COVID-19 fallout transforms national retirement systems into rainy day funds
Skip to main content
pilogo-NEW
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • My Account
  • login
  • NEWS
    • Asset owners and the coronavirus
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • Frontlines
    • Hedge Funds
    • Investing / Portfolio Strategies
    • Money Management
    • Pension Funds
    • People Moves
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Searches & Hires News
    • SECURE Act
    • Special Reports
    • WorldPensionSummit
    • Ron Schmitz
      Pandemic drives faster transition for Virginia to private markets
      Mubadala Investment Co. logo
      Mubadala draws on portfolio in coronavirus fight
      T.J. Carlson
      Texas Muni reduces downside risk during pandemic, finding opportunities now
      Scott Davis
      ‘Triage plan’ at Indiana system helped stem losses
    • Some alternative strategies struggle in first quarter following tough 2020
      Close up of Business people shaking hands, finishing up meeting, business etiquette, congratulation, merger and acquisition concept
      Cathay Innovation Partners takes minority stake in Seaya Ventures
      IACPM: Credit managers see stabilizing effect from stimulus programs
      KKR lifts out 3 to focus on clean energy infrastructure
    • Hub International continues buying spree with IBG acquisition
      Callan brings on 2 executives
      Hub International agrees to buy Plan Sponsor Consultants
      Aon names public markets solution leader
    • The J.P. Morgan Chase logo displayed at a branch bank
      J.P. Morgan sells $13 billion of bonds in largest-ever bank deal
      John Bakarat
      Commentary: COVID-19 and real estate debt – where investors should be looking
      IACPM: Credit managers see stabilizing effect from stimulus programs
      BofA: Most managers bullish on economy, markets
    • Pentegra launches pooled employer plan
      Teresa Hassara
      Ascensus taps MassMutual alum as new FuturePlan president
      Economic Group Pension Services scoops up third-party administrator
      OregonSaves gathers $100 million in assets
    • WTW to cut carbon footprint of OCIO portfolios by half by 2030
      SEC Commissioners Testify Before The House Financial Services Committee
      SEC shouldn’t require ESG metrics – commissioner
      Tracker gives investors insight into progress on social commitments
      Shoppers wear protective masks while visiting an Apple Inc. store at George Street in Sydney, Australia, on June 24, 2020.
      Apple backs SEC mandate on climate disclosure
    • New book culls institutional wisdom from podcast series
      Fearless Girl
      SSGA’s Fearless Girl statue now shattering glass ceiling
      Tangen video
      Norges chief dons chef’s hat to boost employees’ spirits
      Ken Griffin
      Ken Griffin donates $5 million to give Miami students internet
    • Karen Karniol-Tambour
      Bridgewater appoints 2 co-CIOs to oversee new sustainable investing group
      Hedge funds post best first-quarter return since 2000
      Jason Kephart
      Managers see good times ahead in 2021
      Jev Mehmet, CEO of Brevan Howard's Coremont unit
      Brevan Howard runs $50 billion unit like BlackRock’s Aladdin
    • University of New Hampshire endowment allocates $14 million
      Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions confirmation hearing for Marty Walsh, secretary of labor nominee for President Joe Biden, in Washington on Feb. 4, 2021
      Lawmakers reintroduce climate-risk disclosure bill
      The U.S. Capitol and Library of Congress stand in this aerial photograph taken above Washington
      Senate bill seeks to make U.S. climate-change leader
      Brexit pushes 440 financial services firms to move some U.K. business to Europe
    • Morgan Stanley logo
      Morgan Stanley’s record quarter stained by Archegos collapse
      Man Group CEO Luke Ellis
      Man Group AUM up in first quarter on performance
      Michael Zerda
      LaSalle picks head of debt and special situations
      Susan Ford
      Duff & Phelps brings on institutional business development managing director
    • Corporate plan funding gets a boost from higher discount rates – Milliman
      Evan Siddall
      AIMCo lines up next CEO
      A bank customer takes Danish Kroner banknotes from an ATM in Aarhus, Denmark
      Denmark’s PFA Pension achieves 6.3% return in first quarter
      Ontario Municipal promotes from within for new global equities exec
    • Tufts taps interim co-CIO as new investment chief
      Michael Zerda
      LaSalle picks head of debt and special situations
      Evan Siddall
      AIMCo lines up next CEO
      Susan Ford
      Duff & Phelps brings on institutional business development managing director
    • Paul Morrissey
      Blackstone Growth picks managing director to lead European investing
      Bills of euro, dollar and pound currencies, among others
      Ardian closes latest buyout fund at $8.8 billion
      Hand typing on stationary iPhone at an office reception desk
      Private equity’s taste for tech spurs $80 billion deal spree
      Vista Equity promotes 2 to leadership roles on 2 funds
    • CalSTRS indutrial property
      Investors hungry for industrial properties
      Tim Wang
      GLP names co-president of logistics, industrial real estate for China
      Frank Forster
      StepStone Real Estate adds managing director for Europe
      Christine Iacoucci
      BentallGreenOak promotes from within to fill Canadian CIO role
    • Andy Schreiner
      New PEPs targeting firms without retirement plans
      Jackie Walorski
      Contribution catch-up for caregivers gaining favor
      Neal and Brady
      Retirement security could be only issue both sides accept
      Retirement cartoon
      Hopes rising for retirement readiness in 2021
    • Corporate pension contributions
      Eddy Awards 2021
      COVID-19: One year in
      Charging Bull, sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, a bronze sculpture that stands on Broadway just north of Bowling Green in the Financial District of New York City
      Top-performing managers Q4 2020
    • U.S. still a key market for investors
      Collected coverage of P&I's 2020 WorldPensionSummit
      Pedestrians pass a large advertisement on the Arndale Center shopping mall reading 'Act now to avoid a local lockdown' in Manchester, England
      COVID-19 puts new opportunities and risks on the agenda - WPS panelists
      Screens display stock price information over the trading floor of the NYSE Euronext exchange in Paris
      Private assets will continue to grow in portfolios – WPS panelists
  • Data
    • Research Center
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • Searches & Hires News
    • RFPs
    • Charts / Infographics
    • Sponsored Research
    • Trackers
    • Q2 2020 searches and hires overview report
      Q2 2020 money manager M&A activity summary
      Q2 2020 legal overview report
      Q1 2020 searches and hires overview report
    • University of New Hampshire endowment allocates $14 million
      Memphis Light, Gas & Water scouting for special situations funds
      Washington State Investment Board earmarks $4.2 billion for 7 funds
      Virginia earmarks $1 billion for 4 managers
    • University of New Hampshire endowment allocates $14 million
      Memphis Light, Gas & Water scouting for special situations funds
      Washington State Investment Board earmarks $4.2 billion for 7 funds
      Virginia earmarks $1 billion for 4 managers
    • Passive Investment Management Services
      Active Extended Global Credit Manager Search
      Actuarial Services
      Investment Management Services
    • Private real estate funds continue rebound
      Managed account adoption stalls in 2020
      U.S. bonds have worst quarterly return since 1981
      Stable value retains edge over money market funds
    • Institutional Investors: Shared Expectations, Divergent Paths
      Global Investor Study 2016
      Workplace Financial Wellness
    • U.S. Endowment Returns Tracker
      Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      Earnings Tracker
      Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
  • Insights
    • Opinion
    • White Papers
    • Industry Voices
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Partner Content
    • Publisher's Update
    • CalPERS cartoon
      Urgency underscores CalPERS' search for a CIO
      Multiemployer plans cartoon
      Money — but no fixes — for multiemployer plans
      Vaccination cartoon
      Rallying to meet the ongoing COVID-19 challenge
      Tesla cartoon
      Don’t confuse wealth creation with retirement saving
    • Bipsync Client Stories: RMS in Action at Pensions and Superannuation Funds
      COVID-19 Makes LP Portfolio Management More Important Than Ever
      China: the outlook is bright for longer-term investors
      Finding Differentiation in Securitized Assets
    • John Bakarat
      Commentary: COVID-19 and real estate debt – where investors should be looking
      Jake Remley
      Commentary: Inflation expectations vs. reality in the bond market
      Greg Shea and Steven Kindred
      Commentary: The solution for yield-seeking allocators may be hiding in plain sight
      Jim Park
      Commentary: Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders face ‘bamboo ceiling’ in money management
    • Writer using a typewriter
      OCIO industry needs to adopt GIPS
      Writer or journalist workplace. stock illustration
      Even as it assails China, Trump administration emulates it
      Skeptical of Main Street support for proxy adviser proposal
      Focus on manager diversity pushes asset owners’ to walk the talk
    • P&I Content Solutions
      Research for Institutional Money Management
      P&I Content Solutions
      Top questions for institutional investors
      Sponsored Content By Newton Investment Management
      Growth and Innovation in Emerging Markets
      P&I Content Solutions
      Fixed income 2021
    • Help us help you by supporting quality journalism
      You Must Believe in Spring
      Everything Must Change
      Tomatoes & Investments
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Webinars
    • Polls
    • Slideshows
    • Charts / Infographics
    • watch video
      1:23
      The passive fixed-income glut
      watch video
      1:38
      Is it time for DC plans to embrace private equity?
      watch video
      5:39
      The coronavirus pandemic: One year later
      watch video
      0:45
      Private funds weathered 2020 turmoil
    • New Outlook on Income: A Framework for Evaluating DC Retirement Income Solutions
      Understanding the PEP Evolution
      Divest or engage?
      Innovations in DC: Helping supercharge retirement outcomes
    • POLL: The Biden infrastructure plan
      POLL: Retirement income solutions
      POLL: Working after the pandemic
      POLL: The year ahead for the 1,000 largest U.S. retirement funds
    • view gallery
      9 photos
      Coronavirus and the markets
      view gallery
      22 photos
      The 1,000 largest retirement funds: 2020
      view gallery
      10 photos
      Outlook 2020
      view gallery
      10 photos
      2019 as seen through the eyes of Roger
    • Private real estate funds continue rebound
      Managed account adoption stalls in 2020
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Webinars
    • DC Investment Lineup Virtual Series
      ESG Investing Virtual Series
      Private Markets Virtual Series
    • New Outlook on Income: A Framework for Evaluating DC Retirement Income Solutions
      Understanding the PEP Evolution
      Divest or engage?
      Innovations in DC: Helping supercharge retirement outcomes
  • Careers
  • Research Center
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Retirement Plans
March 25, 2020 05:14 PM

COVID-19 fallout transforms national retirement systems into rainy day funds

Douglas Appell
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Bloomberg
    Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysians will be able to withdraw up to 500 ringgit a month from their savings in the Employees Provident Fund.

    Some national retirement systems have begun to look more like rainy day funds as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the global economy.

    Australia and Malaysia this week opened the door for citizens in those countries' mandatory retirement schemes to tap their savings as a means of getting through the savage dislocations resulting from efforts to contain the virus.

    Australia's government on March 22 announced that unemployed Australians, including those either made redundant this year or facing a 20% reduction in working hours, will be able to withdraw A$10,000 ($5,800) from their nest eggs through the June 30 close of the current fiscal year and another A$10,000 in the first quarter of the new year.

    The next day, Malaysia Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Malaysians will be able to withdraw up to 500 ringgit ($114) a month from their savings in the country's 924.75 billion ringgit Employees Provident Fund for the coming 12 months to help them pay their bills and put food on their tables.

    For good measure, employees' mandatory EPF contributions — which were slashed to 7% of their monthly salaries from 11% at the end of February — were cut again to 4% through the end of 2020.

    Both countries struck the same tone in explaining their moves, contending the measures announced were regrettable but necessary in light of dire economic circumstances.

    "While superannuation helps people save for retirement, the government recognizes that for those significantly financially affected by the coronavirus, accessing some of their superannuation today may outweigh the benefits of maintaining those savings until retirement," according to an explanatory note on the Australian government's website.

    See more of P&I's coverage of the coronavirus

    Likewise, Alizakri Alias, the CEO of Malaysia's EPF, said in a March 23 statement "as a retirement fund, the EPF has to strike a balance between our mandate to safeguard our members' retirement savings, and caring for their well-being."

    Some analysts say the latest moves by Australia and Malaysia shouldn't be seen as a significant departure from recent trends.

    There's nothing special about early withdrawals from nest eggs at times of financial hardship, and this could simply reflect these organizations' growing mandate — from a narrow focus on retirement to a broader focus on members' financial well-being throughout their lives, noted Josef Pilger, a Sydney-based partner and global pension and retirement leader with Ernst & Young Global Ltd.

    Still, observers in both countries noted the steep opportunity costs facing savers who draw down retirement accounts that have been gutted over the past month by plunging equity valuations.

    David Elia, the CEO of Hostplus, a A$53 billion Melbourne-based industry fund for the tourism, hospitality and sports sectors, in an email predicted that "many members will not want to crystallize current losses by unnecessarily accessing their super accounts, so as to take advantage of the eventual recovery in investment markets."

    Doing so may be unavoidable for some facing hardships now but the costs will be substantial, said Kirby Rappell, executive director of SuperRatings Pty. Ltd., a Sydney-based super fund research and ratings firm.

    Mr. Rappell said his estimates show a 25-year-old who takes out the full A$20,000 permitted by the government would retire at 67 with A$132,000 less than he or she would have had otherwise. By contrast, a 55-year-old taking out A$20,000 would have only A$27,000 less than he or she would have had at 67, he said.

    For Malaysia, tweaking EPF contributions to provide support for the country's economy is a lever the government has pulled before, as recently as the period between March 2016 and December 2017 when employees' mandatory EPF contributions were reduced to 8% from 11%.

    For Australia, extending and enlarging the circumstances under which employees are able to gain hardship access to their retirement savings "in the middle of a crisis," sweetened further by eliminating the normal 22% tax on early withdrawals, is something new, said Nick Callil, Melbourne-based head of retirement solutions, Australia, with Willis Towers Watson PLC.

    The moves have elicited strong push back from opposition politicians and labor leaders in both countries, who contend that cash transfers or concessionary loans are better suited to the moment.

    Lim Kit Siang, a member of the Malaysian Parliament and finance minister in the coalition government that fell a month ago, called in a statement for the current government to provide "cash support from government reserves for Malaysians affected by the COVID-19 crisis."

    In Australia, meanwhile, a statement issued March 24 by SuperRatings called on the government to "refine" its early access measure.

    For some of the most vulnerable people in society the government's message is effectively, "use your own super to tide yourselves over and by the way, you'll need to take it out at a massive loss, which you can never recoup," said SuperRatings Chairman Jeff Bresnahan in the statement, adding "there must be a better way."

    Still, in Australia, with significant numbers of people suddenly facing "a significant or total loss of income," it's difficult to be too publicly opposed to early access as one of a comprehensive array of measures the government has taken to help Australians fight through extraordinary times, Mr. Callil said.

    AustralianSuper, a Melbourne-based industry fund with A$180 billion in assets as of late January, said in a March 22 statement "AustralianSuper believes that the superannuation sector has a role to play in these unique circumstances and ... will support the federal government's plan to provide members in financial hardship with early access to their superannuation."

    Australia's Treasury appears to be anticipating about A$27 billion, or roughly 1% of super retirement assets, leaving the system, said Alex Dunnin, Sydney-based executive director of research and compliance at Australian financial industry researcher Rainmaker Information. At A$20,000 a person, that would amount to 1.35 million people — or almost 1 in 10 super participants — opting to take money out early, he said.

    A Treasury spokeswoman couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

    Related Articles
    Australia grants early access to super plan savings amid coronavirus outbreak
    China getting a head start in recovery from mayhem
    Malaysia unveils stimulus package, cuts Employee Provident Fund contributions
    Recommended for You
    Australia’s TWUSUPER, EISS Super to explore merger
    Australia’s TWUSUPER, EISS Super to explore merger
    REST Super fills two new leadership roles
    AUSfund to shut down, transfer accounts to Hostplus, ATO
    AUSfund to shut down, transfer accounts to Hostplus, ATO
    Research for Institutional Money Management
    Sponsored Content: Research for Institutional Money Management
    sponsored
    Events
     
     
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Bipsync Client Stories: RMS in Action at Pensions and Superannuation Funds
    COVID-19 Makes LP Portfolio Management More Important Than Ever
    China: the outlook is bright for longer-term investors
    Finding Differentiation in Securitized Assets
    Green and sustainable bonds in emerging markets
    Portfolio Protection: One Size Fits None
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    April 5, 2021 Page One

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    pilogo-NEW
    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    150 N. Michigan Ave.
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2021. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • NEWS
      • Asset owners and the coronavirus
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • Frontlines
      • Hedge Funds
      • Investing / Portfolio Strategies
      • Money Management
      • Pension Funds
      • People Moves
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Searches & Hires News
      • SECURE Act
      • Special Reports
      • WorldPensionSummit
    • Data
      • Research Center
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • Searches & Hires News
      • RFPs
      • Charts / Infographics
      • Sponsored Research
      • Trackers
    • Insights
      • Opinion
      • White Papers
      • Industry Voices
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Partner Content
      • Publisher's Update
    • Multimedia
      • Videos
      • Webinars
      • Polls
      • Slideshows
      • Charts / Infographics
    • Events
      • Conferences
      • Webinars
    • Careers
    • Research Center