June 2020
11Jun

Virus Exposes ‘Systemic Risk’ in Australia Pensions Industry

The coronavirus crisis has exposed structural weaknesses in Australia’s retirement savings system and shown the urgent need for the pensions industry to consolidate, according to the government. Senator Jane Hume, the assistant minister for superannuation and financial services, said the pandemic had highlighted the heavy concentration of some funds, whose membership is drawn from industries such as tourism, retail or hospitality. That left them vulnerable to the widespread layoffs impacting those sectors. “It’s a systemic risk and it’s been...

June 11, 2020
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11Jun

UK. Workplace pension income rises by more than a third

Income from workplace pensions in the UK has risen by more than a third in just 10 years, analysis by financial services firm Equiniti has revealed. The findings show that average occupational pension income rose from £121 to £167 a week between 2008/09 and 2018/19, representing an increase of 38%. This is despite other sources of income remaining broadly flat or negative, with occupational pensions now accounting for 30% of total average pensioner income, up from 24% in 2008/09. ...

June 11, 2020
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10Jun

World economy to contract at least 6% in 2020: OECD

The global economy will contract at least six percent this year, with the unprecedented loss of income and "extraordinary uncertainty" caused by measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the OECD said Wednesday. Read also Virus Exposes ‘Systemic Risk’ in Australia Pensions Industry In the case of a second wave of contagion later in the year, economic output could shrink by as much as 7.6%, it warned. In both scenarios, recovery will be "slow and uncertain". Read also World’s Worst Stock...

June 10, 2020
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10Jun

Nigeria. NSE promotes Digitisation of Governance, Risk Management & Compliance with launch of SentryGRC

More organisations need to move away from the fragmented approach to structuring their operations to a more holistic framework that can monitor compliance and enforce rules and procedures. This was highlighted at the launch of the SentryGRC platform powered by The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday. SentryGRC is a platform that automates back-office functions like Governance, Risk Management and Compliance. It enables organisations to pursue a systematic and organised approach to managing GRC-related strategy and implementation, thereby creating an...

June 10, 2020
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10Jun

U.K. deficits rise as coronavirus continues to hit markets

The total deficit of U.K. defined benefit funds covered by the Pension Protection Fund's 7800 index worsened 37% in May to £176.3 billion ($217.6 billion). The deficit was £128.5 billion as of April 30. The deficit of U.K. defined benefit funds also deteriorated over the year ended May 31, from £38.1 billion as of May 31, 2019, London-based PPF said Tuesday in an update. Read also UK. Regulator repeats anti-scam warning as £5m lost to fraud The funding ratio of...

June 10, 2020
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09Jun

ESG investing and pensions: Taking reporting to the next level

It didn’t take a pandemic for interest in environmental, social, governance (ESG) investing to increase. From 2016 to 2018, sustainable investing already had grown by more than 38 percent, according to US SIF. But during the recent economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, it did not pass unnoticed that funds that invested in companies based on their ESG ratings became “relative safe havens,” as S&P Global Market Intelligence put it, and BlackRock noted, “Overall, this period of market...

June 9, 2020
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09Jun

US. Pandemic creates pension plan tension: Take the lump sum or trust lifetime payments

One of the risks that comes with pension plans may be looming larger than usual. As many companies work to regain their financial footing in the midst of continuing economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a retiring worker’s decision to take either a lump sum or lifetime payments from their pension could boil down to one factor: whether they think the employer will be able to meet its long-term commitments. “That’s one of the biggest considerations that employees...

June 9, 2020
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09Jun

Bahamas. ‘Baffled’ Over Failure To Reform Public Pensions

The Chamber of Commerce's chief executive says he is "baffled" at the government's failure to reform public sector pensions by making civil servants contribute towards their own retirement costs. Jeffrey Beckles, speaking on a webinar hosted by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of The Bahamas, said: "I can't find a model in the world that has been using the same system where it has proven successful or profitable, and I don't know what causes us to feel that...

June 9, 2020
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08Jun

A “New Deal” for Informal Workers in Asia

By Era Dabla-Norris, Changyong Rhee Full or partial lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 are having crippling effects on businesses and workers across Asia, as elsewhere. Among the most vulnerable of the workers are the ones working in part-time and temporary jobs without social insurance, and in sectors of the economy that are neither taxed, nor regulated by any form of government. Known as informal workers, they are particularly vulnerable to dramatic collapses of income and loss...

June 8, 2020
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08Jun

US. The Reason COVID-19 Might Destroy 22% of Workers’ Retirement

Ever since U.S. cases of COVID-19 started multiplying back in March, the economy has been in shambles. Millions of workers have lost their jobs, while countless small businesses have closed their doors, perhaps forever. With so many people desperate for money, it's clear that a relief package was necessary, and so in March, lawmakers passed the CARES Act. Perhaps the most popular feature of the CARES Act was the $1,200 stimulus payment it produced, but another notable feature is...

June 8, 2020
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