February 2017

21Feb

Pension funds of seven Chinese regions entrusted for investment

Seven Chinese provincial-level regions, including Beijing and Shanghai, have started entrusting their pension funds to the National Council for Social Security Fund (NCSSF) for investment. A total of 360 billion yuan (52.33 billion U.S. dollars) is being transferred from scattered bank accounts operated by local authorities to the NCSSF for centralized asset management, the Economic Information Daily reported on Tuesday. The move is the latest effort by China to improve returns of its vast locally managed pension funds, which have traditionally...

February 21, 2017
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18Feb

Brexit-bashing Lords receive £500k in EU pensions a year and aren’t allowed to criticise Brussels… but won’t say so in Brexit debate

BREXIT-bashing peers are pocketing generous EU pensions which depend on them flying the flag for their Brussels paymasters. But they will not be required to declare their gold-plated income if they speak in this week’s crucial debate on Britain’s withdrawal. The EU forks out over £500,000 a year in pensions to 30 former MEPs and officials in the Lords. They include seven ex-European Commissioners who swore an oath of loyalty to Brussels that means they risk losing their pension if they attack...

February 18, 2017
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17Feb

Reforming Pensions in Central Europe: Path Dependence and Path Departure in the Pension Systems of former Czechoslovakia

By Ivan Lesay Welfare states in general and pension systems specifically have been recently facing many economic, ideological, political and other challenges all around the world. However, welfare state retrenchment and pension reforms are most likely not to look the same in the post-Communist Europe as in other parts of the world. Almost a half century in the Soviet bloc prepared different political, economic, and institutional legacies for potential welfare state restructuring in Central-East Europe after the fall of Communism....

February 17, 2017
Books
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17Feb

Securing Pension Provision: The Challenge of Reforming the Age of Entitlement

By comparing Germany, France, the UK and the USA this study explores how governments have tackled the increased pressure of financing state pensions. Specifically, it looks at the approach of each of these countries to raising the age of entitlement in order to understand the ways in which this policy was introduced in different countries. Read More: HERE

February 17, 2017
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17Feb

Reforming Pensions: A Short Guide

Mandatory pensions are a worldwide phenomenon. However, with fixed contribution rates, monthly benefits, and retirement ages, pension systems are not consistent with three long-run trends: declining mortality, declining fertility, and earlier retirement. Many systems need reform. This book gives an extensive nontechnical explanation of the economics of pension design. The theoretical arguments have three elements: * Pension systems have multiple objectives--consumption smoothing, insurance, poverty relief, and redistribution. Good policy needs to bear them all in mind. * Good analysis should be framed...

February 17, 2017
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17Feb

Averting the Old Age Crisis: Policies to Protect the Old and Promote Growth (World Bank Policy Research Report)

This policy-oriented book identifies the issues countries should consider as they reevaluate their old income security policies and formulate new methods. The choice between the various models for providing old-age security has broad implications for the operation of labor and capital markets, the fiscal system, and the level, growth, and distribution of GNP. The author concludes that a mixed strategy is more effective than any single method of income security. This will be an important book for international economists...

February 17, 2017
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17Feb

Reforming Pensions: Principles and Policy Choices

Mandatory pensions are a worldwide phenomenon. However, with fixed contribution rates, monthly benefits, and retirement ages, pension systems are not consistent with three long-run trends: declining mortality, declining fertility, and earlier retirement. Many systems need reform. This book gives an extensive nontechnical explanation of the economics of pension design. The theoretical arguments have three elements: * Pension systems have multiple objectives--consumption smoothing, insurance, poverty relief, and redistribution. Good policy needs to bear them all in mind. * Good analysis should be...

February 17, 2017
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16Feb

The Changes Confronting the Investment Advisory Business

The investment advisory business is undergoing a once-in-a-generation transformation in the delivery of financial advice to individual investors. The changes are moving the industry toward higher standards of professionalism and transparency. But there is still a need for wealth management firms and financial advisers to do more. Many investors face a clear-cut savings shortfall — and a bewildering array of investment alternatives — and are challenged to accumulate sufficient wealth to meet the needs of longer life spans. Precisely when their need...

February 16, 2017
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16Feb

Tata Steel: Union workers back new pension plan

Thousands of Tata steelworkers have overwhelmingly backed a deal on the future of their pensions. They were asked whether they would accept moving from a final salary pension to a less generous scheme. Members of three unions at sites in Wales, Scotland, South Yorkshire and Teesside all supported the new proposals. Tata's offer included a £1bn investment commitment at Port Talbot and no compulsory job losses. The three unions at the Indian company's UK plants had recommended that their members, including 6,300 Tata...

February 16, 2017
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