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October 2021

Ghana. NPRA to target informal sector as it holds Pensions Week in Western Region

Mr Stanley Ogoe, Western Regional Director of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has hinted that the Authority is taking steps to enlighten the informal sector workers on the benefits of having a retirement plan and becoming members of pension schemes to enable them to start their retirement plans early. He noted that workers in the informal sector so far, have shown the least interest in the 3-tier pension scheme and for that matter the NPRA was therefore encouraging workers...

Pensions and ESG: An Institutional and Historical Perspective

By P. Brett Hammond & Amy O'Brien Sustainable investing is growing into its moment. Funded pensions, which were among the first institutions to respond to sustainability concerns, are showing renewed interest in better ways to reflect responsible investing objectives, along with regulators, asset managers and shareholder groups. Looking back, the principal elements of sustainability—environmental, social and governance (ESG)—all have different origins and took different pathways. Looking across, sustainable investing developed differently depending on region and country. Viewing it today, we...

U.S. Labor Department proposes counter rule to Trump-era investment measures

The U.S. Department of Labor on Wednesday proposed a rule aimed to override a pair of Trump-era measures that had barred retirement and pension plans from considering climate change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors when they select investments. Read also U.S. Labor Department proposes counter rule to Trump-era investment measures The DOL proposal, which is subject to a 60-comment period before it can be adopted, comes after the agency in March said it would not enforce the 2020...

Hong Kong government proposal for residents to convert pensions into annuities ‘absurd’ if made mandatory, labour minister says

A Hong Kong government proposal to encourage residents to convert their pensions into annuities would be “absurd” if made mandatory, the city’s labour minister said on Thursday. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said that while studying the proposal was necessary, making it mandatory to convert Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) pension plans into annuities was never going to happen in Hong Kong. “If anyone just thought about it, forcing everyone in Hong Kong to switch to an annuity is absurd,...

Sustainable investment ‘rebooting’ Europe’s private markets, research finds

The rise in demand for sustainable investments is driving a “structural reboot” of private market investing in Europe, with environmental, social and governance funds on track to account for up to two-fifths of the industry’s assets in just a few years. According to research from PwC, ESG private market assets could hit between €775.7bn and €1.2tn by 2025, up from €253bn in 2020, as regulation and client demand force an overhaul of private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private debt...

AFM: Dutch pension funds urged to speed up SFDR implementation

Dutch pension funds must speed up the implementation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), according to financial market regulator AFM. But for the time being, compliance will not yet rigidly be enforced, said AFM director Laura van Geest. “The pension sector is less far in implementing the SFDR than the asset management sector since many pension funds have chosen to [temporarily] opt-out of the SFDR,” Van Geest said, speaking at the annual congress of trade publication Pensioen Pro. Most of...

September 2021

Should regulators take the lead on ESG in pensions?

The extent to which financial regulators should get involved in setting environmental, social and governance requirements is a hot topic, with some experts arguing that involvement could stifle innovation. In a recent twitter poll, Pensions Expert asked its readers whether or not regulators should take the lead on ESG within asset management. The result reflected how divisive the issue is in the industry. The poll revealed 53.6 per cent of respondents felt regulators should intervene to meet demand for standardisation across...

UK. Pensions department faces ‘serious questions’ over non-payments

By Kevin Peachey A saga over unpaid state pensions means the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) should face "serious questions" about its work, a leading MP has said. Thousands of people reaching the state pension age of 66 have applied for their state pension, but have not received any money. The backlog has been blamed on pandemic workload and staffing issues. Stephen Timms, who chairs the Work and Pensions select committee, said the issue would be raised with ministers. "There are clearly serious...

US. Hidden In The Reconciliation Bill: A Retirement Plan Mandate That Will Take Most People By Surprise

By Elizabeth Bauer Readers, I am embarrassed to admit that a radical change to our retirement system, tucked into the “Build Back Better” Budget Reconciliation bill, wholly escaped my notice until just recently. As explained by Ashlea Ebeling, also at Forbes, “Under the proposal, starting in 2023, employers with five or more employees would have to offer a retirement plan and automatically enroll employees, diverting 6% of their pay to a retirement account. An automatic escalation clause would increase the automatic...

US. New Bill Aims to Solve for the Retirement Plan Coverage Gap

Congressman Jim Himes, D-Connecticut, and Senator Mark Warner, D-Virginia, have introduced the Portable Retirement and Investment Account (PRIA) Act of 2021, designed to provide a retirement savings vehicle to Americans who don’t have access to one. Read also US. Stock Market Helps State Pension Debt Hit 10-Year Low, But Crisis Still Looms Large The legislation would establish a Portable Retirement and Investment Account (PRIA) Fund and a board responsible for establishing regulations for the fund. The bill says the board will...