January 2024
08Jan

Romanian private pension funds’ assets up 31.4% y/y in 2023

Assets held by Romania's seven mandatory private pension funds in 2023 rose 31.4% to 126.7 billion lei ($27.87 billion) while the average yield climbed to a record high 17.94%, the industry's association said on Monday. The European Union member state overhauled its communist-era pension system in 2008, making it compulsory for working Romanians under 35 to contribute to a "second pillar" of private pension schemes as well as their state pension. Roughly 8.1 million Romanians contribute to the seven funds, which...

January 8, 2024
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05Jan

Kenya. State lost Sh67bn in irregular pension payments, audit shows

What you need to know: Sh21 billion was paid to 29,387 claimants with shared bank accounts. Sh44.07 billion was irregularly paid to 221,590 claimants with irregular and no tax PIN. Sh1.62 billion paid in lump sum to 962 claimants before their exit dates from public service. The government lost at least Sh67 billion in irregular payments made by the National Treasury’s pensions department, a recent audit by the Auditor-General revealed. The amount paid to undeserving cases is sufficient to construct enough...

January 5, 2024
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04Jan

Millennials vs. Boomers: Which Generation Is Better Prepared for Retirement?

Many boomers are currently retired or on the cusp of retirement, so it wouldn’t be a far-off guess to assume that boomers are better prepared financially for this phase of life. However, a recent Vanguard study found that millennials are actually better prepared for retirement than baby boomers. The study found that millennials who are median-income earners will be able to generate sustainable retirement income equal to 58% of their pre-retirement earnings, while median-income boomers will be able to generate sustainable retirement income...

January 4, 2024
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03Jan

Huge risks for pensions in South Africa

South Africa will have a new two-pot retirement system by September this year, but there are several risks facing members and the industry. As the name suggests, the two-pot retirement system will have two pots – savings and retirement savings. The savings pot will hold a maximum of one-third of all retirement savings and will be accessible prior to retirement. The retirement pot will hold a minimum of two-thirds of all retirement savings and will only be accessible at retirement. A third vested...

January 3, 2024
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03Jan

Nigeria. Stakeholders Worry Over Slow Pace Of Micro Pension Plan

The ever slow pace with which Micro Pension Plan (MPP) is being subscribed to has been a source for concern for the operators, regulators and other stake­holders. Launched by the immediate past Pres­ident Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, four years down the line not much has been achieved in terms of numbers of contrib­utors and of course, micro pension assets under management. The MPP was launched to bring into the pension net, work­ers in the informal sector of the economy who are...

January 3, 2024
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December 2023
19Dec

Nigeria. PenCom asks employees of defunct organizations to reclaim their unpaid pension contributions

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has called on former employees of defunct banks and other organizations in the country to approach their Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to reclaim the N12 billion in the Transition Contribution Funds (TCF) in their custody. According to the commission, the defunct organisations include Diamond, Intercontinental, Citizen, Mainstream and Oceanic Banks whose workers have yet to claim their funds. Speaking at a media parley organised by the Pension Fund Operators (PenOp), PenCom’s Director-General, Aisha Daniel-Umar, said that...

December 19, 2023
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15Dec

The Shift that Redefined Retirement Security

By Shashwat Vidhu Sher Retirement plans have been a standard feature of public and private sector employers in the United States since the early 1900s. Although Defined Benefit plans were the mainstay of most pensions plans for much of the twentieth century, there was a massive shift in the 1980s, mainly in the private sector, towards Defined Contribution plans like 401(k). The paper argues that government policies for the private sector, new employer-employee relationship, job-switching, and familiarity with the financial...

December 15, 2023
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November 2023
30Nov

UK. Stop funding fossil fuels, ‘The Crown’ star urges pensions in ad

It's a curious combination: celebrities and pension funds. Rarely do the two mix, but when they do, they often make the news. A new advert, launched earlier this week, featuring Oscar-winning actress Olivia Colman, called on UK pension members to lobby their funds to cut fossil fuels investments. “The cash from your pensions has helped us dig, drill and destroy more of the planet than ever before,” she says in the advert. Posted on YouTube and the group’s website, among other platforms,...

November 30, 2023
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30Nov

US. IRS announces retirement plan contribution limits for 2024

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the dollar limitations for retirement plans for the 2024 tax year. The 403(b) & 457(b) contribution limits have increased from $22,500 to $23,000 with an age 50 catch-up contribution of $7,500, which remains unchanged. Employees wanting to enroll into a Supplemental Retirement Account or make changes to an existing account should complete the electronic Salary Reduction Agreement. The deadline to submit SRA changes or new account enrollments to begin on the first pay in 2024 (Jan. 12) is 5 p.m....

November 30, 2023
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29Nov

60% in the UK is risk of lower living standard in retirement due to low contributions

Research from Gresham House, the specialist sustainable investment manager, has revealed that 60 per cent of people in the UK are at risk of having a sub-standard of living in retirement due to low pension contributions. To ensure more people put aside money for retirement, the government and pension providers must highlight the benefits that contributing can have. According to Gresham House, 69 per cent of 16- to 35-year-olds said they would support their pension fund adopting a place-based impact investing approach....

November 29, 2023
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