March 2017

09Mar

UK. L&G Operating Profit Rises 7 Percent on Boost From Pension Unit

Legal & General Group, the UK’s largest manager of pension assets, posted a 7 percent increase in full-year operating profit after earnings jumped at its retirement division. Operating profit advanced to 1.56 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) from 1.46 billion pounds a year earlier, according to a statement Wednesday. That compares with the average 1.62 billion-pound estimate of 21 analysts surveyed by L&G. Operating profit at the retirement division rose 27 percent, while earnings at the investment management unit increased 3...

March 9, 2017
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08Mar

Regulator’s Lisa rules highlight pension risk warnings

The Financial Conduct Authority has published the regulatory framework for the Lifetime Isa, less than a month before the product is due to be launched. The FCA provisional rules, published in November, remained largely unchanged in the final guidelines, with just a handful of key modifications, most significantly to risk warnings. No change was made to the FCA's decision to allow the Lifetime Isa to be sold without advice. The final rules come almost a year after former chancellor George Osborne announced...

March 8, 2017
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08Mar

63% of Irish women don’t know how to start a pension

A new study from Standard Life has warned that Irish women are falling behind when it comes to preparing for their future and life after retirement. It's concluded that the average woman needs €30,600 per annum to live comfortably after they retire - but female workers are saving only €1,500 per year. That excludes the maximum state pension of almost €12,400. "The best case scenario for the average woman is a retirement income of €13,900 per annum which is not enough...

March 8, 2017
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08Mar

World’s Biggest Pension Fund Finds Friend in Trump

One of the world’s most conservative investors has found an unlikely new ally in one of its most flamboyant politicians: Donald Trump. The unconventional president-elect’s victory is helping Japan’s giant pension fund in two important ways. First, it’s sending stock markets surging, both at home and overseas, which is good news for the largely passive equity investor. Second, it’s spurred a tumble in the yen, which increases the value of the Japanese manager’s overseas investments. After the $1.2 trillion Government...

March 8, 2017
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07Mar

The State of State Teachers’ Pension Plans

As teachers across the country retire, their pensions are being subsidized by newly hired teachers to a surprising degree. Teachers’ pension plans have always rewarded long-serving veterans at the expense of short-termers. But now, as more and more plans develop shortfalls, states have been imposing cost-cutting measures, and recent research shows that the newest hires are bearing the brunt of the changes, raising questions of fairness. The Plans Received Low Marks The Urban Institute has graded America’s state-run pension systems on...

March 7, 2017
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07Mar

US: GM to Take on $3 Billion in Debt to Fund Pensions Moved to Peugeot

General Motors expects to raise about $3 billion in debt to fund pension obligations it plans to transfer to Peugeot as part of the sale of its European business, said finance chief Chuck Stevens. The US auto maker on Monday said it had agreed to sell its European operations, including its Adam Opel AG subsidiary, for about $1.4 billion, withdrawing from a region where it hasn’t made a profit in more than 15 years. The company has European pension liabilities of...

March 7, 2017
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07Mar

Long-Term Disability: Forgotten Risk to Retirement Income

Drains on retirement income abound. That’s natural in the course of daily life. But one of them — long-term disability — is largely unheralded, despite its being less than rare, argues a recent analysis. In “Addressing the Risk of Long-Term Disability on Retirement Income,” an article appearing in the Journal of Pension Planning & Compliance, David Kaleda, Emily See and Matt Schoen argue that long-term disability is a “hidden threat” to millions of workers’ retirement security. The root of the...

March 7, 2017
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06Mar

Arcadia to double pensions payments as Sir Philip Green charts comeback

Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group is to double its top-up payments to its pension scheme, in another step in the billionaire businessman’s bid to regain credibility. Arcadia, the parent company of high street brands such as Topshop and Dorothy Perkins, plans to increase its annual payments into the scheme from £25m to £50m in order to tackle the fund’s deficit. The latest figures showed Arcadia’s deficit was around £190m, but a revaluation process which happens every three years and is currently...

March 6, 2017
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06Mar

Nigeria: Organized labour tackles Government over conflicting pension law

The leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have threatened showdown with Ebonyi State Government over conflicting pension legislation being considered by the Ebonyi State House of Assembly. The two labour centres expressed the concerns via a joint letter dated 21st February, 2017, sent to Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi state and co-signed by Ayuba Wabba, NLC President and Boboi Kaigama, TUC President, respectively. The unions in the letter which was also sent to the Secretary to...

March 6, 2017
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06Mar

Ireland: Pension schemes called to step in and close gap in green energy

Eyebrows may have been raised worldwide by Donald Trump's selection of oil-drilling advocate Rick Perry as his energy secretary, and of climate-change sceptic Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. But, these and other fossil-fuel-friendly picks may actually lead to investment opportunities in renewable energy and sustainable natural resources. Any drop in funding from political sources represents an opportunity for investors to bridge the gap. As a result, Mr Trump's election and his climate-change-sceptic cabinet may increase the role...

March 6, 2017
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