June 2020

25Jun

South Africa: UCT Urged to ‘Prioritise Mentorship’

When Malizole Mdlekeza was a youngster, children his age dreamed of becoming doctors and engineers. But he dreamed of becoming the next Michael Schumacher or Lewis Hamilton. Mdlekeza simply loved the thrill of racing cars and turning this passion into a career was once on the cards. A lot has changed since then, and let's just say his other love - actuarial science - took pole position when this maths and science buff chose his career path at the...

June 25, 2020
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24Jun

Pension funds expect more focused passive approach

The current COVID-19 downturn and maturation of traditional indexed investments is pushing pension fund investors to consider more focused passive investments. This "theme investing," as it is referred to in a recent study from DWS and CREATE-Research, should gain traction as investors look to invest passively, albeit more selectively. Growth in broad market passive investments and exchange-traded funds are expected to level off or even decline over the next three years, according to survey data, while ESG and thematic...

June 24, 2020
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24Jun

Kenya proposes CMA to regulate private equity firms

Kenya, a popular investment destination for private equity (PE) firms, has proposed measures to make the operations of PE firms and venture capitalists more transparent by bringing them under the scrutiny of the Capital Markets Authority (CMA). Read also The Mixed Case for Private Equity in Retirement Plans The plan is already causing disquiet among PE firms whose fund raising and choice of companies to invest in is often shrouded in secrecy. The measures were announced by the National Treasury...

June 24, 2020
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24Jun

‘Alarming number’: Boomers struggle to save enough for retirement, survey finds

Many baby boomers don’t have nearly enough money to retire. The median amount they have saved for retirement is $144,000, according to a recent survey from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a figure that should be a “call to action” for boomers, said one financial expert. “When we think about it, $144,000 to last in retirement that could be 20 or 30 years just isn’t going to go very far,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Transamerica...

June 24, 2020
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24Jun

US. New Labor Department rule reinforces pension funds’ fiduciary duties.

The Labor Department proposed a rule Tuesday that will govern how the $10.7 trillion invested in private pension plans should be managed in light of the push to consider the environment, social factors and corporate governance, or ESG, when making investment decisions. According to Morningstar, from 2018-19 flows into “sustainable” funds increased nearly fourfold, and the number of conventional funds claiming to consider ESG factors rose to 564 from 81. More than 3,100 institutional investors and businesses that provide...

June 24, 2020
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23Jun

European Parliament Approves CRR “Quick Fix” to Mitigate Economic Consequences of COVID-19

The measures grant relief for EU banks to enhance bank lending to companies and households. Read also Pension funds expect more focused passive approach On 18 June 2020, the European Parliament approved the so-called CRR “quick fix” to Regulation (EU) 575/2013 (Capital Requirement Regulation (CRR)) and Regulation 2019/876 (Capital Requirement Regulation 2 (CRR2)) to mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19. The temporary measures are, inter alia, intended to enhance credit flows to companies and households, thereby supporting the EU’s economy....

June 23, 2020
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23Jun

How COVID-19 is impacting Nigeria’s pensions industry

Monthly data from Nigeria’s pensions industry shows that the country’s total pension fund assets stood at 10.6 trillion naira as at April this year with Federal Government Securities weighing 66.25 per cent of the total pension fund assets. The data also showed that new retirement savings account grew 85 per cent less in April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. Pabina Yinkere, Chief Investment Officer at Sigma Pensions joins CNBC Africa for more. Read more @CBC Africa

June 23, 2020
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23Jun

COVID19 impact on the pension risk transfer market

This has had a compounding impact on the premium rates insurers charge for BPA policies. The strong demand from trustees and sponsors of pension schemes to purchase BPAs during 2019 gave insurers a strong negotiating hand to choose which counterparties they would engage with. Consequently, insurers’ focus has gravitated towards larger transactions (where the prize was worth the risk of being unsuccessful). Whilst competition amongst insurers enabled larger schemes to maintain a comparatively strong negotiating...

June 23, 2020
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23Jun

Impact of COVID-19 on the FinTech Industry

In a matter of months, the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed our world. What started as a global standstill is quickly turning into a race to adapt as new data pours in, and we get a better vision of our new reality. With global productivity still in recovery, we are facing an unprecedented economic downturn that will impact the financial stability of individuals and businesses for months and even years to come. Though short-term recovery plans will enable many...

June 23, 2020
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22Jun

UK. TPR urged to nudge savers back into pensions

Employees who have opted out of their workplace pension during the coronavirus crisis should be encouraged back into saving more quickly than usual, MPs have said. Read also UK. Key workers being targeted by pension transfer scammers – APJ The Work and Pensions committee urged the Pensions Regulator (TPR) to consider helping such workers re-enrol sooner than the current three-year timeframe under auto-enrolment rules. Read also India. Govt may restrict foreign investment in pension funds The committee believes this is important...

June 22, 2020
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