April 2020

27Apr

Asian Pensions Under Pressure on Early Withdrawals

The trade-off between the needs of today and the desires of tomorrow is challenging the retirement savings systems in Asia as Covid-19 forces early withdrawals. Retirement schemes in Asia could face funding shortfalls after pension systems in Australia, South Korea and Malaysia have allowed early withdrawals, while others in the region are under pressure to follow suit. Read also South Africa: The Rules Around Pensions in a Time of Mass Job Losses The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is causing as yet untold damage...

April 27, 2020
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20Apr

US. We Need a New Social Contract for the Coronavirus

Our collective behavior will be the primary determinant of whether we can keep this virus in check. A team of infectious disease epidemiologists has calculated that we must reduce our social contacts by 65 percent from what they were before the virus started spreading. Everyone wants to get the country back to work, school, and together again as soon as possible. On Friday, the Trump administration announced it wants to do that in phases and allow each governor...

April 20, 2020
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20Apr

5 benefits this Singaporean system has over other pension systems

If you’ve wondered how CPF measures up with other countries’ pension systems. The CPF, or Central Provident Fund, is a social security scheme funded by contributions from both employers and employees. Read also India. No deduction in pension amid COVID-19 outbreak: Union Government It helps Singaporeans set aside savings for retirement, as well as for other important things like housing and healthcare. Read also IMF warns of global social unrest amid coronavirus pandemic What sets the CPF apart from other pension systems? Here...

April 20, 2020
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15Apr

India: Pension schemes draw more members

Total assets under management of National Pension Scheme (NPS) and the government-backed Atal Pension Yojana (APY) amounted to INR4,170bn ($55bn) with a subscriber base of over 30m at 31 March 2020, according to data released by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Nearly 2.12m central government employees and around 4.75m state government employees were subscribers of the NPS at 31 March, reported Press Trust of India citing the official data. In addition, 2.23m citizens from the private sector...

April 15, 2020
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02Apr

How the coronavirus threatens Asia-Pacific’s $7tn pensions market

The coronavirus outbreak has piled pressure on Asia-Pacific’s multitrillion-dollar pensions industry, with the pandemic raising fears that retirees could make a panicked dash to withdraw their investments. Read also Dutch pension funds invest in coronavirus bond The sector manages about $7tn in assets, according to research group the Thinking Ahead Institute. But investment funds and policymakers across the region have been forced to reassess how they provide for ageing populations. Read also Kenya’s retirement benefits eroded by coronavirus The challenges come...

April 2, 2020
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01Apr

United Arab Emirates. Coronavirus: Private companies can postpone pension payments over next three months

The Abu Dhabi Pension Fund on Tuesday announced that private sector companies in the emirate can apply to postpone paying pensions over the next three months. The decision, which was passed by the group’s board of directors, is open to 1,154 private entities that are registered to the fund, with those companies able to submit their application for postponed payments electronically through the fund’s online portal. According to the fund, 8,765 citizens are also registered with the fund. “The...

April 1, 2020
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01Apr

India. Migrant Workers Need Social Protection To Overcome COVID-19 Lockdown Trauma: Health Ministry

The Health Ministry today called for providing a social protection to migrant workers, saying they are prone to social, psychological and emotional trauma in lockdown situations. Immediate concerns faced by such migrant workers relate to food, shelter, healthcare, fear of getting infected or spreading the infection, loss of wages, concerns about the family, anxiety and fear. "Sometimes, they also face harassment and negative reactions of the local community. All this calls for strong social protection," the ministry said in...

April 1, 2020
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March 2020

30Mar

Japan. World’s largest pension fund growing greener

Japan’s massive Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) has been a keen proponent of investing in sustainable assets. In 2019, it committed to investing a sizeable tranche of its US$1.6 trillion assets under management into green and socially responsible investments. And by making asset managers accountable with this strategy, the GPIF is strongly pushing the boundaries of sustainability investing, not only in Japan, but in the global asset management industry as well. In its latest move towards...

March 30, 2020
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27Mar

Japan to give one-year tax grace period for virus-hit companies

Unprecedented payment delay to include corporate taxes, social insurance premiums. The Japanese government will create a special system to provide a one-year grace period for companies to pay tax and social insurance premiums due to the spread of the coronavirus, the Nikkei has learned. The period will cover the payment of corporate tax, sales tax and social insurance premiums. The government will exempt delinquent tax and will not ask companies to provide collateral. The unprecedented measure comes amid slowing economic activity after the central and...

March 27, 2020
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26Mar

Masataka Miyazono to Head up Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund

The Japanese government named Masataka Miyazono, as the new President of Japan Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF). Masataka Miyazono is the former Deputy President of Norinchukin Bank. Masataka Miyazono will replace current president Norihiro Takahashi, whose term is due to expire at the end of March 2020. Masataka Miyazono retired from Norinchukin Bank on June 22, 2018. Read more @swfinstitute

March 26, 2020
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