January 2023

Chile. Gobierno presentó nuevo estudio de tasas de reemplazo de la reforma previsional con impactos de PGU

Un nuevo informe de tasas de reemplazo (TR), indicador que se refiere al monto de las pensiones como porcentaje de las últimas remuneraciones de los trabajadores, fue presentado ayer por el Gobierno en la comisión de Trabajo de la Cámara de Diputados, levantando nuevamente el debate sobre las metas del Ejecutivo en esta materia. Los nuevos ejercicios explicados por el ministro de Hacienda, Mario Marcel, consideraron el impacto de la PGU en su nivel actual ($ 194 mil) y elevada...

U.S. State, Local Public Pensions Saw Funding Statuses Fall in 2022

The national average funded ratio for U.S. state and local public pension plans is estimated to have declined from 83.9% in 2021 to 77.3% in 2022, once all public pensions release their 2022 data, according to a recently released end-of-year report on public pensions from the Equable Institute. Equable used figures from 76.4% of the 225 retirement systems with available data that reported preliminary investment returns for their full fiscal 2022 to inform the prediction. The remaining plans with available...

South Africa. PIC refutes government pension fund insolvency claims

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which manages over R2 trillion in funds, is refuting claims circulating on social media that the Government Employee Pension Fund (GEPF) is facing insolvency risks, as a result of an alleged £158 billion (R3.3 trillion) legal claim against its portfolio of assets. According to a PIC statement released on Monday, ‘Nedbank Private Wealth’, a Nedbank subsidiary previously affiliated with insurer Old Mutual, is alleged to have engaged in “bad business practices” in the UK and...

German government to set up foundation with up to €150bn for first-pillar pension reform

The German government plans to build a foundation under public law called Stiftung Generationenkapital to manage up to €150bn in assets in the long term for an equity fund to turn the first-pillar pension system into a partially funded platform based on the Aktienrente concept. The government will start to build the equity pension fund this year with starting capital worth €10bn, setting up a foundation that will “be anchored in law and independent from politics” to stabilise the first-pillar...

Key Actuarial Changes for Public Pension Plans in 2023

Funding valuation reports for public pension plans will have to include additional information following several actuarial changes approved by the Actuarial Standard Board, part of the American Academy of Actuaries, in the finalized Actuarial Standards of Practice No. 4., Measuring Pension Obligations and Determining Pension Plan Costs or Contributions. “In some cases, these are things that some [public pension plan] reports already include. So for any given public pension plan, they may see all of these as changes or some...

Ireland. Govt urged to introduce pension auto-enrolment ‘as quickly as possible’

The Pensions Authority is expected to tell the Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection today that the Government should introduce pension automatic enrolment as quickly as possible. In October, details of the new auto-enrolment scheme were approved ahead of its expected introduction in 2024. Workers aged between 23 and 60 will be automatically signed up to a pension plan co-funded by their employer and the State but they can opt out if they wish to leave. The plan is for employees who are...

Promoting an Age-Inclusive Workforce

All OECD economies are undergoing rapid population ageing, leading to more age diversity in workplaces than ever before as people are not only living longer but working longer. Greater diversity of experience, generations and skills gives employers an important opportunity to harness the talent that different age groups bring to the workplace and improve productivity and profitability. What can employers do to maximise the benefits of a multigenerational workforce? This report presents a business case for embracing greater age diversity...

Population Aging and Migration

By Panu Poutvaara International migration flows largely reflect demographic patterns and economic opportunities. Migration flows increase in expected income and other pull factors in potential destinations, and in push factors in the origin, like high unemployment, low wages, and high population growth. Migration flows decrease in the geographic and cultural distance between the potential origin and destination, and in other migration costs. To the extent that migrants are employed, immigration can alleviate challenges arising from population aging. Read book here  

Immigrant Swan Song

By Giovanni Peri The immigration debate often focuses on culture, identity, and the economy. In countries such as the Australia, Canada, and the United States where many immigrants—especially those who have moved for economic reasons—assimilate into the labor force quickly, the case for more immigration is built on its potential economic benefits. Research shows that immigration does not reduce the capital intensity of the economy, but rather it allows firms to expand and investments to adjust, and it also promotes...

Investment Risk Minimization and Optimization of Future Pension Plans

By Peter Vodička Thesis is a collection of three papers with several contributions to the optimisation of future pension plans for the long-term savers while minimising their investment risk. Since pillar aim is to improve the transparency of the pension funding, we develop investment strategies for individual savers which are easy to understand whilst at the same time performing optimally, or near optimally. Furthermore, all investment prospects are communicated in real terms. Principal investment strategy introduced in the thesis is called...