July 2022

Greece to allow pension increases from 2023, first since debt crisis- PM

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised pension increases for the first time in more than a decade next year, saying Greece had definitively turned a page from the financial chaos which required three international bailouts. During its decade-long financial crisis that broke out in 2009, Greece was forced by its international lenders to slash pensions more than 10 times to reduce state spending and meet its fiscal targets. "Everyone must benefit from growth without threatening the fiscal balance or the country's...

Warning over pension change for South Africa

Retirement funds will have to invest in upskilling trustees to empower them to navigate the complex world of infrastructure investing opened up by the gazetting of the amendments to Regulation 28 of the Pensions Fund Act, says Andrew Davison, chair of the Investments Committee of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA). The new Regulation 28 investment limits allow retirement funds to invest up to 45% of assets in South African infrastructure projects, effective from the beginning of January 2023. Infrastructure...

UK. FCA staff strike ‘on pause’ pending further talks

Unite, the union representing rights of employees at the Financial Conduct Authority, has put a scheduled two-day strike “on pause”. The union did have a mandate to continue industrial action until the end of October, but now says it has “secured a route to union recognition” making strike action - which it described as a “last resort” - unnecessary. In a note on its website, the union said: “Following extensive consultation with colleagues and Unite HQ, pausing industrial action now seems...

Aspectos económicos y fiscales de los planes de pensiones y otros instrumentos de previsión privados: especial referencia a los de empleo

Por Miguel Gutierrez Bengoechea Uno de los pilares básicos en el que se asienta el Estado de Bienestar Social se basa en garantizar unas pensiones públicas dignas a sus ciudadanos. Sin embargo, en España las variables demográficas, económicas y la crisis provocada por la COVID-19 actúan de forma adversa al sostenimiento de las pensiones públicas en el actual sistema de reparto de la Seguridad Social española. El legislador ha apostado por incentivar los planes de pensiones de empleo frente a...

Condiciones de empleo, trabajo y calidad de vida de hombres y mujeres en trabajo informal

Por Álvaro Besoain-SaldañaI, Gustavo Agurto Flores, Tiare Alarcón MuñozII & Jame Rebolledo SanhuezaI OBJETIVO: Identificar brechas de género en las condiciones de empleo, trabajo y calidad de vida de vendedores informales de la Vega Central de Chile. MÉTODOS: Se realizó un estudio transversal con ochenta trabajadores, quienes respondieron módulos de la Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Empleo, Trabajo y Salud (ENETS) y al Cuestionario de Salud SF-36 para la recolección de datos. Se hizo un análisis descriptivo para determinar características de...

UK. Advice sector must do more to attract younger clients

There is a worrying stereotype attached to the financial advice sector: it is interested only in clients who have accumulated a large amount of wealth — so it can easily acquire assets under management. This translates to a tendency to serve clients who are old, who have paid off their mortgage and who have a defined benefit (DB) pension. We have passed ‘peak DB’, with more people now saving through DC schemes The ideal clients, in other words, are the Babyboomer generation,...

German regulator adds more guidelines for occupational schemes’ risk assessment reports

The German financial supervisory authority, BaFin, has released further guidelines for occupational pension schemes to improve their own risk assessment reports, which that are so far not in line with the requirements set by the regulator. IORPs are not meeting the minimum requirements specified in the circular 09/2020 (VA), that provides information on the interpretation of regulations on own risk assessment (ERB) according to paragraph 234d of the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG). The ERB circular recommends occupational schemes to structure risk...

China Turns to Automation and Robotics to Solve Aging Problem

The impact of an aging population has taken a toll on China’s economy. Industrial automation and robotics could be the solution. We believe that China is at the beginning of a structural shift thanks to the country’s policy support, demographic trends and technological progress. Furthermore, the ongoing trend of domestic substitution will likely provide a fertile breeding ground for local champions to be born and thrive – and our portfolio companies Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co., Ltd Class A (“Inovance”) (0.64%...

Chile concluye proyecto de Constitución que incluye reforma a pensiones

El presidente de Chile Gabriel Boric recibió este lunes en un acto histórico el proyecto de nueva Constitución redactado en un año en medio de polémicas y crisis social, antes del referendum para aprobar o rechazar el texto en septiembre. "Tenemos que sentirnos orgullosos que en el momento de crisis más profunda (...) que ha vivido nuestra patria en décadas, los chilenos y chilenas optamos por más democracia y no por menos", dijo Boric en el Congreso en Santiago, tras...

Over 2,000 Retired Nigerian Workers Were Cut Off from Monthly Pension

Some Nigerian workers will have to live by what they have saved as their pension account failed to meet the regulatory standard The number of workers according to the National Pension Commission is over 2,000 from both the public and private There are currently over 9.67 million pension accounts in the country with a pension fund value at N34.11 trillion More than 2,084 retirees who can no longer receive monthly pension payments and who left the Contributory Pension Scheme in the first...