International

U.S. Life Expectancy Falls Further

By in Aktuarielles, International Tags: ,

imageLife expectancy for Americans fell again last year, despite growing recognition of the problems driving the decline and federal and local funds invested in stemming them.

Data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Thursday show life expectancy fell by one-tenth of a year, to 78.6 years, pushed down by the sharpest annual increase in suicides in nearly a decade and a continued rise in deaths from powerful opioid drugs like fentanyl. Influenza, pneumonia and diabetes also factored into last year’s increase.

Economists and public-health experts consider life expectancy to be an important measure of a nation’s prosperity. The 2017 data paint a dark picture of health and well-being in the U.S., reflecting the effects of addiction and despair, particularly among young and middle-aged adults, as well as diseases plaguing an aging population and people with lower access to health care.

  WSJ

Millionen-Löcher in ARD-Pensionskasse

By in International Tags:

DeutschlandDie Pensionskasse der ARD ist nach Informationen der „Bild am Sonntag“ in finanzielle Schwierigkeiten geraten. Laut interner Unterlagen fiel die 1997 gegründete Baden-Badener Pensionskasse (bbp) bei einem internen Stresstest durch, was zum Jahresende der Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin) gemeldet werden müsse.

Grund für die Probleme ist die anhaltende Niedrigzinsphase, die derzeit vielen Pensionskassen zu schaffen macht, weil sie nicht genügend Gewinne erwirtschaften. Nach Informationen des Blatts plant die ARD deshalb, das Eigenkapital der bbp zügig um rund 50 Millionen Euro zu erhöhen. Zudem soll der Garantiezins für eingezahlte Pensionsbeiträge ab 2020 von drei auf 1,75 Prozent abgesenkt werden. Das wiederum hat jedoch zur Folge, dass die ARD-Rundfunkanstalten ihre Beiträge an die Pensionskasse stark erhöhen müssen.

  focus / DWDL

Deutsche Pensionskassen unter Druck

By in International

DeutschlandDas Handelsblatt fasst die Situation der Deutschen PKs zusammen.

Dass es um etliche Pensionskassen in Deutschland nicht gut steht, war spätestens seit dem spektakulären Aufruf der Finanzaufsicht Bafin im Mai bekannt. Es zeichne sich ab, dass bei einem Anhalten der Niedrigzinsphase einige Pensionskassen Mittel von Dritten benötigen, sagte Frank Grund, der Leiter der Versicherungsaufsicht. Drei der 136 deutschen Pensionskassen hätten schon zum Jahresende 2017 die Kapitalanforderungen nicht erfüllt. Namen wollte er damals noch keine nennen – jetzt kommen sie zum Vorschein.

So darf die Pensionskasse der Caritas seit Ende Oktober keine neuen Verträge mehr abschließen, bestehende erhöhen oder weitere Personen aufnehmen. Das wurde ihr von der Bafin untersagt, die einen Sanierungsplan als unzureichend ablehnte. Es ist die härteste Form der Abstrafung durch die Aufseher.

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Vergleich der Vorsorge CH / NL

By in Dienstleister, International

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Diego Liechti (Nest) und Hansruedi Scherer (PPCmetrics) stellen in der Handelszeitung einen Vergleich zwischen den Pensionskassensystemen der Niederlande und der Schweiz an. Sie kommen zum Schluss:

Der Vergleich der beiden Pensionskassensysteme zeigt, dass dasjenige der Niederlande transparenter ist, in dem der Deckungsgrad die effektive finanzielle Gesundheit einer Vorsorgeeinrichtung anzeigt. Ebenso können sich niederländische Kassen besser an veränderte Rahmenbedingungen anpassen dank weitergehenden Sanierungsmöglichkeiten, die zudem früher als in der Schweiz eingeleitet werden müssen.

Folglich ist das gesamte Pensionskassensystem in den Niederlanden sicherer als dasjenige der Schweiz, obwohl vergleichbare Anlagerisiken eingegangen werden. Falls die Schweiz sicherstellen will, dass die Rentenleistungen auch in Zukunft mit hoher Sicherheit erbracht werden können, wäre ein vertiefter Blick in niederländische Verhältnisse mehr als nur empfehlenswert.

  Artikel Handelszeitung

PWC: Asset management costs to drop 20% by 2025

By in International, Kapitalanlagen

Asset management costs for all asset classes are expected to drop by 20% by 2025 as fees are increasingly based on performance, according to PwC.

In a new report – Asset and Wealth Management Revolution: Pressure on Profitability – the consultancy argued that asset managers must embrace new technologies in order to cushion decreasing income.

PwC based its forecast on an analysis of the annual reports of 64 asset managers with combined assets under management of €40trn.

The past five years were a golden period for large asset managers, PwC said, as margins rose by almost 16% and costs fell almost 16% relative to an income decline of almost 10%. Patrick Heisen, partner at PwC, said this was likely to reverse as fees came under more pressure.

“This is in part thanks to the regulation of the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II), which has lead to greater cost transparency, but also to institutional investors becoming more cost-conscious,” he said.

Heisen added that the introduction of cheap passive investment products had accelerated this trend. “Although interest in active products is to remain, their added value must be better demonstrable to institutional investors,” he said.

PwC concluded that costs would come down across all asset classes, and would affect cheaper passive products and more expensive hedge funds. Fees for passive investments were expected to drop from 0.15% to 0.12%, PwC predicted, while costs for active equity mandates would fall from 0.54% to 0.44%

  IPE /   pwc  study

Top 100 Real Estate Investment Managers 2018

By in International, Kapitalanlagen Tags:

The global real estate investment management industry has almost doubled in size over the past five years, from €1.68trn in 2014 to €3trn today. The sector continues to be swelled by growing allocations from institutional investors and rising asset prices.

The Top 10 continues to shuffle, although Brookfield Asset Management has retained the top spot throughout. During that period, PGIM and CBRE Global Investors swapped places: the former has risen from seventh to second and the latter vice versa.

Third-placed Blackstone has tended to inhabit second or third over the past five years, while fourth-placed Hines started at 13th in 2014.

Fifth-placed Metlife has jumped from 13th last year. After occupying third and fourth spots in recent years, TH Real Estate/Nuveen has slipped to sixth; similarly, UBS has dropped from sixth/seventh to eighth.

Other Swiss companies: CS 16, Swiss Life Managers 20, Partners Group 66.

  IPE

Dutch retirement age increase delayed as life expectancy stalls

By in Aktuarielles, International Tags: ,

The official retirement age for the Dutch state pension (AOW) will not be raised in 2024 following a slowdown in the life expectancy forecast, Wouter Koolmees, minister for social affairs, has announced.

The state pension age in the Netherlands is based on an annual longevity estimate from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the legal formula for the retirement age.

At present, a 65-year old has a life expectancy of 20.63 years, while the AOW age has to be raised at 20.76 years. In 2012, the cabinet decided that the AOW would gradually rise as of 2017— from 65 at the time to 67 and three months in 2022 — in order to keep pensions provision affordable for the future. It included a five-year leeway to enable workers to make additional savings for their pension.

As of 2022, the official pensionable age will rise in accordance with life expectancy. During the past few years, the government had concluded that the retirement age didn’t need to be raised further in 2022 and 2023, as life expectancy was expected to increase further, but not in a straight line.

  IPE

Negotiations over new Dutch pensions agreement collapse

By in International Tags:

niederlandeNegotiations about a new pensions agreement in the Netherlands have collapsed amid recriminations between trade unions, employers and the government.

Following consultations with their memberships, the unions presented a joint statement stating that the “lack of structural solutions” on most issues meant they would walk away from negotiations.

Stumbling blocks included the retirement age for the state pension (AOW), early retirement options for workers in hard physical jobs, accommodating self-employed workers into the pensions system, and the discount rate for liabilities. FNV, CNV and VCP, the country’s biggest unions, accused the cabinet of wanting to delay solving these problems.

“However, structural solutions were crucial to the unions,” said Han Busker, chair of the largest union, FNV.

The unions rejected an offer from the government to slow down the AOW age rise by two years, reaching 67 in 2024. The government had offered to set up a committee to look into the disputed mechanism that linked the state pension age to life expectancy increases after 2022, when the retirement age is set to rise to 67 and three months.

  IPE

WTW: Die 300 grössten Pensionsfonds weltweit

By in International, Studie Tags:

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Gemäss der neuesten Ausgabe der Global 300 Research, einer Studie des Thinking Ahead Insitute’s von Willis Towers Watson, wuchs das Vermögen der weltweit grössten Pensionskassen 2017 um 15.1% auf USD 18.1 Billionen. Die Vermögen der Schweizer Pensionskassen wuchsen ebenfalls stark an, blieben aber mit 12.2% Wachstum etwas hinter dem Durchschnittswert. Pensionskassen aus Schwellenländern gewannen auf der Weltbühne an Bedeutung.

Laut der Studie machen die US-Fonds mit 133 Fonds in den Top 300 den Löwenanteil aus. Danach folgt UK mit 25 Fonds, Kanada mit 18 sowie Japan und Australien mit je 17 Fonds. Die Schweiz belegt mit Deutschland den siebten Platz mit je 9 Fonds in den Top 300, vor Dänemark (8) und Schweden (7). Das Gesamtvermögen der neun erfassten Schweizer Pensionskassen nahm 2017 um 12.2% zu, was unter dem Durchschnitt der Top 300 dieser Studie liegt. Dies ist grösstenteils mit der tieferen Aktienquote der Schweizer Kassen im globalen Vergleich zu erklären.

  Studie

Mercer-Index: Schweizer Altersvorsorge fällt auf Rang 11 zurück

By in Index, International Tags:

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Im vielbeachteten Mercer Global Pension Index ist die Schweizer Altersvorsorge erneut zurückgefallen, vom 8. auf den 11. Rang und nur noch geringfügig vor Irland und Deutschland. Mercer schreibt dazu:

In der Bewertung erhält das Altersvorsorgesystem der Schweiz wie auch im letzten Jahr insgesamt 67.6 Punkte. Allerdings fällt es im Ländervergleich vom 8. auf den 11. Rang zurück. Dies liegt daran, dass sich Chile (69.3), Neuseeland (68.5) und Kanada (68.0) gegenüber 2017 in der Gesamtbewertung verbessert haben. Immerhin konnte die Schweiz im Sub-Index Nachhaltigkeit etwas besser abschneiden als 2017 (+2.8 Punkte), vor allem aufgrund der positiven Entwicklung bei den Indikatoren „Vorsorgevermögen in Prozent des Bruttoinlandsprodukts“ und „reales Wirtschaftswachstum“. Beim Sub-Index Angemessenheit wurden wegen der Neuaufnahme des Indikators „Haushaltsverschuldung“ jedoch 2.2 Punkte weniger erreicht als letztes Jahr.

Mercer leitet daraus Empfehlungen für die Schweiz ab:

  • Einführung einer Regelung, einen Teil der Altersleistung als Rente beziehen zu müssen 
  • Einführung von Steuerbegünstigungen auch für monatliche Rentenzahlungen anstatt nur für die einmalige Kapitalausschüttung
  • Ergreifen von Massnahmen zur Reduktion der – mehrheitlich aus Hypotheken stammenden – Verschuldung der Privathaushalte
  • Schrittweise Erhöhung des gesetzlichen Rentenalters zur Anpassung an die Lebenserwartung
  • Steigerung der Wohneigentumsquote mittels Anreizen ausserhalb des Pensionssystems
  • Stärkere Einschränkung des Zugriffs auf Leistungen vor Renteneintritt.

  Mercer / NZZ

Dutch schemes plead for pensions reform progress

By in International Tags:

niederlandeABP and PFZW, the two largest pension funds in the Netherlands, have urged the government, employers and unions to press on with agreeing pensions reform.

At the presentation of their third-quarter results, three of the country’s five largest schemes indicated that a cut to pension payouts and accrued pension rights remained a real threat in the coming years.

Corien Wortmann, chair of the €419bn civil service scheme ABP, said she could no longer explain to members that her pension fund was not allowed to grant indexation for the forseeable future, even though the economy was booming and salaries were rising. “This should be a strong encouragement to put lots of work into a new pensions system,” she stated.

ABP’s funding has been improving in recent months and rose to 104.7% over the last quarter, exceeding the minimum required level by 0.5 percentage points. Wortmann said this would limit the chance of cuts next year to almost zero, but would not allow for inflation compensation for a number of years. Dutch schemes cannot grant even partial indexation until they reach a funding ratio of at least 110%.

Peter Borgdorff, chairman of the €203bn healthcare scheme PFZW, said it was still too early to exclude the possibility of cuts as the scheme’s funding stood at 101.5%, despite improving 0.9 percentage points in the third quarter.

  IPE

Funds Back Proposal to Remove Zuckerberg as Facebook Chairman

By in International, Kapitalanlagen Tags:

Several public funds with holdings in Facebook Inc.,including New York City’s pension funds, are backing a shareholder proposal to push out Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg as chairman of the social-media giant’s board of directors.

The state treasurers of Rhode Island, Illinois and Pennsylvania, as well as the New York City comptroller are joining the shareholder proposal previously filed by Trillium Asset Management in June, the officials said in a release on Wednesday.

The announcement has no practical effect on Mr. Zuckerberg and his position as both CEO and chairman because he has a lock on the bulk of Facebook’s supervoting shares, each of which gives him 10 times the votes of average shareholders. According to Facebook’s latest proxy, his share of the voting power among Facebook investors was 59.9%.

Still, the news heightens scrutiny of the company’s corporate governance after a string of missteps and controversies, and reflects a view among some investors that Mr. Zuckerberg needs additional support guiding the company.

  WSJ

Bank of England warns of new era of low rates

By in International

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The Bank of England has warned interest rates are in a new era and will not return to the levels savers became used to in the second half of the 20th century. It means more pain for final salary pension funds which were set up in a world of higher interest rates. The new world of permanently lower interest rates means schemes face bigger deficits for the foreseeable future.

At the same time savers’ hopes of gaining a better return on their cash will be undermined once more, with little chance of a return to the 5pc levels seen before the financial crisis. Gertjan Vlieghe, a policymaker at the Bank of England, has warned that even when quantitative easing (QE) is unwound long-term interest rates will stay low.

  Telegraph

1,7 million de Belges affiliés à un fonds de pension

By in International

Les 201 institutions de retraite professionnelle (IRP) en Belgique comptaient 1,734 million d’affiliés fin 2017, soit 4% de plus qu’un an auparavant, ressort-il vendredi des chiffres de l’autorité des marchés (FSMA). Ces fonds de pension totalisent un montant de 35,1 milliards d’euros, un chiffre en hausse de 18% par rapport à 2016.

  Levif

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