August 2021
11Aug

UK. Pandemic widens pensions pot gender gap

The gender pensions gap grew to nearly £200,000 this year as the Covid-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on women’s finances, according to new analysis. The difference between the average pension pots of men and women aged over 55 grew to £184,000 in 2021, or £26,000 more than the previous year, according to research published this week by more2life, an equity release provider. Around one-third of women who took part in a UK-wide survey that was part of the analysis said...

August 11, 2021
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10Aug

Asia vast savings can bring on an ‘age of sustainability’

Insurance companies, pension funds, and other institutional investors in Asia and the Pacific can pave the way to a resilient and sustainable future. The recent global public health crisis has revealed that economies can no longer afford to return to old ways of doing things. But there could be a silver lining in a coming “age of sustainability” in Asia and the Pacific that can get countries growing strongly again. Reaching this new age, however, will require greater use of insurance...

August 10, 2021
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09Aug

Nigeria. N12trn pension assets investment sidelines infrastructure

Federal Government’s dream of ramping up pension assets for investments into infrastructure development seems floundering as most recent report shows a stagnation in funds allocation to the sector. Meanwhile the bulk of the over N12trillion assets are going into Federal Government Bond borrowing instrument which are used for government recurrent expenditure. At the backdrop of the quest to address the huge infrastructure gap in the country, the pension policy had envisaged about 15 percent of the total pension asset would be...

August 9, 2021
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06Aug

US. Pandemic not stopping workers from contributing to retirement plans

An overwhelming majority of U.S. workers are still saving for retirement despite the adverse economic, health and employment impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said Thursday. Eighty-two percent of workers are saving for retirement through a 401(k) or similar retirement plan and/or outside the workplace, the center reported. "Given the magnitude of the challenges workers have faced during the pandemic, it is truly remarkable that they have maintained focus on their future retirement," Catherine Collinson, CEO...

August 6, 2021
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July 2021
28Jul

Ghana. Minister for Employment initiates mass pension enrolment programme

The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Barfour Awuah has initiated a mass pension enrolment programme by paying for a year’s pension contribution for 10 individuals in the Upper Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region. At an outreach program at Asesewa in the Eastern Region, to sensitise people on pensions in the area organised for informal sector workers in Asesewa by the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Mr. Bafour Awuah said the gesture was to encourage the people...

July 28, 2021
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27Jul

Nigeria’s pension fund hits N12.6trn – PenCom

The National Pension Commision (PenCom) said pension fund assets had risen to N12.66 trillion as at June 30, with contributors under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) hitting the 9.38 million mark. The Director General, PenCom, Aisha Dahir-Umar, said this at the 2021 Journalists Workshop held on Monday in Lagos, with the theme: Positioning the Pension Industry in the Post COVID-19 Era. Mrs Dahir-Umar, represented by Peter Aghahowa, Head, Corporate Communication, PenCom, noted that the consistent growth trajectory justified the commission’s overriding...

July 27, 2021
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07Jul

Covid-19 spurs wave of interest in sustainable investing

However, there are still challenges to overcome to make sustainable investment effective and measurable, the study noted. The survey polled 750 global institutional investors covering $26.1tn (£18.9tn) in assets. It found official institutions, including national pension plans, were much more likely (at 70 per cent) to cite Covid-19 as making sustainable investment “significantly more important” than for insurance institutions (57 per cent) and corporate pension plans (49 per cent). Engagement remained more popular than divestment strategies, and 57 per cent of...

July 7, 2021
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June 2021
24Jun

How flexible working could affect pension savings

As the UK continues to ease Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and more employees return to work, the debate about the future of work goes on. If the move to more flexible arrangements continues, the impact on retirement planning could be greater than expected. The most obvious point is that if people work fewer hours – because they choose to shift to part-time working, for example – they will almost certainly be paying less into their pension. Under the auto-enrolment pensions system,...

June 24, 2021
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May 2021
27May

US. One Way To Promote Financial Literacy: Teach How The Scammers Work

In a nation more deeply divided than ever about every conceivable issue, a broad consensus has surprisingly emerged that financial literacy is broadly lacking and the need for a financial education for every American is urgent. President Biden recently issued a proclamation deeming April 2021 as National Financial Capability Month. This communication emphasizes the benefits of financial capability, the value of financial literacy, and the importance of access to financial resources. So why is financial literacy attracting such attention? Americans today...

May 27, 2021
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07May

Dutch government think tank wants more flexible pensions

The Centraal Plan Bureau (CPB), a Dutch government think tank, has proposed Dutch workers save less for their pensions so they can increase their liquid financial buffers. The CPB has criticised the “lack of flexibility” of the Dutch pension system in a new policy brief. “More flexibility in the way Dutch pensions are being accumulated would be beneficial given the low levels of liquid assets of Dutch households,” the think tank said. A quarter of households with more than €100,000 in...

May 7, 2021
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