April 2021
14Apr

US. Florida Senate Passes Bill to Move Most State Workers to DC Plan

The Florida state Senate has passed a bill that would eliminate the option for nearly all new state employees to participate in a defined benefit (DB) plan, instead requiring them to join a defined contribution (DC) plan. Read also New York pension fund divests $7 million from Canadian oil sands firms The bill, which was sponsored by Republican Sen. Ray Rodrigues, would require new hires as of July 1, 2022, to enroll in a 401(k)-style investment plan. Employees are currently given...

April 14, 2021
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09Apr

The U.K.’s policy on overseas pensions is costing Canadian taxpayers

"This is not a party matter," said Ian Andexser of Nanaimo, B.C., who heads the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners. "This is a snub to Canada." And across the pond in England, Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has come to the same conclusion: the government of which he is a member has acted "in very bad faith indeed" toward Canada. The matter angering both individuals is a British government policy that excludes U.K. pensioners who live mostly in Canada and Australia...

April 9, 2021
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08Apr

Defined Contribution trust-based pension schemes research Report of findings on the 2020 survey

By Pensions Regulator, OMB Research   This report summarises results from The Pensions Regulator’s (TPR’s) annualn survey of trust-based occupational defined contribution (DC) pension schemes1, carried out between January and March 2020. The survey was conducted by OMB Research, an independent market research agency, on behalf of TPR.   Get the book here

April 8, 2021
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07Apr

UK pensions regulator warns pension schemes on climate disclosures

Britain's pensions regulator will consider enforcement action against pension schemes who do not make mandatory climate risk disclosures, it said on Wednesday. Read also Climate change worse than pandemic: UK regulator The Pensions Regulator said it was calling on scheme trustees to protect pensions savers from climate risk, ahead of proposed regulations requiring trustees of larger schemes to keep track of their climate change exposure. Read also UK. Pension communications ‘failing to engage’ more women than men “Where we do not see schemes...

April 7, 2021
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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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