October 2019

14Oct

AfDB, Japan to promote sustainability bond markets in Africa

The African Development Bank and Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) have signed a partnership to promote environmental, social and governance investments in the global capital markets. Read also Kenya. Pensions uptake low as returns increase In a statement the Bank noted that the collaboration between the Bank and GPIF will focus on channelling investments towards inclusive and sustainable growth in Africa, contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Read also Pension schemes to benefit from PE investment guide...

October 14, 2019
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11Oct

Low fees, payouts starve Uganda pensions industry

Latest data compiled by Uganda’s pension industry regulator has revealed shifts in market share rankings posted by local fund managers, underlying revenue risks and skewed opportunities enjoyed by big banks against small peers in terms of access to fat, short term deposits supplied by pension schemes. Read also Zimbabwe. Pensioners to get express cash The data shows Sanlam Investments Uganda Ltd recorded the highest share of pension scheme assets under management between April and June 2019, amounting to Ush822.4 billion...

October 11, 2019
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September 2019

23Sep

The U.S. Didn’t Make the Top 10 Best Countries for Retirement

The United States could learn quite a bit from other countries around the world when it comes to retirement security, according to a new report. The annual Global Retirement Index, started by Paris-based investment bank Natixis Investment Managers, analyzes four key indexes: finances in retirement, including taxes and the old-age dependency ratio; health, such as life expectancy and expenses; “material well being,” which is income equality and unemployment; and quality of life, including happiness and water quality. Iceland topped...

September 23, 2019
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05Sep

The road to bankruptcy: Romania’s fiscal deficit to reach 8 pct of GDP by 2022 if the new pension law is implemented, IMF says

The new pension law could double Romania’s already sizable fiscal deficit, which could reach 8 percent of GDP by 2022, and raise external financing needs to excessive levels if it will be implemented as is without offsetting policy measures, International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts warn. For 2019, IMF estimates a fiscal deficit of 3.7 percent of GDP in Romania. The government has enacted a new law that will double the pillar I pension benefits by 2022, without yet spelling...

September 5, 2019
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05Sep

South Africa. How SA Can Create a Safe and Sustainable Environment for Retirement

Socially responsible investing is a topic that still does not get the necessary attention in the retirement fund industry. This is despite the fact that Boards of Trustees and Management Committees of retirement funds have a clear fiduciary duty in this regard. Corporate failures related to a lack of proper governance have destroyed close to R800 billion in value for retirement fund members in recent times. Uncertainties related to government policies such as prescribed assets have become an additional...

September 5, 2019
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04Sep

Secrets to Success in Managing a Pension Fund

How often does it happen that a public pension fund chooses someone to manage its money — and then sticks with that person for 43 years? Only one streak I know of has lasted this long. The Atlanta-based investment counseling firm Bowen, Hanes and Company Inc., run by Jay Bowen, has received national acclaim for its long tenure overseeing the Tampa Fire and Police Pension Fund. Bowen, who is both chief executive and chief investment officer of his firm,...

September 4, 2019
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04Sep

US. Is Working Longer The Solution To The Retirement Crisis?

It’s an unavoidable fact: in our broken pension system, millions of older Americans lack the means to retire with dignity. Individual workers want a full retirement and are willing to take responsibility for it. Profligate spending—drinking too many lattes—is not the reason most Americans don’t have decent pensions. It is the do-it-yourself, commercial, voluntary system that has failed Americans planning for retirement Some policy makers (typically fit as a fiddle and happily employed as academics or Senators) have...

September 4, 2019
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03Sep

Japan pension funds boost alternative assets in yield hunt, Mizuho says

Japanese pension funds are showing a growing appetite for investing in real estate and corporate debt as they seek higher returns in alternative assets amid ultra-low yields, the head of Mizuho Financial Group’s trust banking arm said. But the famously conservative investors probably won’t want a bite of SoftBank Group Corp’s new Vision Fund, Tetsuo Iimori, the chief executive of Mizuho Trust and Banking, told Reuters. Years of ultra-low interest rates have forced the hand of Japan’s mammoth pensions...

September 3, 2019
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August 2019
30Aug

Why is Inequality Higher Among the Old? Evidence from China

By Katja Hanewald, Ruo Jia, Zining Liu This paper studies income inequality in old age and its development over the life cycle. We develop a theoretical framework and a new empirical method to show that income is more unequally distributed in old age than in working age. We combine the regression-based inequality decomposition method and the three-step mediating effect test to analyze the transmission of income inequality from initial socioeconomic differences to income inequality in old age. Our study...

August 30, 2019
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23Aug

Bridging Public Pension Funds and Infrastructure Investing

By Clive Lipshitz, Ingo Walter Underfunding of U.S. public pensions is a chronic policy issue that has become more severe over time. Public pension obligations were estimated at $5.96 trillion at the end of 2017 supported by assets of $4.33 trillion — a shortfall of $1.63 trillion and a ‘funded-ratio’ of 72.6%. We consider the sustainability of public pension systems in the face of changing demographics and frequently inadequate funding and investment returns, and make the connection to the...

August 23, 2019
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