January 2021

27Jan

Analysis: Sovereign wealth, public pension giants caught up in U.S.-China tech fight

Some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds are getting caught in the escalating tensions over technology between the United States and China, a Reuters analysis of their filings data and public disclosures show. Read also US. Biden May Have to Move Quickly to Reverse Anti-ESG Rule They range from Norway and Singapore’s giant sovereign wealth funds to Switzerland’s central bank and the $1.1 trillion U.S. TIAA, founded over a century ago by Andrew Carnegie as...

January 27, 2021
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27Jan

Fund run by Australian pension investors seeks stake in Spain’s Naturgy

Investment fund IFM Global Infrastructure Fund offered on Tuesday to buy a 22.7% stake in Spain’s Naturgy for 5.06 billion euros ($6.13 billion), sending the power group’s shares soaring 16% to lead gainers on Madrid’s bourse. The cash offer of 23 euros per share represented a 19.7% premium over Naturgy’s closing price on Monday, according to calculations by the fund’s manager IFM Investors, which is owned by Australian pension funds. Naturgy’s earnings have been hit over the past year...

January 27, 2021
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27Jan

Romania. Head of RO pension funds association says too much disclosure has downsides

The pension funds managers will comply with the requirements of disclosing their portfolios every quarter, but this might have an anti-competitive effect, says Radu Craciun, CEO of BCR Pensii and head of the private pension fund managers' association APAPR. The financial market regulator ASF took such a step after public criticism about NN Pensii, the biggest pension fund manager in Romania, investing in bankrupt German company Wirecard. "I have mixed feelings from the quarterly reporting. I can understand the...

January 27, 2021
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27Jan

How to help an ageing population stay wealthy for longer

Longevity can be harnessed as a force for good and a driver of economic growth. Financial providers increasingly diversify their products to support the wealth and lifespan of their consumers. Nudging behaviour towards financial planning and wellbeing can lead people to make better decisions. Two thirds of the world’s population will be 65 years and above by 2050, according to the UN, and the projection for the global ageing economy is already estimated to reach $27 trillion by 2025...

January 27, 2021
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26Jan

Ghana. Odartey Lamptey sworn-in as deputy MD of GCB Bank

Mr. Lamptey was sworn in as the DMD Operations and Executive Director of the Bank on Wednesday, 20th January 2021 by Justice Sophia Bernasko Essah, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ghana. The swearing-in ceremony was witnessed by the Chairman, Mr. Jude Arthur, and other members of the GCB Bank Board. Mr. Lamptey takes over from Mr. Samuel Amankwah who retired from the Bank in 2020 after 20 years of service in Executive Management and Senior Management positions....

January 26, 2021
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26Jan

US. NYC pension funds vote to divest $4 bln from fossil fuels

Two New York City pension funds voted to divest their portfolios of some $4 billion worth of fossil fuel company securities, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and fund trustees said https://on.nyc.gov/39ejxHM. "Fossil fuels are not only bad for our planet and our frontline communities, they are a bad investment,” said de Blasio in a statement on Monday. New York was among a dozen big cities worldwide that pledged to shift their money out of the fossil fuel...

January 26, 2021
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26Jan

Canada. 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 fourth quarter of 2020. According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2020, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 5.7 per cent before management fees and 9.3 per cent since the beginning of the year. “The stock market rebound continued into the fourth quarter, most market indices showed positive returns. The MSCI World Index delivered 8.7...

January 26, 2021
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26Jan

ECB considers going greener in staff pension fund

The European Central Bank is considering moving to the use of low-carbon benchmark indexes for fixed-income allocations within its staff pension fund. The Frankfurt-based ECB last year replaced all conventional equity benchmark indexes tracked by the pension fund with low-carbon equivalents. The fund has €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion) in assets and €2.5 billion in obligations. A spokeswoman said the size of individual allocations are not being disclosed. The move "significantly reduced the carbon footprint of the equity funds. The...

January 26, 2021
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26Jan

US. MetLife to Provide Annuity Benefits to Nearly 5,200 Weyerhaeuser Retirees and Beneficiaries

MetLife, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, Metropolitan Tower Life Insurance Company, has entered into an agreement with Weyerhaeuser Company (Weyerhaeuser) to provide annuity benefits to nearly 5,200 retirees and beneficiaries in Weyerhaeuser’s defined benefit (DB) pension plan, representing pension obligations of approximately $765 million. “We are pleased to have been selected to provide guaranteed lifetime income to these Weyerhaeuser retirees and beneficiaries,” says Graham Cox, executive vice president and head of Retirement & Income Solutions at MetLife. “In...

January 26, 2021
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26Jan

Australia. Super top-up: Funds call for $5000 payments for low-income earners

The federal government should make one-off contributions of up to $5000 into the superannuation accounts of low-income earners who accessed their retirement savings early, a lobby group has argued. The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) on Monday released new analysis showing almost one million young workers who accessed the government’s early super access scheme had either emptied their accounts or reduced their balances to less than $1000. Amid mounting evidence of the recession’s disproportionate impact on young people,...

January 26, 2021
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