May 2020

19May

How to Motivate Young Workers to Save For Retirement

For most young workers, planning for retirement typically isn’t a priority. But as the nation’s fiscal outlook darkens, the likelihood that Congress will scale back Social Security benefits in the coming years only grows. Without early planning, most simply won’t be able to maintain the standard of living they expect in retirement.  Whether you want to educate your young employees about planning for retirement or ensure a secure future for your child, here are four tips to help you...

May 19, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
19May

UK. Pension savings warning: Savers could be hit hard by freeze on transfers

Pension savings have been prevented from transfers as a result of a number of trustees utilising their emergency powers to prevent movement of money. This means those who wish to ditch their defined benefit pension schemes could have a hard time doing so.  The decision has been made by a number of companies facing financial hardship during the coronavirus crisis. Under new rules, put in place by the Pensions Regulator, trustees are able to suspend transfers for up to three months....

May 19, 2020
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
19May

European insurers face increased risk exposures due to Covid-19, but market perceptions and imbalances remained at medium level

Today, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published its updated Risk Dashboard based on the fourth quarter 2019 Solvency II data. Despite the fact that some indicators used in this Risk Dashboard do not capture the latest market development in the context of Covid-19 outbreak, the expected deterioration of the relevant indicators reflecting all available information in a forward looking perspective has been considered in the assigned risk levels. This addresses the current situation of high uncertainty...

May 19, 2020
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
18May

Africa’s population is aging and it needs social protection

As the world continues to grapple with the unfolding COVID-19 crisis, many in Africa are worried not only about its spread but about the pandemic's long-term economic consequences as well. But long before our attention was captured by this virus, African governments were already ignoring an increasingly important factor in securing healthy populations and prosperous economies: Africa's older population is growing fast. Read also How COVID-19 impacts asset allocation strategy of pension funds According to a 2017 UN report on...

May 18, 2020
News, Slider, , , , ,
Read more...
18May

UK. Pension savers unable to move their cash as trustees use emergency powers

Savers who want to ditch defined benefit pensions as their employers struggle to survive may find themselves trapped by trustees using emergency powers to halt transfers. Businesses facing financial hardship have been the first to see trustees of their staff pension funds block members from moving their cash for three months during the pandemic. This stops anyone wanting to transfer out of defined benefit pensions, which pay a guaranteed income in retirement, into more flexible but riskier “defined...

May 18, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
18May

EC summons Netherlands for taxing pensions moving abroad

The European Commission has summoned the Netherlands to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for taxing pensions moving abroad. It argued that the taxation conflicts with the principle of free movement of capital. According to the EC, workers must be able to transfer pension capital to another member state, even if the country of destination allows taking out a lump sum of up to the entire pension entitlement. Twelve member states, including Germany, Belgium and Denmark, have already introduced...

May 18, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
15May

Informality and the Challenge of Pension Adequacy: Outlook and Reform Options for Peru

By Christoph Freudenberg and Frederik Toscani Past reforms have put the Peruvian pension system on a largely fiscally sustainable path, but the system faces important challenges in providing adequate pension levels for a large share of the population. Using administrative microdata at the affiliate level, we project replacement rates in the defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pillars over the next 30 years and simulate the impact of various reform scenarios on the average level and distribution of...

May 15, 2020
Books, Reports, System Sustainability, ,
Read more...
15May

Firm Behaviour in Pension Funding – An Analysis of Corporate Debt Issuing

By Marion Boddy This study investigates the commonality of United States firms using the issuance of corporate debt as a tool to fund their pension plans. The results suggest a prominence of firms in the sample utilizing debt issuances to transition their fund from underfunded to overfunded. These results are indicated through a statistically significant negative relationship between the cost of debt and an underfunded indicator when regressors are lagged by one year. Results also indicate that equity issuances...

May 15, 2020
Articles, Pension Management, , ,
Read more...
15May

Selfies can help Brazil create a super supplementary pension

By Arun Muralidhar, Robert C. Merton, Alexandre Vitorino Brazilian policy makers and researchers have discussed the introduction of a complementary pension system to complement the Regime Geral de Previdência Social (RGPS), specially for those that want a retirement income above the RGPS ceiling. This article first recommends that the complementary system must be SUPER (Simple, Universal, Portable, Efficient with low cost and Robust Regulatation). It then proposes the adoption of a financial innovation called SeLFIES (Standard-of-Living, Forward-starting, Income-only Securities),...

May 15, 2020
Articles, Investment, Pension design, , , ,
Read more...
15May

India. World Bank to provide $1 billion loan for social protection

After healthcare, the World Bank on Friday said it had cleared a $1 billion assistance for social protection and is in talks with the government for funding initiatives to assist micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). World Bank country director Junaid Ahmad did not elaborate on the size of the loans for MSMEs, saying they were being negotiated. Read also Covid-19 impact: Global pension funds pause India investment He, however, complimented the government’s approach, focusing on healthcare, social protection and...

May 15, 2020
News, Slider, , , , ,
Read more...