May 2023
02May

Nigeria. PenCom steps up efforts at diversifying pension fund investment

The National Pension Commission, PenCom, is stepping up efforts at diversifying investments in pension fund portfolio assets. The Director-General, D-G PenCom, Mrs Aisha Dahir-Umar, gave this hint in the Commission’s 2022 fourth-quarter report. The D-G said the Commission had stepped up efforts at ensuring sustainable investment of pension funds in alternative asset classes, during the quarter under review. According to her, PenCom had also structured infrastructure projects that met the strict requirements of the Pension Fund Investments Regulation. The D-G said “the Commission...

May 2, 2023
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April 2023
28Apr

Pension funds need to consider beneficiaries’ sustainability preferences more – here’s why the IORP II consultation matters

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) consultation on the review of the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORP) II Directive closes next month, on the 25 May. What’s at stake here is significant – how to take account of preferences to invest sustainably, and how the law, and the overall policy landscape, can improve. EIOPA’s technical consultation features a dedicated sustainability chapter. It suggests that pension funds should integrate members’ and beneficiaries’ sustainability preferences into investment decision-making while complying...

April 28, 2023
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28Apr

​Danish FSA develops national stress test for pension firms

The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA, Finanstilsynet) has developed its own stress test for pension providers, saying it takes certain national conditions into account – unlike the European Supervisory Authority for Insurance and Occupational Pension Schemes (EIOPA) version. The Copenhagen-based financial watchdog announced yesterday that the new stress tests to assess how insurance and pension companies would fare in a severe economic slump were part of its “strategy 2025” to ensure robustness. “EIOPA’s stress test ensures a high market coverage on...

April 28, 2023
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27Apr

UK. New TPR guidance places Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the forefront of the trustee agenda

On 28 March 2023, the Pensions Regulator (TPR) published two sets of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) guidance: one for governing bodies; and one for employers. In parallel, TPR has published an overview explaining what EDI is, why it is important, and the benefits of improving EDI across the pensions industry. TPR hopes the guidance, which was developed in conjunction with an industry-wide working group which I was pleased to be part of, can be used by pension scheme...

April 27, 2023
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27Apr

US Senate panel advances Biden’s labor secretary choice, opposed by gig worker apps

A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday voted along party lines to advance President Joe Biden's nominee for U.S. labor secretary, Julie Su, to the full Senate for what will be a close vote due to heavy opposition by Republican lawmakers and business groups worried about regulation of the gig economy. The Democrat-led Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 11-10 to approve Su, a civil rights lawyer and former California labor commissioner who has served as a deputy labor...

April 27, 2023
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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