China may stop allowing local governments to manage pension funds, shifting to a market-based System overseen by the central government, a report said. China has about 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion; euro 10 billion) invested in local pension funds outside the national social security System. Those funds are controlled by local officials, who have in some cases put the money into real estate projects and other risky Investments. The Ministry of Labor and Social Security may issue rules early next yearthat would shift management of those funds to central control, while entrusting the independent fund managers to handle Investments, the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily cited a ministry official, Chen Liang, as saying.
China may centralize pension funds
International
Milliardenloch in Pensionskasse bei British Airways
British Airways (BA) hat mit einem überraschend hohen Defizit in der Pensionskasse zu kämpfen. Europas drittgrösste Fluggesellschaft bezifferte die Deckungslücke mit 2,1 Mrd. Pfund (rund 5 Mrd. Franken). Grund für das gestiegene Defizit seien neue bilanztechnische Bewertungen, teilte BA mit. Zunächst war von einem Defizit in Höhe von lediglich 928 Mio. Pfund ausgegangen worden. Analysten hatten maximal mit einer Ausweitung auf bis zu 1,8 Mrd. Pfund gerechnet.
Bluewin News – Milliardenloch in Pensionskasse bei British Airways
UK: Pensions chief wants Kitemark for funds
The new chief executive of Britain’s most powerful pensions body will tell the Government today that the country’s best retirement funds should be awarded a Kitemark* for quality to safeguard benefits. On her first day as head of the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF), which represents £800 billion of pension funds, Joanne Segars will make a series of recommendations including incentives for companies to keep their workplace schemes open.
(*An official kite-shaped mark on goods which are approved by the British Standards Institution.)
Pensions chief wants Kitemark for funds – Economics – Times Online
Liechtensteiner AHV: weniger Beiträge – höhere Leistungen
«Seit über 30 Jahren sind die AHV-Beiträge stabil und dennoch haben wir seit Beginn der 90er Jahre die Leistungen zum Teil massiv erhöht», erklärt Walter Kaufmann, seit 1. September neuer Direktor der AHV-IV-FAK-Anstalten, in einem Interview mit dem Liechtensteiner Vaterland.
Liechtensteiner Vaterland
Three years recovery period for Dutch pension funds
Pensions funds in a position of underfunding will get a reprieve of three years instead of one year to recover, a majority within the parliament has indicated.
Three years recovery period for Dutch pension funds
New York: On Tracking of Pensions, No Consensus
The disclosure that New York City uses two different methods to gauge its pension funds — one showing they are fully funded, and another showing a $49 billion deficit — has heaped fuel on a long-running debate over how to value pensions.
On Tracking of Pensions, No Consensus N- New York Times
USA: Finanzierungslücken bei der Altersvorsorge
Der derzeit angeschlagene Optimismus der Amerikaner hat auch mit dem eher verhangenen finanziellen Ausblick auf ihr Alter zu tun. Sowohl in der staatlichen Social Security wie in der beruflichen Vorsorge sind die abgegebenen Leistungsversprechen nicht voll finanziert. Privat sparen die Amerikaner ebenfalls zu wenig.
NZZ Online
Mercer: Pension liabilities in top European companies
The largest German-owned companies have almost 20% more exposure to pensions risk than top UK and Dutch firms and over three times more than French-owned organisations, according to new research by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The analysis – designed to help investors assess pensions risk in the major European financial markets – also shows that a significant proportion of pension liabilities in German companies remain unsecured by assets, despite large-scale voluntary funding by some firms. The combined value of pension liabilities in the biggest German-based companies (the DAX 30) is equivalent to 31% of the organisations’ market capitalisation. This pension risk exposure is around a fifth higher than for the top UK (FTSE 100) and Dutch (AEX 25) companies, which have liabilities equating to 26% of their market capitalisation. Furthermore, the largest French-owned companies (CAC 40) have pension liabilities equivalent to just 10% of their market capitalisation, which means their risk exposure is less than a third of that of German companies. By way of comparison, pension liabilities in the top US companies (S&P 500) amount to 15% of their market capitalisation.
Pension liabilities in top European companies
Demographie: Japan ist am Wendepunkt
Der Gipfel ist überschritten, die Einwohnerzahl Japans sinkt. Während das Land gerade Italien als „weltälteste Nation“ mit 21 Prozent der Bevölkerung im Rentenalter abgelöst hat, ging nun auch die Zahl der Einwohner auf 127,65 Millionen zurück. Um die Probleme der Pensionskassen zu entschärfen, hebt die Regierung gerade das Renteneintrittsalter von 60 auf 65 Jahre an, erhöht den Rentenbeitragssatz um jährlich 0,35 Prozent von momentan 13,6 auf 18,3 Prozent und kürzt die Rentenleistung von 59 auf 50 Prozent des Gehalts. Um eine unkontrollierbare Kostensteigerung im Gesundheitswesen zu verhindern, schraubte sie die Beitragssätze hoch und beteiligte die Patienten mit 30 Prozent an den Behandlungskosten.
Demographie: Japan ist am Wendepunkt – FAZ.NET – Wirtschaft
UK Company pensions: Running to stand still
On August 1st the actuaries› trade body adopted a new set of mortality tables drawing on data collected between 1999 and 2002, It forecasts yet another increase in life expectancy. In 1999 actuaries assumed that a British man retiring at 60 would on average live to the ripe old age of 84. They then raised that estimate in 2002 to 87. Now they figure he will live about six months longer.
What is good news for ageing folk is bad news for those who support them. Each increase in life expectancy of one year adds about £12 billion to the aggregate pension liabilities of FTSE 100 companies, says Peter Tompkins of PricewaterhouseCoopers, an accounting firm. To make matters worse, many pension schemes have yet to catch up with previous adjustments to mortality tables.
So it is not surprising that many companies are trying to reduce the risks of providing pensions by closing their final-salary schemes to new members (which three-quarters of FTSE 100 firms have already done) and, increasingly, to existing members. For example, Debenhams, a department store, said this week that members of its scheme would stop accruing benefits at the end of October. By 2012, reckons Mr Scott, more than half the plans provided by Britain’s biggest firms will be closed to existing members.
Company pensions | Running to stand still | Economist.com
Top European firms have €136bn pension deficits
The top 50 European blue chip companies have a combined pension deficit of €136bn, according to actuaries Lane Clark & Peacock (Corrects figure). LCP’s annual accounting for pensions survey said firms on the Dow Jones STOXX 50 index had €136bn of deficits. It added that €53bn is not recognised on company balance sheets.
LCP 2006 Accounting for Pensions Survey
Top European firms have €136bn pension deficits
“Back to basics” for pensions accounting project
The Accounting Standards Board is going “back to basics” for its research project into pensions accounting. At stake are some of the most “thorny issues” of how to account for post-retirement benefits. The ASB is leading the project under the ‘Proactive Accounting Activities in Europe’ – “PAAinE” – banner coordinated by The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group and European national standards setters. “The board decided to adopt a ‘back to basics’ approach of examining the fundamentals of pensions accounting,” says project director Hans Nailor. The ASB is being assisted by a Pensions Advisory Panel appointed by the board and a pan-European Working Group selected by EFRAG.
“Back to basics”
EU launches financial legislation database
The European Commission has set up a database allowing public access to all European Union member states’ financial services legislation – including the directive on occupational pension funds.
The development allows users to see each country’s relevant documents relating to, for example, Directive 2003/41/EC on institutions for occupational retirement provision. The data is organized by country and then subdivided by each of the 20 financial services directives. The web address is: ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/actionplan/transposition/index_en.htm
EU launches financial legislation database
Oesterreich: Kritik an den Firmenpensionen
Heftige Kritik an der betrieblichen Altersvorsorge übte der österreîchische Schutzverband der Pensionskassenberechtigen "Pekabe". So würden die durchschnittlichen Pensionen aufgrund der schwachen Performance der Kassen im nächsten Jahr rund 25 Prozent unter dem Soll-Wert liegen. Für 2025 prognostiziert der Schutzverband sogar eine Ist-Pension von weniger als der Hälfte des angepeilten Solls. Den Grund sieht er in den zu hoch angenommenen jährlichen Renditen der Kassen. Diese lägen bei Verträgen, die vor dem Jahr 2004 geschlossen wurden großteils bei 7,5 Prozent pro Jahr. Eine Zahl, die seit dem Jahr 2000 selten erreicht wurde.
Die Presse.com .
Japan State pension fund saw record 8.7 trillion yen surplus in ’05
Reflecting a strong domestic stock market and the yen’s weakness in the fiscal year to last March, the result represented the third consecutive yearly surplus and a nearly four-fold increase from a surplus of 2.24 trillion yen reported in fiscal 2004. The fund invested some 72.2 trillion yen in stocks and bonds in and outside Japan in fiscal 2005, and returns rose to an all-time high of 14.37 percent, the fund said.
The Japan Times Online