March 2024
05Mar

UK. Updated: Risk of ‘unintended consequences’ from DC pension reforms

Plans to force defined contribution (DC) schemes to publicly disclose their level of investment in the UK and improve the performance of poorly performing schemes could risk having “unintended consequences” – causing plans to become more risk averse and potentially “compromising” trustee fiduciary duties. On Saturday (2 March), chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced proposals to require DC funds to disclose their levels of investment in British businesses, as well as their costs and net investment returns. He said they would also need...

March 5, 2024
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February 2024
28Feb

EU. Sustainability and greenwashing in insurance – EIOPA publishes draft Opinion

Insurance consumers and pensions savers are increasingly interested in allocating their money to sustainability related products. So insurance and pensions providers are expanding their sustainable offerings and adapting their business models to be more sustainable. While the growth of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing can contribute to the transition to a more sustainable economy, greenwashing risk exists. Greenwashing is the practice of misrepresenting sustainability-related features of investment products. The issue has received renewed attention at European level, with EIOPA recently...

February 28, 2024
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14Feb

South Africa. GEPF warns of fake letters with respect to pension payments

By Staff Reporter   Scammers are trying to defraud government workers of their pension money via SMS by encouraging them to resign rather than retire, the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) has warned. GEPF is the largest pension fund in Africa with more than 1.2 million active members and about 500 000 pensioners and beneficiaries. The fund is responsible for more than R2.3 trillion in assets under its management. GEPF said it was recently made aware of fraudulent letters being sent to its...

February 14, 2024
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13Feb

UK. Government urged to end ‘short-term’ approach towards pensions policy

The government should end the cycle of “short-term thinking” and the politicising of pensions policy with the introduction of a long-term savings commission for defined contribution (DC) savers, an industry report has found. The research report - How do you solve a problem like DC pensions? - published today (13 February) by the Lang Cat and commissioned by People's Partnership, conducted a series of interviews with industry figures to establish a consensus view on what the future of the pensions industry may...

February 13, 2024
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13Feb

Vietnam’s workers cash out pensions early ahead of new law

Vietnam is amending its pension laws in an attempt to deter people from abandoning the fund before retirement. Yet in some quarters, the pending change is having the opposite effect. Many workers critical to the world's electronics and clothing supply chains were already taking early payouts to deal with hardships, such as those brought on by the pandemic. Now, more of them are getting jittery after hearing the upcoming law could cut payouts in half, and the communist country is...

February 13, 2024
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January 2024
31Jan

U.K. looks to reprioritize investment flexibility in pension fund legislation

The U.K. government is amending proposed legislation to ensure defined benefit plans do not become overly risk averse, following a consultation review that was published online. DB plans in the U.K. will be able to take more investment risk when supported by sponsoring employers, according to the government's final position on the long-running development of new legislation for pension plans. "It was never (the U.K. government's) intention to bear down on risk-taking across the board. Rather, it was to make funding...

January 31, 2024
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31Jan

Australia regulator scrutinises pension funds over unlisted asset pricing

Australia's prudential regulator said on Wednesday it will review how sections of the A$2.5 trillion ($1.7 trillion) pension fund sector value unlisted assets and that it is already working with several funds whose practices need to improve. As part of its supervision priorities for the next six months, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said it will conduct a "deep dive review" into valuation practices at a number of large and mid-sized pension funds. The unnamed funds have material holdings of unlisted...

January 31, 2024
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30Jan

UK. DWP confirms final DB funding regulations

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published the final Occupational Pension Schemes (Funding and Investment Strategy and Amendment) Regulations 2024, which are set to come into force from April 2024. The final regulations set out the requirements for defined benefit (DB) pension schemes when determining their funding and investment strategy and statement of strategy, and will apply to scheme valuations from September 2024. Industry experts previously raised concerns over a potential mismatch between the DB regulations and The Pensions...

January 30, 2024
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24Jan

Ghana’s Pension Regulator, NPRA, appoints new CEO

President Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed John Kwaning Mbroh as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA). Mr. Mbroh, whose appointment takes effect from 1st February 2024, replaces Mr. Hayford Atta Krufi who proceeds on retirement after holding the position since 2017. Mr. Mbroh is a management member of the NPRA and currently the Director of Standards and Compliance at the Authority for the past six years. He has taken charge of the core mandate under Section 7 of Act 766 of 2008...

January 24, 2024
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19Jan

UK. Pensions changes on the Horizon for 2024

In 2023 a number of announcements were made about changes to pensions law that are expected to take place during 2024. In addition to proposals set out in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement (summarised here), some other significant developments we expect are: Automatic enrolment: The vast majority of UK employers have to automatically enrol certain employees and other workers into an appropriate pension scheme. The Government has proposed that the qualifying age threshold for auto-enrolment will be reduced from 22 to...

January 19, 2024
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