June 2020

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....

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

UK. Long-awaited pensions dashboard enters next phase

The Money and Pension Service (MaPS) has announced that the Pensions Dashboard Programme (PDP) has moved into the next stage of the building process. The new platform will enable people to view all their pensions in one place, with the PDP having the responsibility to design and implement the new technology. Today marks the start of six weeks of “informal market engagement” which will enable the PDP to evaluate the efficiency and capacity of potential firms who could supply...

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...

Covid-19 pandemic: Africa is outperfoming the rest of the world

Obscured by the myriad stories of coronavirus global devastation are three headlines from the continent with no shortage of epidemics, man-made and natural disasters. That would be Africa. Of its 54 countries, six are among the top 10 fastest-growing economies in the world this year. The continent is the favorite bazaar for appreciating equity after Eastern Europe and has one of the stock market's best-performing industries: communications. Africa finds itself with fewer Covid-19 cases than other heavily...

UK. Sustainable Investment And The Race to Zero Emissions During The Covid-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) threw the world's health, economic and financial systems into disarray, but the pandemic did little to distract the U.K. from the climate crisis. A recent survey by Ipsos shows two-thirds of Britons consider climate change to be as serious as the pandemic, and the majority support a green economic recovery. Their voices are not unheard, since leaders at all levels of society are strategizing ways to "build back better" for our planet. The UN's...

The future of aging in the US

What does the future of aging in America look like? For answers, every year we ask some of our newest Influencers in Aging to offer their views at the American Society on Aging’s Aging in America conference. The pandemic turned this year’s in-person panel into a June 11 webinar, and the Influencers’ forecasts — as well as their laments — couldn’t have been timelier. “I want to acknowledge that we as a country have had a few rough months...

UK Pension Market Report 2020

By Research and Markets In 2019, UK pension funds received total contributions of £241 billion, representing a 10% rise over the level of 2018. In 2019, contributions to workplace pensions represented 70% of total contributions and this is expected to rise to 71% in 2020. In 2019, the publisher estimates that 2.4 million new pension products were sold to members of the public. In 2019, just over 21 million employees in the UK had a workplace pension with most of...

The Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Pensions

By Charles Sutcliffe COVID-19 and the lockdowns have had a big global economic effect, as well as increasing mortality. We examine the effects of COVID-19 and the resulting relaxations of pension regulations on pension schemes. Those who transfer their pension or withdraw cash from their pension pot while asset prices are depressed by COVID-19 are losers; as are members of defined benefit schemes with a deficit whose employer fails due to COVID-19. The increased mortality from covid-19 will have...

Emergency Funds in the Wake of the Coronavirus

By Margaret Ryznar The CARES Act targeting the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic allows taxpayers to withdraw up to $100,000 from their retirement savings, such as section 401(k) plans, without the typical 10% penalty for early withdrawal. However, retirement accounts do not make for ideal emergency funds. This Article therefore advocates that future legislation should incentivize separate savings funds. Source: SSRN