U.K. life insurers to suffer as forced annuitization ends
The major life insurers are expected to be profitable, according to Thomson Reuters data, but profits at Aviva, Friends Life and Legal & General are expected to be flat...
International
German DC plans may ‘go Dutch’
With companies trying to molt their pension obligations, Germany is thinking about allowing whole industries to set up collecitvely-managed, Dutch-style defined contribution plans, but with guarantees backed by a...
End of forced annuitization creates product vacuum in UK
While some in the U.S. try to put annuities into defined contribution plans, Britain is slowly adapting to the removal of forced annuitization from its DC rules.
Towers Watson cuts out middleman in longevity risk transfer deals
Towers Watson’s service, Longevity Direct, will give pension funds access to a “ready made insurance cell,” which it said could write insurance and reinsurance contracts for longevity swap transactions.
Hungarians protest end of state-sponsored DC plan
Despite a protest march in Budapest, the government has threatened to shut down the last four funds in the “second-pillar” system unless they can prove that at least 70%...
The staid world of Dutch pensions is evolving: ABP
Government, education and civil service pension ABP, which has 2.8 million participants in a country of less than 17 million, pointed to trends in the Netherlands that may...
Going Dutch, with a DB-DC Hybrid
Can the use of "buffers" in collectively-managed defined contribution funds offer defined benefit-like income predictability? In the Netherlands, where pensions are a passion, a team of business, academic and...
“Neuromarketing” research can improve participant communications
“Rather than warn how important saving for a pension is, we should emphasize how people who save can enjoy their pension later on," said Joyce Vonken, a marketing intelligence...
UK keeps pressing for lower retirement plan fees
“Gone are the days when a government will allow a government-approved product to charge 1.5% for 10 years,” said Steve Webb, member of parliament, at the UK National Association...
Chinese insurer buys Waldorf-Astoria
The buyer is Anbang Insurance. The seller, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, will continue to operate the iconic art deco hotel, which adjoins a 47-story office tower.
Finns will link retirement age to longevity in 2028
The pension reform, which will come into force at the beginning of 2017, aims to extend working life and narrow the sustainability gap of the whole public economy by...
Risk-reduction strategy pays off for UK fund
Using a custom diversification measure, where 0 signifies absolute correlation and 1 no correlation, the manager of the Now Pensions fund adjusts its portfolio to stop unexpectedly correlated assets...
Denmark’s ATP pension switches to 15-year guarantee
While current guarantees set a return for as long as 80 years, under the new system, each year’s contribution will be guaranteed a certain return for 15 years, based...
Britons transition to DC, step by painful step
Imagine if participants in doomed defined benefit plans could move their accrued benefits to a defined contribution plan. That seems to be what's happening in the UK as the...
How does an unshackled pension fund invest? Ask Sweden’s SPK
“We’ve invested in a Goldman Sachs fund, which includes credit, high yield and emerging market debt. It’s a broad mandate that we believe has the ability to make money...
Danish DC Model Draws a Crowd in Britain
Through a subsidiary called "Now: Pensions," Denmark's national defined contribution plan provider (ATP) is making hay of the UK's requirement that all British employers auto-enroll their workers into a...
UK creates framework for DB/DC hybrid
It’s still not clear whether the hybrid approach—called “defined ambition” by UK Work & Pensions secretary Steve Webb—has widespread support or interest among employers or if it’s mainly a...
British pension industry wary of “collective” DC
The UK's retirement system is a work in progress. With private DB plans expected to vanish in 2016, the government is promoting Danish-style DB/DC hybrids (not US.-style DC) as...
Ten Images that Explain Retirement
No, this image isn't one of them! A while ago, we asked retirement advisers what images they use to illustrate complex financial principles. The frequent response: “When you find...
In Radical Move, Britain Deregulates Retirement
“Pensioners will have complete freedom to draw down as much or as little of their pension pot as they want, any time they want,” said the UK Chancellor of...
