(Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
United States President Donald Trump announced that he might implement an order blocking a government retirement fund from Chinese equities labeled by the Chamber of Commerce as potential national security risks. The Thrift Savings Plan imposed by the government's retirement savings fund is the program considered.
According to Bloomberg, the federal government's retirement savings fund called the Thrift Savings Plan is scheduled to transfer 50 billion USD of its international fund. The move would mirror an MSCI All-country World Index that captures emerging markets such as China. However, US President Donald Trump plans to block investments from Chinese entities labeled as those that pose a national security risk to the country.
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board would oversee the fund since its implementation in 2017. The money would be moved by mid-2020. Opposers of the transfer in recent weeks have initiated efforts to stop the transfer. An informant claimed that the stoppage would be implemented through a presidential order issued by Trump. A senior administration official with the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board revealed that there had been no decision regarding the blockage.
This Friday, the Chinese offshore yuan was one of the biggest losers in emerging markets. It weakened the most in April. The US Treasuries then extended their advance during European hours. The yield on the 30-year debt fell by five basis points and ended at 1.23 percent.
According to a Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the reports on the presidential order would be beneficial to the US. In a statement issued last Thursday, Rubio claimed that it is unprecedented that five unelected bureaucrats from the previous administration continue to ignore bipartisan calls from Congress to stop the said investments. He also noted that he admires Trump for taking swift action and address the national security risk potential of the savings fund.
In other news, Fed Smith suggested that the Thrift Savings Plan offers a powerful compensation package for members. He claimed that there remain several options that may change the approach of the program that involves financial planning and structuring of an investment portfolio.
The report then claimed that when members make the wrong choices with their federal benefits package, thousands of dollars in benefits would be reduced in the plan. He also warned that mistakes on savings could not be reserved. Hence, the report suggested that federal retirement specialists do not function as fiduciaries and may oversee the needs of members. He then claimed that covered members should explore and specialize in other aspects of financial and investment planning.
