board said on Wednesday it reached a deal to restructure more than $50 billion in unfunded pension liabilities that includes cuts for some of the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth’s retired government workers. The tentative agreement with a federal court-appointed committee representing more than 167,000 retirees, which the government opposes, helps pave the way for a plan to restructure Puerto Rico’s core government debt. Puerto Rico has been in U.S. District Court since 2017 in...

France. Macron to Tackle French State Pensions in Mother-of-All-Reforms

France isn’t done with reforms. That’s the core message Prime Minister Edouard Philippe aimed to get across in Parliament Wednesday. “We have reasons to be proud of the work we’ve done and we have the legitimacy to keep going,” Philippe said in a 66-minute speech laying out what he called “Act II” of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. “We’ve done a lot in the past two years and we need to do a lot more," he added. "Our enemy is the...

Uproar over $185,000 shortfall puts Japan pension reform on hold

A public uproar has forced the government to retract a controversial report claiming that retired couples reliant on public pensions also need sizable savings, but this backpedaling could further delay Japan's much needed reckoning with the overburdened program. The report compiled by a Financial Services Agency council earlier this month showed that a household with a 65-year-old husband and a 60-year-old wife would need an additional 20 million yen ($184,000) in assets if they live another 30 years. The...