December 2020

US. Sustainability movements with staying power

It took the coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd to convince Americans that racial inequality is a part of every facet of our economy. The awakening lifted several sustainability movements that will carry into 2021. Corporate America slowly is making progress on diversity. Environmental justice advocates have gained a foothold in Washington politics at the highest levels, underscored by President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees. Wall Street had its own epiphany. Asset managers, insurers, pension funds and foundations...

Milliman: November sees decline in PRT premiums

Pension risk transfer premiums fell in November due to decreases in both discount rates and annuity purchase rates, a Milliman study said. The estimated buyout cost as a percentage of accounting liabilities (accumulated benefit obligation) dropped to 101.8% as of Nov. 30, from 102.9% a month earlier. The change was the result of average annuity purchase rates decreasing by 9 basis points, according to Milliman's latest pension buyout index study. Average accounting discount rates dropped 20 basis points in November....

Ahorro Previsional Voluntario Colectivo (APVC) en Chile.

Por Olga Fuentes Contreras, Fernando López, Eugenio Salvo Cifuentes El Ahorro Previsional Voluntario Colectivo (APVC) es una alternativa de ahorro para la vejez que permite a las organizaciones promover el ahorro previsional de sus trabajadores. Junto con el Ahorro Previsional Voluntario (APV) y los Depósitos Convenidos (DC), el APVC es uno de los tres instrumentos que conforman el pilar de ahorro voluntario del sistema de pensiones chileno. Pese a que fue instaurado con la reforma previsional de 2008, el...

Financiamiento para la vejez de los jóvenes mexicanos.

Por Quetzalli Atlatenco Ibarra, María Teresa de la Garza Carranza, Salvador Hernández Gonález Los ingresos en la vejez proceden de diversas fuentes. En México las principales son las pensiones otorgadas por los sistemas de seguridad social y los programas federales como el denominado “Pensión para el bienestar de las personas adultas mayores”. El objetivo de este trabajo es determinar cómo piensan financiar su vejez los jóvenes mexicanos y qué están realizando al respecto. Para ello se analizaron los resultados...

How an ERISA Fiduciary May Try to Save the World

By Albert Feuer On November 13, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) promulgated a final regulation regarding the investment duties of an ERISA fiduciary in selecting either direct plan investments or investment alternatives to make available to participants and beneficiaries of self-directed plans (the “Investment Duties Regulation”). The Regulation, like the proposed form of the Regulation, which provoked more than 8,000 public comments which were overwhelming critical, was intended to discourage what the DOL called ESG or sustainable...

Financial Incentives and Heterogeneity in Retirement Behavior An Empirical Analysis Based on SHARE-RV Data

By Nicolas Goll, Felizia Hanemann Over the past few decades, different reforms have come into force, which aim at keeping older workers in the labor market longer. Broad literature to date has investigated reform effects for the average worker. Evidence on the heterogeneous reform effects on different groups is to date however relatively sparse. We therefore evaluate the 1992 pension reform in Germany, which gradually introduced actuarial deductions for early retirement between 1997 and 2004. We investigate whether individuals...

Understanding Debt in the Older Population

By Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell, Noemi Oggero Poor financial capability can erode well-being in later life. To explore debt and debt management among older Americans, age 51-61, we designed and analyzed a new module in the 2018 Health and Retirement Study along with information from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study. Even though this group should be at the peak of their retirement savings, it nevertheless carries debt due to student loans and unpaid medical bills; having children...

OECD warns against using pension assets for ‘pet projects’

The OECD has warned governments against tapping into private pension assets for “pet projects” as nations look to retirement scheme cash to help drive the post Covid-19 economic recovery. Read also ESMA advises fresh postponement of pension fund central clearing duty Trustees of pension schemes in the UK have a duty to act in the best interests of members, but in spite of their investment freedoms, their portfolios predominately invest in equities and bonds. Read also US. Workers Tap Retirement...

Personal data leak in one of Britain’s largest pension providers

Workplace pension provider NOW: Pensions has emailed a number of UK customers to warn about a data leakage caused by contractor error. The email, seen by this publication, claims a service provider "unintentionally" posted user data to an unnamed "public software forum". These records include biographical data (names, email addresses, and dates of birth) as well as National Insurance numbers. According to the pension provider, the data was obtained by "a small number" of third parties. NOW: Pensions said...

Four Italian pension funds unite for major push into private debt

Four Italian pension funds have combined their efforts to find an alternative investment manager to oversee mandates related to private debt. The funds – Fondo Gomma Plastica, Fopen, Pegaso and Previmoda – have a total of €195m in commitments, which will result in a core strategy or unitranche corporate direct lending, with other strategies being added residually. The group said the tender, known as the Zefiro Project, will focus mainly on the European Economic Area with particular attention on...