February 2018

Croatia pension funds seek higher contributions, deeper market

Croatia’s government should press on with plans to gradually double the amount of money citizens pay into pension funds to help turn around the loss-making pension system, the head of the main industry body said on Tuesday. Damir Grbavac, chair of the UMFO pension funds association, told Reuters his members also needed more opportunities to invest in the local economy, saying there was a shortage of Croatian companies seeking listings or funding on the capital market. Both the IMF and the...

UK. Starling’s marketplace banking rollout adds pensions, savings, travel insurance and mortgages

Starling, the U.K. challenger bank that offers a mobile-only current account, continues to execute on its marketplace banking strategy. Following the required regulatory approval, the Starling Marketplace is adding a number of financial services integrations, spanning pensions, savings, travel insurance and mortgage brokerage. Specifically, Starling is partnering with PensionBee, Wealthsimple, Kasko, and Habito, respectively. It says it’s targeting 25 partnerships in total in 2018. The challenger bank has already added Flux to its in-app marketplace to offer item-level receipts and...

Pension Plans Central America Report

The Pension Plans Central America Report gives Market Consumption / Products / Services for 31 countries by each Product by 3 Time series: From 1997- 2016 and Forecasts 2017- 2024 & 2024-2028. Countries covered include: Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent/Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands....

Perú. AFP: Afiliados retiran S/ 60,503 en promedio al cumplir 65 años

Hasta fines del año pasado, los afiliados retiraron, bajo la modalidad del 95.5%, un monto total de S/ 8,814 millones hasta el 29 de diciembre del 2017 según SBS. Esto representa el 88% respecto a todas las modalidades de retiro. Hace más de un año y medio la Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP ( SBS) anunció que las personas mayores a 65 años afiliadas a las AFP tenían tres opciones: retirar hasta el 95.5% de su fondo, elegir una...

Ghana. GNAT urges teachers to take advantage of Third Tier Pension Scheme

The Pension Plans Central America Report gives Market Consumption / Products / Services for 31 countries by each Product by 3 Time series: From 1997- 2016 and Forecasts 2017- 2024 & 2024-2028. Countries covered include: Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent/Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, US Virgin Islands....

US. Can ESG help make NJ’s pension-fund investments more ethical?

Some states are using ESG factors - environmental, social, and governance - to evaluate investments in companies. Will New Jersey follow suit? The federal government's inaction on issues like climate change and gun violence has led elected officials in New York City, California, and other places to start using public-employee pension funds to exert more influence, including by pulling back investments in oil companies and gun manufacturers. That hasn't been the case so far in New Jersey, but policymakers for the...

Overcoming the Saving Slump: How to Increase the Effectiveness of Financial Education and Saving Programs

By Annamaria Lusardi The great majority of working Americans are unprepared to face the difficult task of planning for retirement. In fact, the personal savings rate has been holding steady at zero for several years, down from 8 percent in the mid-1980s. Overcoming the Saving Slump explores the many challenges facing workers in the transition from a traditional defined benefit pension system to one that requires more individual responsibility, analyzing the considerable impediments to saving and evaluating financial literacy programs...

Headed for the Poorhouse: How to Ensure Seniors Don't Run Out of Cash Before They Run Out of Time

By Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald (Ryerson University - The National Institute of Aging (NIA)) Income security in later life (age 85) is more important now than ever. More attention needs to be paid to how Canadians can best draw down their savings after retirement and secure adequate income for advanced ages. Retiring Canadians need innovative solutions – ones that add definitive value but place no new pressures on the Canadian public purse. I propose a government-led solution: Canada’s Living Income For the...

Headed for the Poorhouse: How to Ensure Seniors Don’t Run Out of Cash Before They Run Out of Time

By Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald (Ryerson University - The National Institute of Aging (NIA)) Income security in later life (age 85) is more important now than ever. More attention needs to be paid to how Canadians can best draw down their savings after retirement and secure adequate income for advanced ages. Retiring Canadians need innovative solutions – ones that add definitive value but place no new pressures on the Canadian public purse. I propose a government-led solution: Canada’s Living Income For the...