November 2023

Colombia. Aumento del salario mínimo para 2024 implica reajuste en el aporte a los fondos de pensiones, en qué consiste

A partir del próximo año, quienes reciben el salario mínimo podrían tener un incremento en su contribución a los sistemas de retiro Continúa el debate por el aumento del salario mínimo para los colombianos para el 2024. Desde varios sectores se han dado cifras tentativas sobre la cifra que regirá para los más de dos millones de colombianos que ganan este promedio salarial, mientras que desde las carteras ministeriales, los sectores empresariales y las centrales de trabajo se han lanzado...

IBM unveils details of retirement benefit account

International Business Machines has provided details to employees of the company's scrapping its 401(k) corporate match and replacing it with a cash balance component called a retirement benefit account, which is part of the IBM Personal Pension Plan, a defined benefit plan. The company confirmed earlier this month that the RBA would replace the 5% match for the 401(k) plan on Jan. 1, but didn't discuss details. The IBM Personal Pension Plan — closed to new participants since 2005 and frozen...

Africa running out of time to sort looming pensions crisis

An expert at the ongoing 4th Annual Conference of the African Pension Supervisors Association (APSA) in Kampala has said urgent steps need to be taken to reverse a trend in which the continent has only 10% pension coverage of its population. Sundeep Raichura, Group Chief Executive Officer Zamara says that before African experts can talk of extending pension coverage, they must first admit it has no working pension system, in order for the leaders to focus on getting home grown...

Swiss government reviews first and second pillar pensions

The Swiss government has adopted several changes to the regulation on old-age and survivors’ insurance (AHVG), and other laws also relating to occupational pensions (BVV2), to review and strengthen supervision in the country’s first and second pillar pension systems. In the second pillar, the reviewed ordinance clarifies the definition of pensioners’ portfolios, which can be transferred from one pension scheme to another, in addition to the definition of sufficient funding. This gives experts in the field of occupational pensions a clearer...

UK. ESG: Biodiversity And Nature Risks For Pension Schemes

While climate risk has increasingly been at the top of the agenda for trustees in recent years, biodiversity and nature risk has occasionally been overlooked, despite the serious financial implications stemming from these issues. The World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2023 cited "biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse" as the fourth most significant global risk over the next ten years. In light of this, pension regulators are focusing their attention on biodiversity risk management.  A guide recently produced by...

October 2023

Gustavo Demarco. El camino de un cordobés que salió de la UNC y llegó al Banco Mundial

Gustavo Demarco fue docente de macroeconomía, pasó por el Estado nacional asesorando en la formación de las AFJP y ahora coordina un equipo internacional que investiga y asesora en sistemas de jubilaciones y pensiones. En los ‘80, Gustavo Demarco pasaba sus días dando clases de macroeconomía en la Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), hasta que el llamado de un colega desde el Ministerio de Trabajo de la Nación le cambió la vida. El Gobierno...

EIOPA lays down strategic priorities for 2024/26 with focus on managing uncertainty

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has outlined its strategic priorities for the period 2024-2026, highlighting its plans to “focus on managing the uncertainty in times of transformation so that the insurance and pensions sectors can continue to deliver value to policyholders and beneficiaries.” In a statement, the EIOPA laid down six strategic priorities on which to focus, which include sustainable finance, digital transformation, supervision, policy, risks to financial sustainability and governance. Under sustainable finance, the Authority stated it...

Nigeria. PenCom Disburses N10.2bn To 142,486 NSITF Scheme Contributors

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has has transfered a total of N10.2 billion to 142,486 Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) under the Organised Private Sector (OPS) of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) scheme to date. This was disclosed by the director-general of PenCom, Aisha Dahiru Umar, at a one-day interactive session with the OPS on the current developments and challenges in the implementation of the Pension Reform Act (PRA) 2014, which took place in Kano State, on Tuesday. “To date,...

U.K. investment managers see assets dip 12% in 2022

Assets managed by the U.K. investment management industry fell to £8.8 trillion ($10.61 trillion) at the end of 2022, a 12% decrease from the previous year, according to the Investment Association's annual Investment Management Survey. The survey released Oct. 10 attributed the drop to a broad-based market correction reflecting monetary policy changes, inflation, the Ukraine war and other global uncertainties. "The markets experienced an unusual correlation in the direction of travel for both global equities and bonds," the survey report...

US Corporate Pension Funding Rises Slightly in September

U.S. corporate pension funding status increased in September, despite a decline in equities. September’s funding status was a return to the norm, following an August that saw pension funding decline for the first time this year.  Insight Investment found that pension funding status improved by one percentage point in August, to 107.5% from 106.5%. Equity losses were offset by a roughly 40 bps increase in discount rates, causing liabilities to decline faster than assets. Assets decreased by 4.5% in September,...