March 2021
30Mar

Lebanon crisis robs pensioners of cash cushions

Samir Merhi returned to Lebanon in 2009, hoping the fortune he made abroad would let him retire comfortably at home, but the country's economic crisis has upended his dreams and forced him to leave again. For four decades, Merhi said he made "millions" working in the fashion and construction industries in Britain and the Gulf, but draconian controls imposed by Lebanese banks have trapped his life savings. Speaking in a hotel in Beirut's commercial district of Hamra, Merhi said he was...

March 30, 2021
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29Mar

South African retirement fund guidelines are changing – how will this affect you?

South African retirement savings are governed by the Pensions Fund Act. Within this act, Regulation 28 lays out the maximum percentage of a fund that can be invested in different asset classes. For example, only 30% is permitted to be invested offshore. This aims to force diversification and prevent savers from keeping all their eggs in one asset basket. WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED REGULATION 28 CHANGES? The changes mean to make it easier for funds to invest in infrastructure and provide a way...

March 29, 2021
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23Mar

ESG Disclosure Rules From Europe Challenge U.S. Fund Managers

Scores of U.S. fund managers are being forced to comply with sweeping new European rules on climate and other sustainable-finance issues, requiring them to disclose the potential harm their investments could do to the environment and society. Fund companies including Vanguard Group, BlackRock Inc. and State Street Corp. that sell investment products in the European Union come under the new rules that took effect this month, though details are still being finalized. “There are many issues to be resolved, it is...

March 23, 2021
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23Mar

US. Small employers have new federal incentives to offer worker retirement benefits

There has been a dizzying array of major legislative programs passed by Congress over the last few years that have impacted small and midsize businesses, particularly in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But one that seems to have gone under the radar — perhaps because it was passed pre-pandemic in Dec. 2019, and went into effect Jan. 1, 2020 — is the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement, or SECURE Act, which tries to help more American workers save...

March 23, 2021
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22Mar

Colombia govt presents capital markets bill

The government of center-right Colombian President Iván Duque has presented a capital markets bill. Key aims of the draft legislation are modernizing the payments system and boosting financial inclusion, accelerating development of the local capital market, modernizing parts of the financial system and strengthening institutional frameworks. The bill comes after experts put the sector under the microscope and submitted their recommendations. The proposed reform impacts the insurance sector, via the modernization and overhaul of current rules, such as implementation of a risk-based...

March 22, 2021
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18Mar

U.K. Pensions Regulator seeks to streamline codes of practice

The U.K. Pensions Regulator is consulting the retirement industry on its proposal to create a new online-based code of practice, the regulator said Wednesday. The consolidated code, which would encompass updated rules on plan governance and management, would replace 10 other existing codes. The regulator intends to clarify expectations on retirement plan governing bodies to help them better assess how well their policies address financial and operational risks. "The new code of practice represents TPR's ambition to create a single point of...

March 18, 2021
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17Mar

Pension Fund Managers: PFRDA Board clears licence award under new framework

Most of the ten applicants may get licences in the latest round The Board of the pension regulator, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), has given its approval to award licences to pension fund managers under its recently floated Request for proposal (RFP), for selection of sponsors of pension funds for National Pension System (NPS). Read also Virus exacts toll on women’s retirement savings, workplace diversity efforts – panel It may be recalled that as many as ten applicants, including new...

March 17, 2021
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17Mar

What Is The Pension Provision In The Stimulus Package? An Explainer

By Teresa Ghilarducci Included in the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed by President Biden on Thursday is an $86 billion aid package for participants of about 185 to over 300 employer-union pension plans. If aid had not been available more than a million retired retail clerks, candy makers, truck drivers, construction workers and others would have faced severe cuts in their pensions. These plans are part of a larger system of about 1500 multiemployer pension plans covering about 10 million workers. These plans...

March 17, 2021
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16Mar

U.S. Participants don’t know what is happening to their fees

A survey finds nearly three-quarters of Americans don’t know how much they pay in retirement plan fees, while the ‘401k Averages Book’ shows fees continue to come down. Nearly three-quarters of Americans surveyed do not know how much they pay in fees for their retirement accounts, according to a survey commissioned by investment management firm Rebalance. More than half of survey respondents (57%) indicated they believe that they pay either no fees, or very low fees, to maintain their retirement investment...

March 16, 2021
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16Mar

Philippines. House panel pitches change in private retirement system

THE House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries on Monday started deliberating the proposed Capital Market Development Act to establish a new private retirement and pension system in the country. However, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III quickly told the committee that while the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) lauded the intent of House Bill 8939, the costs to be shouldered by both employers and workers may not be generally welcomed, especially at a time when most people are still...

March 16, 2021
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