March 2021
10Mar

Nigeria. PenCom Approves N5.33bn as More Contributors Withdraw Pension Funds

Pension Fund Administrators(PFA) are under stress as a result of continuous demands for withdrawals by contributors into the Contributory Pension Scheme. This is as a result of increased job losses due to harsh economic environment. In the last quarter of 2020, the situation compelled the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to approve N5.33 billion to enable PFAs provide succor to 11,796 account holders who found themselves out of jobs. The development was attributed to the impact of the COVID-19. According to PenCom, a total...

March 10, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
09Mar

China Plans New State Pension Firm as Population Ages

China plans to create a new state-owned pension firm to tackle a massive funding gap as the world’s largest population struggles to finance retirement despite decades of economic growth. The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission is mulling a national pension company with state-owned banks and insurers as shareholders, according to people familiar with the discussions. Details such as the shareholding structure and size of investment are still being hammered out, they said, declining to be identified as the plan...

March 9, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
04Mar

UK. Women retirees win £2.7bn for underpaid pensions

About 200,000 women could be in line for payouts averaging £13,500 to top-up the underpayment of their state pension for up to two decades. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) revealed details of the underpayments on Wednesday. The errors focus on automatic cash increases for certain married women, widows and over-80s dating back to 1992 with "enhanced" pensions. The DWP estimated the bill for tackling the shortfalls to be about £2.7bn. The underpayment relates to the "old" state pension system - affecting...

March 4, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...

February 2021
22Feb

Albania. Deficit in State Pension Scheme Deepening

The decit in the state pension scheme reached Dollar 506 million at the end of 2020, reaching the highest level since the start of the implementation of the new reform in this area. Government spending on pensions amounted to Dollar 1.34 billion, 2.2% more than in 2019, while contributions for social security payments fell for the rst time since 2016. Economic experts link this phenomenon to the eects of the Covid-19 pandemic, where many people lost their jobs, and in many...

February 22, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
17Feb

My word is my bond: Linking sovereign debt with national sustainability commitments

By Anderson Caputo Silva, Fiona Stewart The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused millions of deaths and the greatest global economic downturn in nearly a century. Public debt increased by $8.5 trillion in 2020, up to September, including by $1.4 trillion in emerging markets. At the same time, unprecedented levels of investment will be needed to fund COVID-19 stimulus and relief packages, as well as to address the challenges posed by climate change and the degradation of ecosystems that regulate the...

February 17, 2021
Articles, System Sustainability, , ,
Read more...
01Feb

Kenya: Public Servants Take Salary Cut in New Pension Plan

Civil servants, teachers and security forces are having to re-organise their budgets after taking a two per cent cut on their January payslips. The deductions will go towards financing the State workers' newly introduced mandatory retirement savings plan, known as the Public Service Superannuation Scheme (PSSS). Retired public servants have been receiving lifetime pensions paid directly from the exchequer, but the new scheme will see them now shoulder a portion of the ballooning pension burden that hit Sh109 billion last year. The...

February 1, 2021
News, Slider,
Read more...

January 2021

22Jan

Australia. Fresh calls for universal pension after talk of new ‘death tax’

After some talk about drawing money from deceased super estates, one seniors' advocate is recommending a universal pension. Ian Henschke, chief advocate for National Seniors Australia, has renewed calls for a universal pension scheme that isn't means tested. "Review after review complains about older people failing to spend down their capital; they don’t blame the system, they blame the retiree. And then they wonder why no one’s listening," he told Savings.com.au. "By setting income and asset limits which restrict...

January 22, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
20Jan

OECD launches MENA Pension Oultook report for the fisrt time

In the first pensions forum for OECD in the Arab World, the global economic think-tank says: ➢ The world needs to improve sustainability and increase flexibility in pension arrangements ➢ Coronavirus is causing an unprecedented shock to labor markets as well as to pension systems ➢ Even before COVID-19, pension funds were already facing significant challenges of an aging population and declining investment returns ➢ Pension systems could be more resilient to future challenges if pension funds include two accounts, one for retirement...

January 20, 2021
News, Slider, ,
Read more...
20Jan

Nigeria: Old Soldiers At War Over Unpaid 20-Month Pension Arrears

As VP, others disown president of ex-servicemen welfare association A few days ago, the President of military veterans of the Association of Ex-Service Men and Family Welfare, MWO, Anthony Agbas, led some aggrieved members to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Abuja, to protest non-payment of their 20-month pension arrears. The protesters who appealed to the Federal Government to approve the payment of minimum wage arrears accruing to them from 2019 till date, demanded end to all deductions on the...

January 20, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
08Jan

China Pensions Outlook

By KPMG Welcome to KPMG’s fourth annual report tracking developments in China’s pension industry. China’s ageing demographics and the consequent challenges continued to draw attention during 2019 and triggered a number of fundamental changes. This report updates and builds on our research in China’s pension industry. In the report, we analyse why Pillar One will continue to be the most important and fastest- developing sector of the pension system in China. We also offer our view on what supporting...

January 8, 2021
Books, System Sustainability, , , ,
Read more...