December 2019

11Dec

Worst Australian Pension Funds Warned to Improve or Shut Down

Australia’s prudential regulator has vowed to weed out under-performing pension funds after publishing its first ranking of firms, including those it fears don’t have a sustainable business model. The inaugural heatmap assessment of default investment plans found 15 had issues with net cash flow or growth that jeopardized their future survival, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said Tuesday. Some 28 funds were found to be charging excessive fees, and nine had net returns significantly below a reference portfolio of...

December 11, 2019
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November 2019

29Nov

Australia. Supporting upskilling of dispersed workforce

Leadership, communication and collaboration are consistently seen as the top three skills people managers want and online training can help foster these skills, writes Scott Cooper. Almost a quarter of a million people are employed as direct care providers in Australia’s aged care sector. The government has estimated this number needs to increase two to three times by 2050 to look after the ageing population. At the same time, there’s already an urgent shortage of skills and highly-trained people...

November 29, 2019
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22Nov

Australia. Super tax breaks outweigh pension payments

Superannuation tax concessions provide higher income earners with greater taxpayer assistance than those on low incomes who rely on the age pension, according to a paper released by the government's review into retirement incomes. The consultation paper, which outlines the starting point for the review and the principles that will guide it, says the overall level of public support provided by the retirement income system "should be targeted to those who need it most''. But modelling provided by the...

November 22, 2019
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20Nov

Ageing population a threat to Australian economy: Treasurer

Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has warned that the nation's ageing population is an "economic time bomb". Read also US. Longevity Project explores the nuanced implications of longer life According to The Australian Financial Review on Tuesday, Frydenberg said in a speech that the population is ageing and this will place new demands on health, aged care and pension systems. Read also The human face of pension management According to data cited in his speech, the ratio of working-age Australians to every...

November 20, 2019
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14Nov

Australia. A 24-Year-Old Is Suing Pension Fund for Not Being Green Enough

Mark McVeigh, a 24-year-old environmental scientist from Australia, won’t be able to access his retirement savings until 2055. But, concerned about what the world may look like then, he’s taking action now, suing his A$57 billion ($39 billion) pension fund for not adequately disclosing or assessing the impact of climate change on its investments. The Federal Court battle is shaping up to be a unique test case. Are pension funds in breach of their fiduciary duties by failing to...

November 14, 2019
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05Nov

Australia. Call to cut tax breaks for rich retirees

The government should look to trim generous tax concessions for wealthy superannuation savers, worth more than $36bn a year, rather than aim to include the family home in the pension assets test, according to the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association. CPSA policy manager Paul Versteege said the family home should not be included in the asset test because “the vast majority of people live in a modest house”. The Australian on Monday revealed more than 250,000 retirees living in...

November 5, 2019
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October 2019

21Oct

Sistema de pensiones de México en los peores lugares del mundo: Índice Mercer

De acuerdo con el índice global de pensiones Mercer, México ocupa uno de los últimos lugares entre los sistemas de pensiones alrededor del mundo, la 5ª calificación más baja de los 37 evaluados. Éste índice, calculado por el centro de Estudios Financieros Monash, en colaboración con Mercer y fondeado por el Gobierno de Victoria (Australia), evalúa la sostenibilidad, la adecuación (suficiencia de las pensiones), y la integridad de los sistemas de pensiones y, con base en estos...

October 21, 2019
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18Oct

Effects of Taxes and Safety Net Pensions on Life-Cycle Labor Supply, Savings and Human Capital: The Case of Australia

By Michael P. Keane, Fedor Iskhakov In this paper we structurally estimate a life-cycle model of consumption/savings, labor supply and retirement, using data from the Australian HILDA panel. We use the model to evaluate effects of the Australian aged pension system and tax policy on labor supply, consumption and retirement decisions. Our model accounts for human capital accumulation via learning by doing, as well as wealth accumulation and decumulation over the life cycle, uninsurable wage risk, credit constraints, a...

October 18, 2019
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16Oct

Australia. Radical changes ahead for defined contribution

Shifts for the DC organisation of tomorrow – shows that DC is increasingly becoming a post-retirement income provision vehicle, with integrated accumulation phases matched to post-retirement consumption needs. The report calls this “DC 2.0”. “The need for change has been clear for a long time. Even 10 years ago, we were talking of a version 2.0 of DC that was built around the purpose of providing income throughout retirement,” said Bob Collie, head of research at the Thinking...

October 16, 2019
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September 2019

30Sep

Australia. A simpler system would be super

In the past year, reports by the Productivity Commission and the banking and financial services royal commission have prompted intense and commendable consideration about the direction of Australia’s retirement and savings policies. Superannuation should not be as cruelly complex as it is. While the system’s basic concept is elegant – providing workers with a compulsory employer-paid super contribution equivalent to at least 9.5 per cent of salary – the confounding rules, layers of costs, tax benefits and snags are...

September 30, 2019
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