August 2020

26Aug

UK pensioners lose £30m to scammers

Pension savers claim over £30m ($39.4m) has been lost to scams over the past three years, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and The Pensions Regulator. Pension pots of all sizes have been victims of scams, with reported losses ranging from under £1,000 to as much as £500,000. A total of £30,857,329 has been reportedly lost to pension scammers since 2017, according to complaints filed with Action Fraud. However, the true number of scams is likely to be...

August 26, 2020
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25Aug

What The Pandemic Has Revealed About Retirement Plans

This year has been a real eye-opener for many pre-retirees and retirees. Over the years, most people heard warnings and advice from retirement advisors about various aspects of their plans. The warnings were based on a combination of data and anecdotes and often didn’t hit home or inspire urgency. But the Covid-19 pandemic compressed many events into a short period and affected the entire country. Suddenly, the concerns weren’t theoretical or something to worry about years from now. A...

August 25, 2020
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25Aug

Nigeria’s Federal Government Releases N14.92bn for Payment of Pension to Retirees

The federal government has released the sum of N14.92 billion for the payment of accrued rights for retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme(CPS). Read also Nigeria. Axa close to selling off pension fund arm According to a statement issued yesterday by the National Pensions Commission (PenCom), the disbursement will offset four months’ arrears. Read also Pakistan. The politics of pension reform The accrued pension rights represent an employee’s benefits for the past years of service up to June 2004, when the...

August 25, 2020
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25Aug

Greece. Wave of Pension Applications Swamp Overwhelmed Greek System

Greece's New Democracy government, which said retroactive pension payments ordered by the country's highest administrative court would begin in September, is also being hit with a deluge of applications for new pensions. The backlog could hit more than 300,000, said Kathimerini, and return the country to when beneficiaries had to wait two years or longer for their first check and were barred under law from working during that time. There was a big jump in people filing in January...

August 25, 2020
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21Aug

Australia. Govt now says Centrelink pensions might not go up, but won’t go backwards

Pensioners won’t get the automatic boost they are used to in September because inflation has fallen. Read also Australia. PM flags pension could rise even though cost of living has fallen Scott Morrison has instead opened the door to offering them a top-up payment in the October budget. Read also Pension Giant Says Radical Post-Covid Changes to Hit Investments But his finance minister, Mathias Cormann, does not appear enthusiastic about the potential sweetener. “Indexation arrangements are there to take account of...

August 21, 2020
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21Aug

UK. How COVID-19 will affect women’s pensions in the long term

It is clear that the pandemic is more than just a health crisis, but an economic one too. Since the lockdown was introduced in March, millions of people have been furloughed or made redundant. And not only is the financial fallout of coronavirus affecting women more severely than men, it will continue to impact their savings for years to come. Prior to the virus, women only saved a third of the amount that men do by the time they...

August 21, 2020
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19Aug

US. DOL Issues New Rules On Retirement Plan Income Disclosures

Industry trade associations applauded a new rule today from the Trump administration requiring retirement plans to provide an illustration of the amount of monthly income that might be generated by an individual’s retirement savings. The rule was mandated in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019. The SECURE Act required a participant’s accrued benefits to be included on his or her pension benefit statement as a current account balance, and as an estimated lifetime...

August 19, 2020
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18Aug

Canada Pension Plan Returns 5.6% in First Quarter

The investment portfolio of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), also known as CPP Investments, returned a robust 5.6% net of costs during its first quarter of fiscal 2021 ending June 30, raising the fund’s total asset value to C$434.4 billion ($327.93 billion) from C$409.6 billion at the end of March. The fund also reported earning five- and 10-year annualized net nominal returns of 8.9% and 10.7%, respectively. The fund said its active management strategy and resulting diversified...

August 18, 2020
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18Aug

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund reports $21 billion loss after ‘volatile’ first half of the year

Norway’s huge pension fund — the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world — reported negative returns for the first half of the year on Tuesday, citing “major fluctuations” in equity markets. Read also Canada Pension Plan Returns 5.6% in First Quarter The Government Pension Fund Global said it returned -3.4% for the first six months of 2020, equivalent to -188 billion kroner (-$21.3 billion). Read also MetLife Board Dodges Lawsuit Over $500 Million Annuity Error “There were major fluctuations in...

August 18, 2020
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18Aug

US. Pension Debt Expected to Surge Due to COVID-19 Volatility

Underfunded defined benefit (DB) pension plans can expect to see their liabilities surge over the next several months due to volatility from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to research from Moody’s Investors Service, companies are on pace to see a 6% increase in total adjusted debt in 2020 as modest asset returns fail to offset tumbling discount rates. Moody’s said in a recent report that 2020 has so far “proved to be a roller coaster ride” for the two drivers...

August 18, 2020
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