October 2022
03Oct

MPs to inquire into pensions strategy behind UK market sell-off

MPs are to probe the pensions regulator over its role in supervising thousands of pension plans that were this week left teetering on the edge of default following unprecedented market turmoil. The work and pensions committee said on Sunday that it intended to write to The Pensions Regulator, which supervises about 5,200 corporate defined benefit plans that deliver a secure income to around 10mn members. Thousands of pension plans that had used derivatives contracts to mitigate the impact of movements in...

October 3, 2022
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September 2022
27Sep

UK. TPR reveals compliance and enforcement figures

Use of regulatory powers remained steady in most areas with some notable exceptions The Pensions Regulator has published its latest compliance and enforcement bulletin – showing how many times the regulator used its AE and frontline regulation powers between January and June this year. The watchdog said the use of powers had remained "broadly steady" since the previous bulletin covering the six-month period of July to December 2021 - with TPR using its powers 203 times during this period as opposed...

September 27, 2022
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26Sep

Officials Quit $137 Billion Pension Fund in Kuwait Shakeup

A broad shakeup of state institutions deepened in Kuwait after top officials in the Gulf state’s pension fund were asked to resign. Director General Meshal Al-Othman and three of his deputies, including Raed Al-Nisf, were asked to quit Kuwait’s Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS). The officials had spent years revamping the roughly $137 billion fund, which owns a quarter of US private equity firm Stone Point Capital LLC. The shift comes ahead of parliamentary elections in the OPEC member state...

September 26, 2022
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21Sep

UK. Guy Opperman ends role as Pensions Minister

Longest serving pensions minister Guy Opperman has lost his role after being in the post for the past five years. In a statement released today (September 20), Opperman said he had been relieved of his duties on September 8, but delayed the announcement to respect the period of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II. “It has been the honour of my life to serve as a government minister for the last seven years,” he said, thanking his parliamentary and civil service colleagues...

September 21, 2022
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21Sep

UK. Govt appoints new pensions minister

Alex Burghart has been appointed as the new parliamentary under secretary of state in the Department of Work and Pensions in Liz Truss’ latest cabinet reshuffle. Burghart has been elected twice as MP for Brentwood and Ongar. He was previously parliamentary under-secretary for the Department for Education between September 2021 and July 2022. The Department for Work and Pensions confirmed the appointment, but did not comment on it. In a statement released yesterday (September 20), Truss sacked the UK’s longest serving pensions...

September 21, 2022
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15Sep

US. State treasurers, NYC react to ESG backlash

An open letter signed by 13 state treasurers and New York City's comptroller Wednesday takes aim at what they call the "political backlash" against ESG investing by public pension and related funds. "Several states in our country have started blacklisting financial firms that don't agree with their political views," said the letter signed by state treasurers from California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander,...

September 15, 2022
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14Sep

Florida pension fund report shows support for ESG proposals, including at Exxon

Pension fund supported more than 40% of social-related proposals amid anti-ESG resolution Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, voted in favor of more than 40% of social-related shareholder resolutions and nearly 30% of environmental-related shareholder resolutions during the fiscal year ended June 30, according to a report included with materials for the board's investment advisory council on Tuesday. The board, which oversees $228 billion in assets including the $180 billion Florida Retirement System, supported 50.1% of shareholder-proposed ballot resolutions at Russell...

September 14, 2022
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14Sep

India. NPS: Insurance regulator eases rules for pensioners

Insurance regulator Irdai on Tuesday said it has done away with the requirement of submitting a separate form to buy annuity from NPS proceeds at the time of retirement. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said it is aimed at providing ease of doing business in insurance industry and for protection of interests of policyholders. “In this direction, to bring ease of living for senior citizens, Irdai has relaxed the requirement of submitting separate proposal form for taking the...

September 14, 2022
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12Sep

UK. TPR and ICO urged to align ‘unintentionally conflicting’ guidance

Guidance from The Pensions Regulator (TPR) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) should be better aligned and expressly refer to the specific intricacies of the pensions sector, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) has said. In written evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee, the USS warned that it has faced a number of challenges in ensuring its ongoing compliance with the requirements of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). In particular, the USS highlighted barriers in relation to the current...

September 12, 2022
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05Sep

US. ESG, CIOs on crash course with politics

How 'woke' a public pension plan portfolio is depends on which state it's located in As executives and trustees of public pension plans navigate the balance between political demands and fiduciary duties, they are encountering legislators and governors to the right and the left telling them what they must do or cannot do, but without offering much guidance on how to do it while still setting deadlines for action. Often depending on the political color of the state, public pension executives...

September 5, 2022
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