April 2023
27Apr

Senegalese veterans to return home after French government u-turn on pensions

Eight veteran Senegalese riflemen will be finally returning home for good this Friday, after President Emmanuel Macron's government in January lifted a six-month residency condition for their military pension. For 95-year-old Yoro Diao, after nearly 20 years of living thousands of miles from his family, he is happy to leave his tiny studio in a suburb of Paris, to return to his family. “This is a victory, a second victory after the war. We are allowed to go home while receiving...

April 27, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
25Apr

U.K. Pensions Regulator calls for more safeguards for LDI

Pension fund trustees should put in place appropriate buffers to manage any leveraged liability-driven investment arrangements, the U.K. Pensions Regulator said Monday. In a new guidance, which was published following the September LDI crisis, the regulator said investors must also include an operational buffer specific to the LDI arrangement to manage day-to-day changes, in addition to the 250 basis points minimum. Setting the right buffer level is essential so the fund can operate in the normal way even where there are...

April 25, 2023
News,
Read more...
20Apr

US. Prudential agrees to pay denied life insurance claims in settlement with US Labor Department

In a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor, Prudential Financial has pledged to no longer deny claims on life insurance policies after collecting premiums from policyholders it later determined had failed to prove "insurability" to qualify for coverage. DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration had investigated Prudential Financial after more than 200 beneficiaries were denied claims between 2017 and 2020 over questions of whether deceased policyholders actually qualified for coverage through employer-based supplemental life insurance programs — only after Prudential...

April 20, 2023
News,
Read more...
14Apr

UK. TPR authorises first CDC pension scheme

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has authorised the UK’s first collective defined contribution (CDC) pension scheme. CDC schemes provide an alternative to traditional defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension schemes and see member and employer contributions pooled in a collective fund from which an aspired to pension income for life is drawn. The pooling of longevity and investment risks makes CDC schemes more resilient to market shocks. Yesterday (April 13), the regulator published a list of authorised CDC schemes on its...

April 14, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
10Apr

Nigeria. PenCom Warns Retirees Against Fraudulent Pension Group

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says the activities of a group named Association of Pension Desk Practitioners of Nigeria (ASSOPEP) which claim to assist with pension and retirement benefits are fraudulent and illegal. Warning the public against doing business with the association, PenCom asked Nigerians to take cautious steps in seeking guidance on retirement benefits. “The general public is kindly requested to note that the claims by ASSOPEP are entirely false as the association has no affiliation with the pension industry...

April 10, 2023
News,
Read more...
04Apr

U.K. extends pensions funds’ clearing obligation exemption for 2 more years

His Majesty's Treasury said it will exempt U.K. pension funds from the clearing obligation for an additional two years. Under the European Union's European Markets Infrastructure Regulation pension funds in Europe have until June 18 before they are obligated to clear derivatives. Under the rules of EMIR, all counterparties trading in the European Union are required to post cash, rather than bonds, as the collateral to clear derivatives' exposures. This could mean they have to liquidate otherwise long-term fixed-income investments if...

April 4, 2023
News, ,
Read more...

March 2023
30Mar

UK. TPR launches diversity, equality and inclusion guidance for pension fund trustees

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) this week published guidance for pension scheme governing bodies and employers on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) with a view to  imrpoving the EDI of UK pension schemes’ boards. Louise Davey, TPR’s director of regulatory policy, analysis and advice, said: “All savers deserve to be in a well-run pension scheme that makes decisions in their best interests.” She added: “Harnessing diverse views can help pension scheme governing bodies weigh issues in more detail and openly consider aspects...

March 30, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
29Mar

US. Retirement Figures in DOL Budget’s SECURE 2.0 Implementation Plan

The Department of Labor (DOL) in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024 seeks funding to implement SECURE 2.0, and that includes retirement-related priorities. The DOL seeks $4,672,000 to Implement SECURE 2.0. The DOL indicates that it has no choice but to do so. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, notes the DOL, included mandates for implementing SECURE 2.0, and that included “a wide range of retirement-focused issues.” However, they add, the Act “did not appropriate any additional resources for implementation.” SECURE...

March 29, 2023
News, ,
Read more...
28Mar

UK. Government backs expansion of automatic enrolment

Automatic enrolment was introduced in 2012 with the aim of helping more people save for their retirement. Since then 10.8 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme and pension participation in the private sector has increased from 41% in 2012 to 86% in 2021, according to recent analysis by the Department for Work and Pensions ("DWP"). We celebrated ten years of automatic enrolment in our previous blog wherein we discussed the possibility of future reform...

March 28, 2023
News, , ,
Read more...
27Mar

UK. What are the implications of removing the pensions lifetime allowance?

One of the headline announcements of the budget on 15 March was the scrapping of the lifetime allowance for private pensions. The allowance – which currently stands at just over £1 million – is the maximum that an individual can draw from their pension in their lifetime without paying additional tax. Unsurprisingly, this policy, which will come into force from April 2024, has been criticised by some commentators, as it is higher earners who are likely to benefit most. How does...

March 27, 2023
News, , ,
Read more...