December 2017

05Dec

EU court adviser says Britain was wrong to refuse transgender woman’s pension

Britain’s rejection of a transgender woman’s claim for a women’s state pension because she was still married to her spouse from before her transition is discriminatory, an EU court adviser said on Tuesday. Advocate General Michal Bobek of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) stated in a non-binding opinion that marriage status does not play a role in accessing state retirement pensions for people who are not transgender. “This amounts to direct discrimination on the basis of sex,...

December 5, 2017
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November 2017

29Nov

Britain close to deal on Brexit bill with EU: sources

Britain has offered to pay much of what the European Union was demanding to settle a Brexit “divorce bill”, bringing the two sides close to agreement on a key obstacle to opening talks on a future free trade pact, EU sources said on Tuesday. The offer, which British newspapers valued at around 50 billion euros, reflected the bulk of outstanding EU demands that include London paying a share of post-Brexit EU spending on commitments made before Britain leaves in March...

November 29, 2017
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27Nov

Pension scheme trustees urged to prepare for imminent EU regulation

Although the regulation is not expected to impact trustees directly, it is thought that new rules for brokers and asset managers may affect UK pension schemes’ current contractual relationships. The EU legislation is designed to offer greater protection for investors while injecting more transparency into all asset classes, taking effect on 3 January 2018. Sacker & Partners LLP have identified several steps trustees should be taking now, which include: 1) Obtain an LEI number – this can be done at the London Stock...

November 27, 2017
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23Nov

Pan-European pension schemes – a way to close the pension gap

Europe is getting old. Ageing population is a luxury good hardly any country can afford. It has been one of the main policy challenges in the Union. Increasing old-age dependency ratio will widen the pension gap and make current pension systems unsustainable. Over the past decades, politicians have been in a rambling quest to close the gap. Their confidence in finding a solution must have been restored after the Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis announced the so-called pan-European Personal Pension...

November 23, 2017
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October 2017

20Oct

ESMA Receives Mandate on Fund Performance from European Commission

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has received a mandate from the European Commission (EC) requesting the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) – the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and ESMA – to issue recurrent reports on the cost and past performance of the main categories of retail investment, insurance and pension products. The request supports the action, included in the EC’s Mid Term Review of the Capital Markets Union of 8 June 2017, on...

October 20, 2017
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08Oct

Occupational Pension Funds (IORPs) & Sustainability: What Does the Prudent Person Principle Say?

By Alexandra Horvathova, Rasmus Kristian Feldthusen & Vibe Ulfbeck (University of Copenhagen) The European Union encourages individuals to save in private and occupational pension funds to complement their state saving-plans. Throughout their lives, employers directly sponsor occupational retirement saving plans, so individual employees may top up their future pensions. While the European Union clearly supports the formation and cross-border participation in these financial vehicles by adopting regulatory framework, the EU has also decided to determine a common investment decision standard...

October 8, 2017
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08Oct

Occupational Pension Funds (IORPs) & Sustainability: What Does the Prudent Person Principle Say?

By Alexandra Horvathova, Rasmus Kristian Feldthusen & Vibe Ulfbeck (University of Copenhagen) The European Union encourages individuals to save in private and occupational pension funds to complement their state saving-plans. Throughout their lives, employers directly sponsor occupational retirement saving plans, so individual employees may top up their future pensions. While the European Union clearly supports the formation and cross-border participation in these financial vehicles by adopting regulatory framework, the EU has also decided to determine a common investment decision standard...

October 8, 2017
Aging, Articles, Pension design, Regulation, , ,
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September 2017

19Sep

APG and E Fund Management will launch the world’s first China Sustainable and Responsible Focus Investment Strategy

APG, the largest European pension asset manager and administrator, together with E Fund, the third largest fund manager in China, announced today that it will launch the first concentrated equities strategy that invests in ChinaA-shares and adheres to sustainable & responsible investing frameworks and criteria. "APG is a firm believer and promoter of responsible investing. We are happy to partner with E Fund to establish this milestone to embrace our role and duty as responsible long term asset manager, for the benefit of our clients....

September 19, 2017
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August 2017

08Aug

EU expresses worry over Poland reviving different retirement age for men and women

The EU's executive arm, the European Commission, is concerned that reintroducing a different retirement age for men and women in Poland could violate the bloc's equality rules, according to a letter from Brussels to Warsaw seen by Reuters. Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and President Andrzej Duda - who comes from the same political grouping - campaigned on promises to undo a 2012 reform that had been gradually raising and equalising the retirement age at 67. The government's change,...

August 8, 2017
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July 2017

27Jul

EU. Rapid ageing could keep ECB’s hand tied for next decade: ECB paper

The rapid ageing of Europe's population may keep interest rates depressed over the next decade, potentially limiting the European Central Bank's ability to adjust policy, a research paper published by the ECB on Wednesday showed. The expected rise in the share of people not working will hold back growth and limit investment, making it necessary for governments to encourage later retirement, and to promote innovation and investment, the researchers said in a paper that does not necessarily represent the ECB's...

July 27, 2017
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