February 2020

18Feb

UK. Legal & General completes first pension risk transfer deal for housing

Legal & General (L&G) has invested £100m of long term debt financing in its affordable housing business – opening the door for UK pension money to back the provision of such homes. Secured against the income stream of a UK-wide portfolio of operational affordable housing, this represents its first deal to generate attractive matching-adjustment, compliant direct investments from affordable housing for its growing annuity portfolio. A further £175m of development finance is being provided by a consortium of external investors...

February 18, 2020
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17Feb

Ireland. Community employment workers strike over pensions

Hundreds of community employment scheme supervisors staged a strike over pensions in Dublin yesterday. So-called section 39 workers, whose pay was cut during the recession and was never restored, also joined the protest. Also Read Staff in 74 UK universities start 2-week strike over pensions These are people who work for organisations providing health and social services which are known as section 39 bodies. Community employment (CE) scheme employees and supervisors marched from the Custom House in Dublin to the...

February 17, 2020
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15Feb

Ageing, Productivity and Employment Status

By Brindusa Anghel, Aitor Lacuesta The article analyses how labour market participation and the type of work performed change with age. Drawing on data from the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), it is documented that as people age they gradually lose certain skills relating to their ability to do physical work or use new technologies, or their literacy and numeracy skills. By contrast, as they build up experience, older workers develop better planning skills...

February 15, 2020
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14Feb

Denmark’s Largest Pension Fund to Launch Sustainable Vehicle

By Michael Katz PFA, Denmark’s largest pension fund with DKK560 billion ($82 billion) in assets, is launching a pension product that allows participants to invest their retirement savings in climate-focused investments that it says will be carbon neutral in five years at the latest. Beginning this summer, PFA Climate Plus will be available to the fund’s customers to allow them the opportunity to “significantly step up” how much their pensions contribute to cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the fund said. “As Denmark’s...

February 14, 2020
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14Feb

Ireland. Hundreds of community employment scheme supervisors to strike

Hundreds of community employment (CE) scheme supervisors are to hold a one-day strike on Friday over access to a pension scheme. The supervisors will join with staff working in organisations providing health and social care services that receive State grant-aid (known as section 39 bodies) at a protest to be held in Dublin on Friday. In addition, section 39 workers are scheduled to take industrial action on February 21st in a dispute over pay restoration. The rally is being...

February 14, 2020
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13Feb

U.K. Moves to Require Pensions to Disclose Climate Change Plans

British pension funds may soon need to explain how they are fighting climate change under a global framework as the U.K. aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. The U.K.’s Department for Work and Pensions said Wednesday that it proposed an amendment to the Pension Schemes Bill that would require pensions to disclose their climate change strategies under the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, a voluntary framework that is widely used by companies. Also Read UK. Government mulls tax...

February 13, 2020
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13Feb

A low birth rate and a rapidly ageing population: Europe’s demographic crisis explained

Europe's population is getting older. Between now and 2030, most EU countries will see the number of workers over 50 increase to 55% of their overall labour force. The European Commission forecasts that spending on healthcare for older people and pensions (currently 25% of GDP in the EU), will rise 2.3 percentage points by 2040. The demographic challenges vary across the EU. Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain are among the top-10 countries in the world with the lowest fertility...

February 13, 2020
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12Feb

ABP: accelerating sustainability with investments

Dutch pension fund Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP has expressed a desire to break away from ‘dirty’ investments and focus on sustainability instead. In a press release on the company’s website, ABP set out its goal to reduce its investment portfolio in high CO2 emitting industries (coal mines and tar sands) by 40% by 2025. Concurrently, the company intends to invest €15bn in sustainable energy instead. With an overall strategy aimed at gradually weaning off companies that use fossil fuels to...

February 12, 2020
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12Feb

UK. State pension warning: Retirement age set to increase even further in just two years

The state pension age for men and women is currently 65 but will increase to 66 by October 2020. The pension age will then rise to 67 between 2026 and 2028. However, it is “likely” the age will increase further as the Government will review the system from 2023. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Age UK policy expert, Sally West said: “The legislation has been passed to increase the state pension from 66 later this year. “There’s also a law that’s...

February 12, 2020
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11Feb

UK. Government mulls tax raid on top earners’ pensions

According to the Financial Times, chancellor Sajid Javid is weighing up cutting tax relief on pension contributions for higher earners as a way of raising revenue for the state. Under the current system, individuals receive tax relief on their personal contributions at the same rate as their marginal income tax rate. However, the FT reports Javid may cut pension tax relief for higher earners from 40% to 20%, raising more than £10bn extra a year for the state. Inheritance...

February 11, 2020
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