March 2020

07Mar

Financial Decision Making and Retirement Security in an Aging World

By Olivia S. Mitchell, P. Brett Hammond, Stephen P. Utkus As the world's population lives longer, it will become increasingly important for plan sponsors, retirement advisors, regulators, and financial firms to focus closely on how older persons fare in the face of rising difficulties with cognition and financial management. This book offers state-of-the-art research and recommendations on how to evaluate when older persons need financial advice, help them make better financial decisions, and to identify policy options...

March 7, 2020
Aging, Books,
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07Mar

Employee Representation and the Risk of Corporate Pension Plans

By Nicola Heusel We analyze the effect of direct labour representation in supervisory boards on the risk of corporate pension plans.We exploit employee representation requirements mandated by German labour law and find that firms with parity employee representation reduce pension plan risk both in terms of funding as well as in terms of investment risk. Source: SSRN

March 7, 2020
Articles, Labor Market, , ,
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07Mar

Financial Operating Systems

By Dirk A. Zetzsche, William A. Birdthistle, Douglas W. Arner, Ross P. Buckley One of the most consequential and unexamined developments in global finance has been the recent emergence of massive concentrations of financial technology under the control of individual firms. These financial operating systems are, like computing operating systems, relatively inconspicuous yet extraordinarily powerful. They already dominate the world’s $50 trillion investment fund industry, where they play a critical role in asset management for pensions and institutional investors,...

March 7, 2020
Articles, Pension design,
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07Mar

Understanding Debt in the Older Population

By Annamaria Lusardi, Olivia S. Mitchell, Noemi Oggero Poor financial capability can have important consequences for wellbeing in later life. To explore aspects of financial management related to debt, we have designed and analyzed a new module in the 2018 Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We use these new data, along with information from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS), to evaluate the factors associated with debt and debt management close to retirement. We show that a sizeable...

March 7, 2020
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06Mar

Romania adds fourth pillar in the legal framework for pensions

Until February 2020, the Romanian legal framework regarding pensions followed the three-pillar model generally promoted by the World Bank. However, a recent enactment (i.e. Law no. 1/2020 on occupational retirement provisions) that entered into force on 7 February 2020, transposing Directive no. 2016/2341 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision, has introduced a fourth pillar into Romania’s legal framework on occupational retirement provisions....

March 6, 2020
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06Mar

UK. PLSA Calls for Pensions to Hold Companies Accountable for Climate Change

In its updated annual stewardship and voting guide, the UK’s Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA), whose members are responsible for approximately £1 trillion ($1.28 trillion) in pension assets, said plan investors need to hold the directors of the companies they invest in accountable for the way they manage climate change risks. The guidelines are intended to be a resource to provide pension trustees with practical guidance when considering how to exercise their votes at annual general meetings. The...

March 6, 2020
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06Mar

DC Plan Assets Funneling Into Target Date Funds

Target-date funds have substantially grown in popularity within employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans, according to a survey released Wednesday by NEPC, an independent investment consulting firm. As of the end of 2019, 39% of assets in defined contribution plans were in target date funds while only 22% were in 2010. The number of plans offering target date fund investment options has remained steady at 96% of plans, said the “Defined Contribution Plan & Fee Survey” by Boston-based NEPC. Ross...

March 6, 2020
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06Mar

Diving Into Three of Africa’s Emerging Fintech Economies

For many, Africa represents the final frontier of untapped economic growth. Across its diverse countries, growth rates continue to outpace those achieved in long-developed economies. Collectively, growth) on the continent stabilized at 3.4% in 2019, and is forecast to reach 3.9% in 2020 and 4.1% in 2021. While these numbers remain below historical highs, fundamentals continue to improve as economies shift from local consumption to external investments. Of the 30 fastest growing cities in the world, 21 are in...

March 6, 2020
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06Mar

BBC coronavirus UK warning: Pensioners face ‘rapid increase’ in risk of death from illness

Sir Patrick Vallance outlined that the mortality rate of COVID-19 cases for people over the age of 80 is around eight percent, he then contrasted this with the mortality rate for children under which is "essentially zero". The Government chief scientific adviser stated that this was due to the likelihood of people over the age of 80 to have co-existing illnesses in comparison to any other demographic. Sir Patrick Vallance said: "Older people are vulnerable to all sorts of...

March 6, 2020
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05Mar

East African bloc plans harmonized pension regulation to boost labor mobility

The East African Community (EAC) member states plan to harmonize their pension regulations in order to boost labor mobility across the bloc, an official said on Tuesday. Nzomo Mutuku, CEO of Kenya's Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA), told journalists in Nairobi that the EAC Pension Policy, which was approved by the EAC council of ministers, will provide a roadmap to standardize pension rules. EAC member states include Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and South Sudan. The retirement benefits regulator said...

March 5, 2020
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