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The pandemic has seen a surge in single-use plastics, with disposable masks, gloves and other PPE equipment ceaselessly washing up on beaches across the globe. If we act now to tackle the urgent issue of plastic pollution, this could be a pivotal moment in the fight for cleaner oceans, writes Howard Angel, marine ecologist

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As governments shun the use of insecticides, companies and farmers are unleashing natural predators to protect their crops against pests

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As Airbnb approaches its highly anticipated initial public offering, security concerns are bringing the platform under increasing scrutiny

The future of remote working

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced thousands of businesses to let their staff work remotely, but many of these firms might not be as technologically prepared for the situation as they thought

Pension funds unite forces

As the pension fund industry dries up under the pressure of austerity, smaller funds are merging to retake control

The US and European debt crises and the resulting economic woes of many countries have not left pension funds untouched. Smaller funds in particular are not always able to properly diversify their investment portfolios, which can seriously harm them if it turns out that the investments they made were less than sound.

Smaller funds are generally exposed to higher risk levels, since a group of employees becoming redundant at the same time can sometimes cause serious cash flow problems for such a fund.

In order to cut overheads and to provide them with a more stable environment, several small funds have merged in recent months.

The Kroger Co.
The Kroger Co. contributes to a number of United Food and Commercial Workers multi-employer funds. Four of these funds merged into a single fund on the 1st of January 2012.

According to a company spokesperson the move is expected to result in a reduction in the amount that Kroger has to pay in respect of pension contributions every year. Kroger also says that the move will help to guarantee the pension benefits of the company’s more than 65,000 employees.

The merger of the four pension funds will provide improved future returns, reduced administrative costs, and should provide more stability in terms of future benefits according to the spokesperson.

Australia First State Super and Health Super
Not so long ago Australia’s First State Super and Health Super funds merged to create the country’s fifth largest private pension fund. The move is expected to spark other similar consolidations as funds in the fourth largest wealth management market in the world try to reduce costs.

The new fund manages investments of more than $28bn. It has over 750,000 members.

The merger came after Australia proposed reforms to pension funds that aim to reduce management fees in the $1.2trn industry.

The initial announcement was made in November 2010, but it took many months to finalise all the administrative and legal details. The final merger took place in the latter part of 2011.

Minneapolis Police and Fire Pension Funds
In September of last year a vote by police pensioners ended a protracted battle between the city of Minneapolis and its fire and police pension funds – and it brought Mayor R.T. Rybak one step closer to his aim of getting a no-tax-increase budget approved.

At the meeting, over 90 percent of retired policemen voted to approve the merger of their 121-year old pension fund with a state pension fund. This followed after their fire fighter colleagues approved the deal a few days earlier.

The full pension which a fire fighter will receive under the new plan is $41,479 per year; this figure is based on a fire fighter who retires at the age 50 after 25 years of service. A police officer will get an annual pension of $44,742 per year under the same set of assumptions.

Part of the merger agreement was that these amounts will increase to $64,000 per year by 2015.