China Wednesday tapped 10 global fund managers to oversee the investment of the country’s social security funds, a mandate that is likely to generate small fees initially but larger ones in coming years. The social security fund selected Allianz Global Investors; INVESCO Hong Kong Ltd., an affiliate of London-based AMVESCAP PLC (AVZ); and a consortium composed of UBS Global Asset Management (UBS) and China International Capital Corp. for actively-managed Hong Kong equity investments.
China pension fund
International
China to draft laws on pension fund management
China will issue two laws to regulate the management of its social security funds in the wake of a number of scandals in the sector, according to officials from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
China to draft laws on pension fund management
New EU pensions portability draft text published
The Finnish presidency of the European Union has drafted a new text of the proposed directive on pensions portability, in a bid to meet some of the concerns expressed by Member States.
New EU pensions portability draft
UK life expectancy reaches record
UK life expectancy at 65 has reached its highest level ever for both men and women, the Office for National Statistics says. It said: “Men aged 65 could expect to live a further 16.6 years and women a further 19.4 years if mortality rates remained the same as they were in 2003-05.”
The ONS said: “The increase in life expectancy among older adults has been particularly dramatic in recent years. “Between 1980-82 and 2003-05 life expectancy at age 65 in the UK increased by 3.7 years for males and 2.5 years for females. Around one-third of this increase occurred over the last five years. In general the increases in life expectancy over the same period have been broadly similar for each country.
IPE
UK: BA in €1.4bn pension deficit bailout
British Airways has agreed to pay up to £950m (€1.4bn) to tackle the £2.1bn deficit in its New Airways Pension Scheme in a 10-year funding deal with trustees.
BA in €1.4bn pension deficit bailout
Vorsorgemarkt Europa: «Schweiz darf Chancen nicht verschlafen»
«Während sich die Vorsorgedebatte im reifen Schweizer Markt um Skandale und Reformen im Nachkommastellenbereich dreht, findet in Europa weitgehend unbemerkt eine Entwicklung statt, die die langfristige Wettbewerbsfähigkeit unseres Systems gefährden kann. Im Herbst letzten Jahres wurde in der Europäischen Union EU die Richtlinie 2003/41 rechtskräftig, die einen völlig neuartigen innereuropäischen Standortwettbewerb für Einrichtungen der beruflichen Altersvorsorge (Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision, IORP, vgl. www.iorp.eu) ermöglicht. Die Richtlinie ist nicht Bestandteil der bilateralen Abkommen zwischen der EU und unserem Land, weshalb sie auf die Schweiz keine Anwendung findet», schreibt Christian Dreyer (Tertium Datur AG) in der Finanz und Wirtschaft. «Wird sich somit das Trauerspiel der regulatorisch bedingten Abwanderung der Anlagefonds nach Luxemburg wiederholen?», fragt er sich.
Artikel Dreyer in der FuW
UK: Rush to dump pension funds
More than 110 companies are considering selling their pension funds, with a collective total of around £12bn of liabilities, according to Mark Wood of Paternoster, the buyout company which last week announced its first deals.
The Observer
UK: Longer lives pose £3bn threat to BT pension fund
BT Group (Britisch Telecom) could be forced to inject more into its deficit-plagued pension fund after one independent expert suggested that soaring life expectancy may have added £3 billion to its liabilities. If BT used the same longevity assumptions as Royal Mail, its former sister company, its deficit would worsen instantly from £2.5 billion to £5.5 billion, it was claimed.
Times Online
UK: Pension protection fund has 2005/06 deficit
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which compensates pension fund
members when companies become insolvent, is likely to raise future
levies to plug its own newly-disclosed shortfall of 343 million pounds,
consultants said.The PPFhas so far benefited 43,000 people.
Reuters
Shanghai corruption scandal exposes crisis of China’s pension system
The weeks-long “anti-corruption” campaign in Shanghai
launched by Chinese President Hu Jintao, finally reached one of
its major targets—the Shanghai Communist Party boss, Chen
Liangyu. His downfall marks a setback for the so-called “Shanghai
gang” of former president Jiang Zemin, in the ongoing factional
struggles of the Chinese leadership.
World Socialist Web Site
OECD: «Eingliederung statt Rente
Vor dem Hintergrund einer Vergleichsstudie der IV-Systeme europäischer Länder fordern Experten der OECD für die Schweiz eine stärkere Betonung der Eingliederung. Nicht «Eingliederung vor Rente» muss die Devise heissen, sondern «Eingliederung statt Rente», so die OECD-Empfehlung.
«Government spending on sickness and disability accounted for 2.4% of GDP across OECD countries in 2004, nearly double the spending on unemployment benefits, which accounted for 1.3% of GDP in the same year. Spending on sickness and disability in Norway, Poland and Switzerland exceeds the OECD average, representing between 3% and 5% of GDP, while unemployment benefit spending is below the OECD average in all three countries.»
NZZ online
Bericht OECD
Die demographische Zukunft von Europa
Europa unterliegt gegenwärtig einem massiven demographischen Wandlungsprozess. Die grundlegendsten Veränderungen sind ein längerfristiger Bevölkerungsrückgang und eine zunehmende Alterung der Bevölkerung. Schätzungen zur Folge wird die arbeitsfähige Bevölkerung im EU-Raum bis 2030 um über 20 Millionen zurückgehen. Eng verbunden mit diesem Rückgang ist ein massiver Produktivitätsrückgang: Es wird davon ausgegangen, dass das potenzielle BIP-Wachstum bis ins Jahr 2040 um die Hälfte auf etwa 1.25% schrumpfen wird. Diese Fakten verdeutlichen den dringenden Handlungsbedarf, schreibt economiesuisse in einer Darstellung des Demographieberichts der EU.
economiesuisse
D: Pensionierung mit 67 rückt näher
Die deutsche Regierung hat sich auf Einzelheiten der angekündigten Renten mit 67 verständigt. Dies sagte Arbeitsminister Franz Müntefering am Dienstag in Berlin. Er begrüsste einen Beschluss einer Arbeitsgruppe aus Experten von Union und SPD.
NZZ Online
India’s Tata would inject €188m into Corus fund
Indian steelmaker Tata Steel says it would inject £126m (€188m) into the Corus pension fund as part of its multi-billion pound takeover bid. Tata said it has held “constructive and satisfactory” discussions with the two main UK pension schemes of the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker, itself the product of an earlier merger between British Steel and Hoogovens. Tata says it plans “to fund upfront the IAS 19 deficit on the Corus Engineering Steels Pension Scheme by paying £126m into the scheme”. It would also increase the contribution rate on the British Steel Pension Scheme from 10% to 12% until March 31 2009.
India’s Tata would inject €188m
Liechtenstein: Kein Staatsgarantie für staatliche PK
Bei der Finanzierung der staatlichen Pensionskasse soll die Staatsgarantie aufgehoben werden. Künftig soll nicht mehr der Steuerzahler einspringen müssen, wenn die Beiträge zur Einhaltung der Leistungsversprechen nicht ausreichen.
Liechtensteiner Vaterland