Fidelity paying out pension, says CEO
(CNS): The president and CEO of RF Group, which now manages the Fidelity pension fund, has claimed that “virtually all” the successful applications from members wanting to withdraw from their accounts that were made before 29 May have now been processed for payment and people should have received their cash. Michael Anderson apologised for the delay, though the company is one of several under investigation after missing the legal deadlines.
Anderson said RF Group became the Fidelity pension manager on 1 May, the same day the changes to the Cayman Islands Pension Law came into effect.
“The various processes required to facilitate the withdrawals created significant challenges for pension participants, pension regulators and pension service providers,” he said, as he thanked those with Fidelity for their patience.
However, not everyone was patient and many reported the company to the Department of Labour and Pensions when Fidelity missed the deadline to confirm applications and their processing and then the payout date, which triggered an investigation by the DLP deputy director in charge of private sector pensions.
It is still not clear what problems Fidelity faced, given that it has around 11,000 members of whom around 3,000 made withdrawal applications, considerably fewer than the number of applications made to the Chamber, Silver Thatch and BritCay plans, which were largely compliant with the law.
Brett Hill, CEO of Fidelity Bank (Cayman) as well as RF Cayman President and Country Head, told the Public Accounts Committee that the office was not understaffed and that the group had told government it needed at least 60 days, not 45, to make payments.
But in press release issued Tuesday, Anderson said the plan started to make payments to withdrawal applications the week of 15 June but he acknowledged delays in responding to and processing clients’ queries and withdrawal applications.
“On behalf of the management and staff of the RF Group, I would like to apologise to all Fidelity Pension Plan participants for any delays experienced,” he stated. “While both the Cayman and Bahamas
based teams have worked tirelessly to deal with the massive volumes of emails, calls and applications received, they were often overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of persons requiring assistance.”
Anyone who successfully applied for withdrawals after 29 May will begin to receive payments from 13 July, with confirmation of payments being dispatched by email.
Those who have submitted applications during the month of May and have not yet received an email outlining necessary changes to the application or confirming payment are asked to email pension@fidelitycayman.com
See video statement from Michael Anderson below:
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Category: Business
Who in government do we notify about their breaches?
Hey CNS – can you see what is going on with Fidelity! They are over 10 days late from the mandated 45 day refund period and am getting complete radio silence from all the emails, phone numbers provided. Perhaps a survey is in order to see who has received THEIR money.
CNS: I’m not ignoring this, just thinking of the best way to deal with the situation.
Still nothing.
Where is my money Britcay? This is not funny anymore..
Where is the DLP? Is anyone going to be held accountable or will just be another lack of response from the government.
And what valuation date did you use? Any accounting tricks to keep NAV low?
I applied May 2..Where is my money Britcay??
Where is the DLP. No answer from them other than “be patient..”
if you bank with RBC then go back and see Britcay as the bank sent the funds back to them…..
July 4th and Britcay still does not have May NAV available and have paid everyone so far on April NAV which is the most recent stmt per their website. This is disgusting!
Another PR disaster! If this was an attempt at damage control, you failed miserably.
Another private sector failure, while the public service pension plan just reached USD$1B and the administration contacted each pensioner during the lock down to check on them. Oh how I wish I was a civil servant.
The CIG pension plan is not funded with real money or investments, nor is the public health care plan. These are multi-decade IOU liabilities for the people of Cayman. It might as well be Monopoly money.
You are not speaking facts…
Th only thing “factual” about a figure of $1 Bln for the CI Civil and Public Service pension is that it’s guess as to the quantum of underfunding………..”future generations”, “long-grass”, “not-my-problem – its the next government’ problem…” “…Oh look – over THERE……” yada, yada.
And that, of course, presupposes a modicum of accurate record keeping, zero incompetence and shall we say no “borrowing”…….. Given historical performance of CIG lead schemes (read any AG report you care to mention..), you make up your own mind on veracity ………
The Fidelity statement is inaccurate. I put my application in by 1 May and have still received nothing and neither have several of my colleagues. Sent a chasing email to Fidelity yesterday as per their instructions….and still nothing. These folks belong in jail – Fidelity should be heavily fined for breaching the law and the money paid to all of us who have had our cash unlawfully withheld. I will be switching my pension to an alternative provider going forward as Fidelity clearly cannot be trusted.
This is really awful. My Silver Thatch payment hit my Butterfield and has been in my Interactive Brokers account in the States for almost a month. BritCay and Fidelity holders aren’t just short their payment, they have also missed out on the opportunity cost of being invested productively elsewhere for a month. Pension holders should ask for an performance equalization bonus payment from the plan to make up for the time and hassle, or form a class action.
This is why i save my cash myself in credit union. Save hard. retire easy. no stress with companies. Waiting. people stealing in the past…… nothing.
still not sure why people invest in these things for a pittance return after waiting 6 months for it.
Because it’s the law to have money put into a pension plan every month if you are employed Elvis.
The Credit union is only for civil servants so I guess you were one of the lucky ones not having 5% of your salary deducted every month & managed by a company in investments mandated by our government.
credit union is not only for civil servants…. if you are a family member of an account holder there you can also open an account, even if your not employed by the civil service
It is amusing but also disappointing, how these Pension Companies, particularly Fidelity and Britcay, will make these public statements try to put a positive spin on their inadequacies to do their jobs when they know full well they continue to flaunt the law.
When will the DLP step in, make a public statement and let us know if any charges will be brought against these rogue companies?
CNS: Can you find out from Alden on Friday if they Government will be applying any pressure to these companies to get themselves in order and to pay it’s customers. They should in fact be charged for each offense and/or fined. It is just ridiculous!
What is going on with Britcay?
After many complaints, for not paying within or on the 45th day..They paid a partial payment based on the April NAV which was incorrect. When everyone complained, they then sent out an email saying that they were extremely busy that and they paid us part of it and will pay us the rest from the May NAV. Of course, that has never happened.
Where is the DLP? Where is our money, Britcay?
Has any of these delinquent Pension companies been charged with any offenses?
I asked one of the other providers what net asset value date was used…no response.
I got an email confirmation for payment from BritCay almost 2 weeks ago, but the funds haven’t showed up on my account yet, Emails and phone calls go unanswered! I checked with my bank, but they have no clue. What do I do?
Invest with Brett. I got my funds.
oh hell NO!!!!…when I get my funds from them, I am done with them for good. My employer has already agreed with us to move our pension to Silver Thatch.
I’m done with Fidelity…
Go to their office. It’s open
Please don’t risk the spread of the virus and stay at home!
Try hush! We can’t stay locked up forever. Life has to go on. You stay home if that is your choice.
Lol. Stay home and starve. Wear a mask my dear, and make sure go and look about ya money.
Just don’t go to the lady’s desk at health insurance, never a smile, never nice.
You got a Britcay struggling with admitting they fraudulently abused the withdrawal process or standing the course.
They’ve gone downhill n the past 5 years. Poor management.
#brettisright
yeah…maybe the part about jail
Hopefully somebody that is competent has now stepped forward to deal with this issue.
Still waiting for the top job to open up at The Fidelity Cayman branch.
still waiting on payment from britcay that should have been made on june 19th
I applied for retirement pension in February and I have heard nothing. Did the pandemic push regular applications already in, back?
Riddle me this.
I pay you in CI$.
You convert it to US$ and invest it.
I ask for my payment.
You sell US$ investments, convert it to CI$ and then (eventually) pay me.
What is the exchange rate used each time, and who gets the spread?
Both transactions should be converted at mid rate i.e. @0.8333 and therefore there should be no foreign exchange loss to you.
But are they? And what if I want it in US$ so that I can efficiently reinvest it in the markets myself?
@10:27 I don’t know for certain that the mid rate is used but believe it is. You would have to ask your pension provider.
In terms of receiving in USD, the application ask what currency you would like to be paid in, so that is your choice. Of course if you ask for USD, then you need to have a USD account to receive payment in that currency.
Fine. – but would they convert from US$ and then from CI$ to US$ again to may me?
Received usd from silverthatch.
Get your finger out and get them paid!
“…people should have received their cash”…not here, even after a complaint filed!!!
same here, no ellie’s to emails i should have been paid on the 16th.