April 2017

07Apr

UK Government consults on early exit charges and pension commission regulations

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has launched a consultation on draft regulations regarding the cap on early exit charges for occupational pension schemes and restrictions on member-borne commission payments. The consultation, which will run until 31 May 2017, seeks views on the draft Occupation Pension Schemes (Charges and Governance) (Amendment) Regulations 2017. These regulations would restrict early exit charges for members of workplace pension schemes to enable eligible members over the age of 55 to take advantage of the...

April 7, 2017
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06Apr

Rising Risks for Retirement Savers

As America’s population ages, opportunities for a secure retirement should increase. But the opposite is happening. And things are likely to get worse in the Trump years. A measure passed recently by congressional Republicans and awaiting President Trump’s all-but-certain signature will reverse a rule, passed in the last year of the Obama administration, allowing cities and counties to organize savings plans for private-sector workers who have no employer-provided retirement coverage. Another measure, blocking states from sponsoring similar retirement savings plans,...

April 6, 2017
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06Apr

Biggest Pension Fund Faces Yen Risk as Trump Rally Fades

The world’s biggest pension may find that when it comes to returns on its $1.3 trillion in assets, Donald Trump giveth and taketh away. What started as a rally in stocks on his presidential victory five months ago turned into a slump this year, making it harder for Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund to beat its record $92 billion gain in the fourth quarter, according to SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. and BNP Paribas Securities Ltd. in Tokyo. GPIF may announce...

April 6, 2017
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06Apr

Greece Said to Near Bailout Compromise on Pensions, Taxes

Greece and its creditors are closing in on a deal over the reforms needed to unlock fresh loans for the country, even as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras warned that a summit of euro-area leaders may be required if an agreement isn’t reached by Friday. In a proposed compromise discussed on Tuesday, Greece would reduce its pension outlays by 1 percent of gross domestic product in 2019 and lower its tax-free threshold in 2020 by a similar amount, according to three...

April 6, 2017
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06Apr

Here’s what the US could learn from Singapore’s plan for aging workers

At Chatters, a small café in the lobby of a hospital, the staff frothing cappuccinos and managing the register aren't your typical young baristas. That's because every employee must be at least 55. "It keeps my mind moving," said Sally Chung, 72, a retired accountant, who manages the café and does the books. The café's age requirement reflects a demographic trend this city-state of 5.6 million people is trying to confront: the population is getting old — fast. In 2015, one in...

April 6, 2017
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06Apr

Lifetime Isa chaos: Fees could leave savers £60k worse off than pensions

The Government's Lifetime Isa scheme is in chaos as not a single high street bank is offering the accounts, amid fears it could result in a mis-selling scandal. Despite officially launching on April 6 just three providers have agreed to offer the accounts, one of which was last night accused of ripping off savers by charging "disturbingly" high fees. Daily Telegraph calculations reveal that the Share Centre's Lifetime Isa will leave savers as much as £60,000 worse off than they would...

April 6, 2017
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06Apr

President Trump’s Directive Just Cost Investors $181 Million This Year

A US regulation requiring retirement advisers to put their clients’ best interests before their own profits when advising clients was slated to go into effect next Tuesday, but President Trump’s Labor Department on Tuesday announced a decision delaying the fiduciary rule by 60 days amid pressures from the financial industry. The problem is that even the 60-day delay —let alone any further decision to scale back the rule or rescind it outright —will impact working people’s retirement accounts. Even the...

April 6, 2017
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05Apr

New report suggests a ‘fully-funded’ expanded Canada Pension Plan might not be such a sure thing

A new report that looks at the federal government’s blueprint for an expanded Canada Pension Plan warns the larger payouts are predicated on returns that may not materialize over the next 40-75 years. The C.D. Howe Institute in a paper out Tuesday is calling on Ottawa to be more forthcoming about the potential investment risk for the plan, suggesting that over the next 40 years the expanded plan will achieve 90 per cent of targeted benefits only 54 per cent...

April 5, 2017
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05Apr

Workers at BMW to stage series of strikes amid row over pensions

Workers at car giant BMW are to stage a series of eight 24-hour strikes from later this month in a dispute over pensions. Members of Unite will walk out at different locations from April 19 until May 24, following a huge vote in favour of industrial action. Unite said the strikes will “significantly disrupt” production of cars including the Mini. The union said closure of the BMW occupational pension scheme by the end of May could see some workers lose up to...

April 5, 2017
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05Apr

Some granularity on the Mexican pension industry

BlackRock has published a research report about pension funds in Mexico, a report produced as part of its broader research project looking into the state of the pension fund industry around the globe. It shows that the cause of alternatrive investments as a group is the cause of diversification for institutional investrors whose long-tailed liabilities impose upon them long temporal horizons. The Mexico report explains that the country’s Administradoras de Fondos Para el Retiro (AFOREs) operate in a regulatory environment...

April 5, 2017
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