Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

March 2021

Regulation and economics converge in ESG

By Sarah Rundell Investors from Schroders, Trillium and PensionDanmark discuss how a changing regulatory picture and the economics of sustainable investment are coming together to create a tipping point in ESG, but they warn their peers to look beyond the label to what is on the inside. In keeping with being one of the first investors in wind energy years ago, Denmark’s PensionDanmark was also an original investor in the country’s state of the art energy island in the North Sea....

US. Stimulus Bill Freezes Retirement Plan Contribution Limits

What You Need to Know The freeze would take effect in 2031. It is intended to reduce a tax deferment that favors the highest earners, Democrats say. Retirement plan lobbyists are working to get the provision stripped from the Senate version of the bill. The $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, which passed the House on Feb. 27, freezes retirement plan contribution limits starting in 2031. The bill, H.R. 1319, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, would freeze the annual cost-of-living...

UK Budget: Sunak freezes lifetime allowance for pensions contributions

By Jenna Brown, Christopher Copper-Ind Britain's finance minister, Rishi Sunak, has frozen the lifetime allowance (LTA) for pension contributions at just over £1m for the remainder of this Parliament, and will be keeping IHT at the current level for a further five years. Read also UK. Women retirees win £2.7bn for underpaid pensions The Chancellor said the LTA would remain at its current level of £1,073,100 for 2020/21 rather than increasing in line with inflation. It had been expected to rise by...

Can the United States accelerate sustainability in financial regulations?

In the last few years, while multiple countries have made progress in developing sustainable-finance plans to help direct investment to climate solutions and environmentally beneficial companies and products, the United States, under the administration of former President Donald Trump, moved to weaken environmental regulations and discourage sustainable investing. With the arrival of President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States could rapidly roll out policies to make up lost ground. Sustainable-finance plans advance globally Around the globe, countries are stepping up to...

US. Pension Relief Plan in COVID-19 Stimulus Bill That Passes House

On Saturday, a measure to give troubled multiemployer pension plans assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) passed the House of Representatives, as part of a larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package from President Joe Biden. Read also US. Stimulus Bill Freezes Retirement Plan Contribution Limits The federal stimulus package, which includes $1,400 checks for many Americans and increased funding for vaccines, also holds the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA), an update to the Butch Lewis Act....

South Africa proposes easing infrastructure limits for retirement plans

South Africa's National Treasury wants to make it easier for the country's retirement plans to invest in infrastructure. The Treasury proposed amendments to Regulation 28 of the country's Pension Funds Act, which reduces excessive and concentration risk to assets and limits the extent to which plans can invest in a particular asset or asset class. The proposed changes, which were made in response to calls for increased investment in infrastructure given the low economic growth environment in South Africa, would introduce...

February 2021

South Africa. Cosatu Welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Signing of the Historic Pic Amendment Act Into Law

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa's signing of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) Amendment Act and its immediate enactment into law. This is long overdue. The PIC Amendment Act was drafted by Parliament's Finance Committees in close collaboration with COSATU. This was necessitated by the revelation of rampant looting and the mismanagement of PIC funds by many in the PIC and those companies who have benefited from its investments and loans. The Amendment Act...

Australia. Pension transfer balance cap increase is not all bad news

By Meg Heffron There has been plenty of doom and gloom about the increase in the transfer balance cap that will come into effect on July 1. Remember, the transfer balance cap is the limit on the amount anyone can transfer into what is known as a “retirement phase” pension over their lifetime Retirement phase pensions (so called because they are usually started by people who have retired) are the ones that give the best tax breaks – they allow self-managed super...

​EC’s sustainable governance play: Asset owners wary of potential snags

The idea of drawing up EU rules to ensure companies embed sustainability into the way they operate has met with steady applause from pensions and asset management industry representatives – as well as warnings of potential unintended consequences. Read also Spain Counts on Citizens to Buy Into Revolution for Pensions Questions put out by the European Commission in its consultation on an initiative on sustainable corporate governance – which closed in early February – centred around topics such as directors’ duty...

U.S. Signals Policy Shift on California State Retirement-Savings Program

Signaling a shift in retirement policy, the U.S. Labor Department has dropped its support for a lawsuit that seeks to invalidate a California state retirement-savings program for people who lack access to 401(k) plans at work. In a notice filed in a federal appeals court on Feb. 5, the agency said because of the change in administration, it “no longer wishes to participate” in the case and “does not support either side.” The reversal “isn’t surprising,” said John Scott, director of...