October 2017

27Oct

Serbia’s pensioners rally against government austerity measures

Hundreds of Serbian pensioners rallied in Belgrade on Thursday to protest austerity measures introduced as part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.41 billion) loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. Chanting “thieves” and carrying banners reading “we are hungry”, the pensioners demanded that the government and Serbia’s constitutional court annul austerity cuts imposed in 2014 and refund lost pension payouts. The government of then Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic signed a three-year loan deal with the IMF in February 2015 after Belgrade...

October 27, 2017
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27Oct

Principal to Acquire MetLife Afore in Mexico

Today, Principal Financial Group® announced it has signed an agreement to acquire full ownership of MetLife Afore, S.A. de C.V. (“MetLife Afore”), MetLife, Inc.’s pension fund management business in Mexico, subject to regulatory approval. With nearly 25 years in Mexico, Principal is committed to growing across its mandatory pension, voluntary long-term savings, and mutual funds businesses. “As the middle class in emerging markets continues to grow, there is increasing demand for long-term retirement and investing products that enable individuals to...

October 27, 2017
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27Oct

UK pension schemes told to give more detail on investments, costs

UK pension schemes should give more information to members about their investments and how much asset managers are charging them to run members’ money, the government said on Thursday. The move is the latest attempt by the authorities to increase transparency in the market for pensions and investments. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said a failure to provide the information could see occupational workplace pension scheme trustees fined up to 50,000 pounds from April, 2018, under the proposed...

October 27, 2017
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27Oct

Kenya. Concern over county governments failure to remit employee pension

County governments have not remitted Sh30 billion to employees' pension and provident funds. According to CPF Financial Services Group, the administrators of both schemes, counties had not remitted Sh12 billion to the Local Authorities Provident Fund (LapFund) as at September 30 2017. The devolved units had also not remitted Sh18 billion to the Local Authorities Pensions Trust (Laptrust), according to an earlier report by CPF Group. “We had earlier revealed that county governments have not remitted Sh18 billion to Laptrust....

October 27, 2017
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26Oct

UK. Mediator picked to resolve Royal Mail pensions row with union

Royal Mail and the Communications Workers Union have appointed Lynette Harris of Britain’s Central Arbitration Committee to mediate in a row over plans to replace the company’s defined benefit pension scheme. The talks, which will cover pay, pensions and other issues, will run for seven weeks and could be extended in order to reach a deal, Royal Mail said in a statement on Wednesday.  The CWU has been at odds with Royal Mail since April over its plans to save billions...

October 26, 2017
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26Oct

Bosnian pensioners stage street protests for pension rise

Thousands of pensioners from across Bosnia’s Bosniak-Croat Federation, most of whom live on the edge of poverty, took to the streets in Sarajevo on Wednesday to protest for a rise in pensions and better social and health care. Out of about 410,000 pensioners living in the Bosnian region, nearly two-thirds live on minimum payments of 326 Bosnian marka ($196) a month, while the average pension amounts to 370 marka compared to an average wage of 870 marka. With five pensioners to...

October 26, 2017
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26Oct

UK. Fewer pensioners ‘splurging irresponsibly’

Critics said the new pension freedom rules, which have seen £14bn ($18.4bn, €15.7bn) withdrawn from pensions, were irresponsible and would encourage profligacy. Instead, money was mostly put in banks and average withdrawal per person hit a new low (£8,030) in 3Q17. Online investment platform AJ Bell suggests the FCA data shows “people aren’t on the whole splurging irresponsibly”, even if 40,000 more people chose to access their retirement pot flexibly in 3Q17 versus the same period in 2016. Engagement gap Tom Selby,...

October 26, 2017
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26Oct

US. GOP shouldn’t raid 401(k) plans to pay for tax cuts

Republicans in Congress are planning to include a proposal in their tax reform bill that would push millions of Americans to save less for retirement. Despite President Trump tweeting his strong and unambiguous opposition to the plan on Monday, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady made clear on Wednesday that the proposal that makes changes to 401(k) retirement savings plans is still likely to be included in the House Republicans' tax legislation scheduled for committee consideration next...

October 26, 2017
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25Oct

US. Nearly 1 in 5 Pension Plans Are Overfunded

Nineteen percent of defined benefit plan sponsors in a survey released Tuesday by investment consulting firm NEPC reported funded status of more than 101%, up from 9% a year ago. NEPC noted that this was the highest funded status since it inaugurated the survey in 2011. Of the overfunded plans, 65% invest in alternatives, and 55% use liability-driven investment strategies, with a majority of users executing with derivatives. The rising of variable rate premiums, implemented by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.,...

October 25, 2017
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25Oct

UK. Peers demand ban on pensions cold-calling after inflicting embarrassing defeat on the Government

Peers last night demanded a ban on pensioner cold-calling as the House of Lords inflicted an embarrassing defeat on the Government in the Lords. The House of Lords backed a cross-party amendment calling for unsolicited calls to be outlawed by 253 votes to 205. The Government originally pledged to ban pensioner cold calling in September last year but has since ruled out any legislation until 2020. However, a group of cross-party peers warned that the delay would see millions more people...

October 25, 2017
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