January 2020

07Jan

Athene Closes $6 Billion in Pension Risk Transfer Transactions During 2019

Athene Holding Ltd. ("Athene") (NYSE: ATH), a leading retirement services company, announced it has reached approximately $6.0 billion in total pension risk transfer (PRT) transactions for 2019, which includes approximately $800 million from a recently completed funded reinsurance transaction with a leading U.K. insurance company. Under the terms of Athene’s inaugural transaction in the U.K. market, which closed December 19, 2019, the Company will reinsure a block of pension benefit liabilities through its wholly owned subsidiary Athene Life Re...

January 7, 2020
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December 2019

12Dec

UK Pension Risk Transfer Market to Quadruple in Decade

The UK’s bulk annuity market is forecast to quadruple over the next decade, driven mainly by lower pricing as more pension plans mature and additional reinsurers enter the UK market, according to consulting firm Mercer. By the end of 2019, Mercer said it expects the bulk annuity market in Great Britain to exceed £40 billion ($52.6 billion), with the total UK risk transfer market, including longevity swaps, forecast to reach £50 billion. Mercer said it has also...

December 12, 2019
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11Dec

Danish Pension Assets Swell to $680 Billion as Funds Add Risk

Denmark’s pension industry has grown to more than double the country’s gross domestic product after adding about $100 billion this year alone. “The first nine months of 2019 saw considerable growth in the companies’ balance sheets as a result of substantial returns on pension wealth,” the central bank said on Tuesday. That followed a substantial increase in holdings of asset classes outside the traditional bond and stock allocations. Pension funds have been shifting their allocation to alternative assets as...

December 11, 2019
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05Dec

Changing Risks in Retirement

It is important to understand from the very outset how changing risks are primarily what separate retirement income planning from traditional wealth management. Retirees have less capacity for risk, as they become more vulnerable to a reduced standard of living when risks manifest. Those entering retirement are crossing the threshold into an entirely foreign way of living. Reduced earnings capacity Retirees face reduced flexibility to earn income in the labor markets as a way to cushion their...

December 5, 2019
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04Dec

The conflict of interest around pension transfers

By James Jones-Tinsley Things have certainly changed. Access to defined benefit schemes has dropped significantly, while the proliferation and membership of defined contribution schemes has soared. In April 2015, the pension freedoms liberated funds by offering individuals easier access to their savings from age 55 onwards. Rather than having to purchase an annuity, an individual could simply withdraw their entire pension fund in one go. But given that the pension freedoms only applied to define contribution schemes, this unfettered access...

December 4, 2019
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02Dec

UK. Life expectancy advice risks turning savers into spenders

Online calculators that tell people their life expectancy may be having the perverse effect of discouraging them from choosing a guaranteed income in retirement, according to academic research. The study of 2,000 people found that they were less likely to buy an annuity — a guaranteed income for life — after using official life expectancy calculators such as that on the government’s Pension Wise service. People appeared to be making decisions that conventional economics could not explain when confronted...

December 2, 2019
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November 2019

20Nov

Netherlands Spares Pensioners Cuts in 2020 as Funds Rebuild Ratios

Millions of Dutch pensioners were spared cuts to their retirement income in 2020 after the government granted pension funds a year's grace period to restore sagging coverage ratios, although it said future cuts and higher premiums are likely. The retreat by Mark Rutte's centrist government had been widely expected, given anger among pensioners and national elections due in 2021. But the decision could hurt the reputation of the Netherlands' pension system, often rated 'best in the world' and framed...

November 20, 2019
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19Nov

US. Understanding The FedEx Pension Closure

“FedEx Closes Pension Plan to New Hires”: that’s the headline at the Wall Street Journal today. Or, as the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported, “FedEx to launch a new 401k plan with a higher match, but no pension with it. ” Superficially, it looks like a repeat of the same old story of employers taking pensions away from their employees. But, in fact, there are a few wrinkles here. In the first place, FedEx had already frozen its traditional pension plan,...

November 19, 2019
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19Nov

The human face of pension management

The Pensions Act 2004 placed more responsibility on employers to manage and protect their employees’ final salary pension benefits. Many companies welcomed the move, but subsequently found the additional requirements to address shortfalls in scheme funding and regulation an expensive and time-consuming administrative burden. As a result, a growing number of defined benefit pension scheme trustees and sponsors started to choose to transfer the risks associated with their pension schemes to specialist insurers such as the Pension Insurance Corporation...

November 19, 2019
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18Nov

Australian Pension Giants Join Global Push Into Private Credit

Australian pension funds are stepping up direct lending to companies, following their global peers into the booming market for private credit in a hunt for higher-yielding assets. UniSuper, IFM Investors and First State Super -- all giants in the nation’s A$2.9 trillion ($1.9 trillion) retirements savings pool -- are turning to the loan markets, taking on credit mandates or building out their own investment teams. Banks are “starting to exit some of these sectors, which creates a capital need for other...

November 18, 2019
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