August 2020

28Aug

Job and Wage Losses in Informal Sector due to the COVID-19 Lockdown Measures in India

By Xavier Estupinan, Mohit Sharma This paper estimates the job and wage losses of workers, using the lens of informality, due to lockdown measures undertaken by the Government of India to tackle the spread of COVID-19. It focuses on the first two lockdowns when containment measures in India were most stringent in the world. We estimate that 104 million and 69.4 million informally employed workers were at risk of job loss in Lockdown 1.0 and Lockdown 2.0 respectively. Informal...

August 28, 2020
Articles, Labor Market, , , ,
Read more...
28Aug

Pension System in Guinea Bissau: Key Challenges and Prospects for the Future

By Philippe Auffret The government of Guinea Bissau is considering implementing the pension fund included in the 2015 Budget Law. It requested a technical assistance from the World Bank to conduct an initial diagnostic of the pension system with a focus on the public service pension scheme. The objective of this note is an initial step to respond to this request. The analysis shows that it is not recommendable for Guinea Bissau to set up a pension fund for the...

August 28, 2020
Articles, Pension design, ,
Read more...
28Aug

COVID-19 Infections, Labour Market Shocks, and Subjective Well-Being

By Ferdi Botha, John P. Haisken-DeNew This is the first paper to present novel findings on how simultaneously (a) labour market shocks and (b) infections in the household, directly due to COVID-19, have impacted on life satisfaction and domain satisfactions. Using data from a world-wide online survey of almost 5,700 respondents across six countries, we estimate the associations of COVID-19-related labour market shocks and COVID-19 infection with life satisfaction and a range of domain satisfactions. Directly due to COVID-19,...

August 28, 2020
Articles, Labor Market, , , ,
Read more...
28Aug

UK. The Department for Work and Pensions publishes consultation on pension climate risk

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a consultation, setting out proposals for larger occupational pension schemes and authorised master trusts to publish their climate risk financial disclosures. The consultation, published 26 August 2020, recommends that trustees of large occupational pension schemes must have effective governance, strategy, risk management and accompanying metric targets, to manage climate risk and opportunities in the market from October 2021. The DWP has recommended that trustees calculate the carbon footprint of pension...

August 28, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
28Aug

Canadian Pension Fund Sues Walmart over Alleged Role in Opioid Crisis

The Ontario Provincial Council of Carpenters’ Pension Trust Fund is suing retail giant Walmart Inc. in search of documents to investigate potential corporate misconduct and/or mismanagement by its board. The lawsuit said the “demands arise from a troubling set of facts concerning the company’s role in the opioid epidemic.” According to the lawsuit, Walmart “utterly lacked legally required controls designed to flag and stop the diversion of opioid prescriptions into illicit channels,” and it is “in direct violation of...

August 28, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
28Aug

US. The Future for ESG Investing in Retirement Plans

The department of labor (DOL)’S proposed rule on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment practices, published in June, intended to add clarity to years of obscure regulatory guidance. Instead, it’s created a layer of complexity among fiduciaries and has fueled more than 1,000 critical comments. The proposed regulation restates that plan sponsors in defined contribution (DC) plans cannot disregard financial approaches in an effort to pursue ESG-related considerations without violating their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security...

August 28, 2020
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
27Aug

UK ‘lifeboat’ scheme for company pensions at risk

A former minister has warned that the government’s “lifeboat” scheme for company pensions is at risk from a huge wave of corporate defaults which in extreme circumstances could result in a 10% cut to pensioner incomes. Read also UK. Why we’re largely a nation of ‘no clues’ on pensions The Pension Protection Fund is the “insurance policy” for millions of people in final salary-style company pension schemes, promising to pay out if the employer becomes insolvent. It is funded by...

August 27, 2020
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
27Aug

South Africa. Govt won’t force pensions to be invested in infrastructure projects, says deputy fin minister

- Government does not intend to force pensions to be invested in certain assets, says Deputy Finance Minister David Masondo. - Amendments to regulation 28 of the Pension Funds Act is purely to broaden the scope of investments trustees of funds can consider, he said. - Masondo says trustees have a fiduciary duty to deliver better returns to members of funds. Government has no intention of forcing pension funds to invest in specified projects or assets which...

August 27, 2020
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
27Aug

UK. Taking action on climate risk: improving governance and reporting by occupational pension schemes

This consultation seeks views on policy proposals to require trustees of larger occupational pension schemes and authorised schemes to have effective governance, strategy, risk management and accompanying metrics and targets for the assessment and management of climate risks and opportunities. It also invites responses on proposals to disclose these in line with the recommendations of the international industry-led Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). It is proposed that among the activities required would be calculating the ‘carbon footprint’...

August 27, 2020
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
26Aug

After Private Pensions, Peru’s Congress Turns to Public Funds for COVID-19 Relief

Peru's Congress approved a law on Tuesday that allows citizens to partially draw down their contributions to the state pension fund, a few months after doing the same with the private system and despite fierce opposition from the government. Read also What The Pandemic Has Revealed About Retirement Plans With 106 votes in favor, three against and 15 abstentions, the fractured, opposition-dominated chamber gave the go-ahead for Social Security Office (ONP) affiliates to withdraw up to $4,300 ($1,200) to mitigate...

August 26, 2020
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...