December 2019

27Dec

Latvia. Investments in Sustainable Pension Plan Exceed 2 Million Euro

At the end of May, Citadele Bank’s subsidiary, CBL Asset Management, created Latvia’s first pension plan whose pension savings are invested in businesses which are the most sustainable in their respective industries: protecting the environment, taking care of their employees and acting responsibly in the long term. In just over six months, Latvia’s first pension plan based on responsible investments has been able to attract a relatively large amount of attention from the public, and currently, total assets have...

December 27, 2019
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10Dec

Canada’s second largest pension fund gets deadly serious about climate crisis

As world leaders converge at this week’s climate summit in Madrid to debate how best to shift to a net zero-economy, Michael Sabia is leaving the helm of Canada’s second-largest pension plan having firmly placed Quebec’s retirement savings at the forefront of the global movement for low-carbon investing. Sabia, who recently announced he’s stepping down from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) in early 2020, ushered in a fundamental change in how the $326 billion Quebec...

December 10, 2019
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06Dec

ESG investing to move faster in Asia

Although in its initial stages and faced with challenges, opportunities in ESG investing are rising in Asia. Thanks to a governmental push as well as growing ESG awareness and compliance among institutional investors, sustainability is quickly picking up in Asia, though challenges still exist. Featuring Christopher Hui, executive director, Financial Services Development Council; Karine Hirn, partner, chief sustainability officer, East Capital; William Ng, ESG engagement analyst, investment team, HSBC Global Asset Management; and Paul Milon, sustainability and ESG integration specialist, BNP...

December 6, 2019
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03Dec

Ghana. SSNIT commits to scheme’s sustainability

Management of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has indicated its intention to continue engaging the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) and other key stakeholders concerning recent agitations on the computation of past credit of contributors who are due for retirement effective January 1, 2020. Read also Nigeria: Court Orders Govt to Recover Pensions Paid to Ex-Governors Who Serve As Ministers, Senators Already, the NPRA has mandated the Trust to further compile a report on computation of past...

December 3, 2019
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03Dec

European Union’s Finance Ministers are confidentially opposing the ECB’s negative rates monetary policy

European Union's Finance Minister opposed ECB's negative rates policy in a confidential meeting. Negative rates have started to hurt the savings and pensions systems. Monetary policy’s banking transmission channels may also be threatened. Fabio Panetta says the benefits of low-rates policy outweigh the risks for now. Forex market has not responded lucratively to the recent proceedings at the ECB. President Trump has reiterated his support for the European Central Bank’s (ECB) negative rates policy on multiple occasions. Following the...

December 3, 2019
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February 2017

03Feb

Austerity, ageing and the financialisation of pensions policy in the UK

By Craig Berry This article offers a detailed analysis of the recent history of pensions policy in the United Kingdom, culminating in two apparent `revolutions' in policy now underway: the introduction of `automatic enrolment' into private pensions, and proposals for a new `single-tier' state pension. These reforms are considered exemplary of the `financialisation' of UK welfare provision -- typified in pensions policy by the notion that individuals must take personal responsibility for their own long-term financial security, and engage intimately...

February 3, 2017
Articles, Pension design, Regulation, System Sustainability,
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03Feb

Defined ambition pensions – Have the Dutch found the golden mean for retirement savings?

By Erik Schouten & Thurstan Robinson In February 2012, the UK minister for pensions proposed that companies should perhaps be able to provide a new type of pension – Defi ned Aspiration pensions or Defi ned Ambition (DA) pensions, as they are called in the Netherlands. In this article, we take a closer look at DA pensions, examining the Dutch experiences to date with the introduction of DA pensions . We look at what DA pensions have to offer employers...

February 3, 2017
Articles, Savings, System Sustainability, ,
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03Feb

Shrouded costs of government: The political economy of state and local public pensions

By Edward L. Glaeser, Giacomo A M Ponzetto Why do public-sector workers receive so much of their compensation in the form of pensions and other benefits? This paper presents a political economy model in which politicians compete for taxpayers' and government employees' votes by promising compensation packages, but some voters cannot evaluate every aspect of promised compensation. If pension packages are "shrouded," so that public-sector workers better understand their value than ordinary taxpayers, then compensation will be highly back-loaded. In...

February 3, 2017
Adequacy, Regulation, System Sustainability,
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03Feb

Taxing Pensions

By Pierre Pestieau and Helmuth Cremer There exists a wide variety of tax treatments of pensions across the world. And the reasons for such a range of regimes are not clear. This note reviews the general principles of pension taxes and analyses the theoretical foundations of why pension incomes ought to be taxed specifically. To do this, one has to distinguish between public and private pensions. The design of public pensions cannot be separated from the one of taxation. Regarding...

February 3, 2017
Regulation,
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03Feb

Pensions in Mexico A Long-Term Risk

By Victor M. Soria With the coming of economic globalization, over the last two decades, pre-existing problems in pension systems in practically all the countries of the world have sharpened. On the one hand, with increased life expectancy, the population pyramid now contains a larger number of retired persons and people ofretirement age; the increase in unemployment has lowered the number of contributors to social security systems; and on the other hand, financial liberalization and the economic adjustments brought by globalization...

February 3, 2017
Investing, Savings,
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