February 2026

Are my pensions or investments at risk from an AI bubble?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the story driving global markets for the past couple of years. From chipmakers to cloud computing giants, companies associated with AI have driven stock markets to record highs. But alongside the excitement, warnings are growing louder. With several of the so-called Magnificent 7 (Mag 7) seeing declines in recent months, investors are becoming increasingly nervous that the AI bubble is about to burst. If this happens, will it be bad news for your pension or investment portfolio? What...

UK. High-risk DC pension funds failing to match FTSE 100 over five years

Almost nine in 10 (89 per cent) medium-high- and high-risk defined contribution (DC) pension funds have failed to match the FTSE 100's performance over the past five years, according to research from Investing Insiders. The analysis reviewed 12,983 funds available to UK savers between 31 December 2020 and 31 December 2025, collectively holding more than £1trn in assets. Of the 7,370 funds in the medium-high and high risk categories, 6,540 - or 89 per cent - underperformed the FTSE 100 over...

How to bring gig workers into the pension system

Policymakers should consider successful efforts in other countries to bring “informal” workers into pension saving as part of the effort to address the global adequacy problem, according to major new research. A report by the Coller Pensions Institute and D3P Global has listed 20 recommendations for improving access to pension savings for ‘gig’ workers, who work short-term flexible jobs. The institute’s analysis indicates that “informal” workers – including market traders, taxi drivers, and domestic help workers – now make up more...

México. Afores registran plusvalías por más de 158 mil mdp: Consar

Las Administradoras de Fondos para el Retiro (Afore) reportaron plusvalías (ganancias no consolidadas hasta el momento de la jubilación) por 158 mil 471 millones de pesos, informó la Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar). De esta forma, revelan datos del organismo que regula y supervisa a las 10 Afore que operan en el mercado, el Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (SAR) lleva nueve meses consecutivos con datos positivos. “El sistema continúa con la tendencia...

Chile. Boric destaca reforma de pensiones: “No es un triunfo ni de oposición ni de gobierno”

El Presidente aseguró estar “profundamente orgulloso”, a poco menos de un mes del fin de Gobierno y destacó otros proyectos y medidas como el Chat Latam-GPT. El Presidente de la República, Gabriel Boric, destacó la reforma de pensiones y la compensación previsional destinada a las mujeres, resaltando que su implementación trasciende sectores políticos. Acompañado de un grupo de adultas mayores, el Jefe de Estado valoró que “cuando logramos poner por sobre nuestras diferencias a Chile y a las personas, podemos llegar...

Mexico. Retiros por desempleo de Afores crecieron 21% en enero de 2026; alcanzan un nuevo máximo histórico

De acuerdo con la Asociación Mexicana de Afores (Amafore), el crecimiento de los retiros está relacionado con el incremento de los salarios y de las aportaciones obligatorias a las cuentas de ahorro para el retiro. Es el mayor monto retirado por desempleo de las Afores del que se tenga registro en enero de cualquier año. Además, el monto retirado en el primer mes del 2026 representó un crecimiento de 21% en comparación con el mismo mes del 2025, año en el...

Colombia. El giro que está dando el sistema pensional con los dos nuevos decretos que empezaron a operar recientemente

Para los expertos, dichas normas introducen ajustes estructurales sin modificar el marco legal base. Aplicaciones de Nequi y Bancolombia suspenderán su servicio temporalmente en estas dos fechas. Desde hace algunas semanas, el sistema pensional colombiano empezó a mostrar un giro relevante a partir de la entrada en operación de dos decretos recientes del Gobierno Nacional que, sin modificar la ley base del modelo, están alterando la distribución de riesgos y se administra el ahorro de quienes cotizan y se pensionan en...

EU looks to pensions and capital markets to unlock private funding for defence and tech

EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, 17 February 2026, are again returning to an old problem with new urgency: how to persuade Europeans to move more of their household savings out of bank deposits and into longer-term investment, and how to do so across borders in a fragmented financial system. The discussion sits under the European Commission’s “Savings and Investments Union” (SIU) banner, which is presented as the successor framework to the long-running Capital Markets Union project. In...

UK. Industry urged to ‘break cycle of failed ideas’ on pensions adequacy

The pensions industry risks “sleepwalking into another generation of under-saving” unless it experiments with new approaches to member engagement, People's Pension has warned. The master trust argued that traditional, well-intentioned efforts to boost pensions adequacy had delivered limited success in recent years and called on the industry to support bolder, more innovative engagement strategies. In particular, the scheme urged greater focus on Generation Z, which it identified as the cohort most likely to opt out of pensions but with the longest...

Kenya. RBA Cracks Down on KSh72bn in Unpaid Pension Contributions with Stricter Penalties

The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) has launched a tough new drive to recover more than KSh72 billion in unpaid pension contributions, introducing stricter penalties and enforcement measures aimed at institutions that have deducted retirement deductions from workers’ pay but failed to remit them to pension schemes. The crackdown responds to a sharp increase in unremitted pension contributions, a problem that has eroded confidence in Kenya’s retirement benefits system and left millions of contributors at risk. RBA data show that...