January 2023

China’s Population Falls, Heralding a Demographic Crisis

The world’s most populous country has reached a pivotal moment: China’s population has begun to shrink, after a steady, yearslong decline in its birthrate that experts say is irreversible. The government said on Tuesday that 9.56 million people were born in China last year, while 10.41 million people died. It was the first time deaths had outnumbered births in China since the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong’s failed economic experiment that led to widespread famine and death in the 1960s. Chinese...

Bank of England says shake-up of insurance rules increases risks

The Bank of England on Monday warned that a much-heralded overhaul to insurance rules “increases risk” and could result in a corporate failure that ultimately hits the public purse. The BoE’s top officials also sounded alarm bells about other aspects of the government’s sweeping plan to turbocharge the City of London’s growth, warning that some of the changes could jeopardise financial stability. The comments from BoE governor Andrew Bailey, and Sam Woods, head of its Prudential Regulation Authority, came a month...

US. Life expectancy can have a greater impact than even record high inflation on how long your retirement savings will last

Given today’s ongoing high inflation, many Americans worry they may not have put away enough money for retirement. They fear that sharp increases in food and energy prices and transportation and medical care costs could significantly affect their retirement savings. Yet there’s another important factor to consider: your life expectancy. A new report from the TIAA Institute and George Washington University reveals that more than half of American adults don’t know how long people generally tend to live in retirement, which...

México. Ingresos por comisión de las administradoras cayeron 32.6% anual

Los ingresos por comisión que cobran las administradoras de fondos para el retiro (afores) sobre el saldo del trabajador registraron 28,497 millones de pesos en todo el 2022, lo anterior significó una caída anual en términos reales de 32.6 por ciento. En el 2022 entró en vigor el tope máximo de cobro por comisiones como parte de la reforma al artículo 37 de la Ley del Sistema del Ahorro para el Retiro (SAR). En este contexto, la Consar confirmó que la...

Panamá. Empresarios piden al presidente Cortizo atender de inmediato la situación del programa IVM del Seguro Social

La presidenta de la Cámara de Comercio, industrias y Agricultura de Panamá (Cciap), Marcela Galindo De Obarrio insistió en la urgencia notoria que tiene atender de inmediato la situación del programa de Invalidez, Vejez y Muerte (IVM) de la Caja de Seguro Social (CSS). De acuerdo Galindo De Obarrio todos los elementos críticos han sido puestos sobre la mesa para evaluar las diferentes alternativas que se tienen para salvar el programa. "Es hora de tomar las decisiones críticas, por más difíciles...

México. Desempleados retiran de Afore monto histórico en 2022

Las Afore registraron en 2022 un nivel récord de retiros de ahorro por desempleo, con un total de 23 mil 169 millones de pesos, informó la Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar). Dicha cifra significó un incremento anual de 5.11 por ciento con respecto al monto que retiraron las personas desempleadas en 2021 del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (SAR). Los retiros por desempleo de las Afore se han colocado como una alternativa para los trabajadores...

Francia se prepara para huelgas y protestas contra reforma de las pensiones

Francia se prepara para una serie de huelgas y protestas de gran amplitud, que buscan frenar el proyecto gubernamental de reforma de las pensiones y que tiene el rechazo frontal de los sindicatos, los partidos de izquierda y la ultraderecha. Los sindicatos han convocado una gran jornada de huelgas y manifestaciones para el próximo jueves, que irá seguida de más paros sectoriales en semanas posteriores, mientras el Gobierno ha lanzado una campaña de información y entrevistas para tratar de convencer...

U.S. funds turn to fixed income for relief

Pension plan execs looking forward to better environment U.S. pension fund executives expect to navigate a recession by the end of 2023, but while the market return environment is set to remain challenging, they see opportunities re-emerging in fixed income. While they are unsure of just how challenging, they are convinced of one thing: a recession almost certainly looms in the coming year. "My crystal ball is a bit cloudy," said Christopher J. Ailman, chief investment officer at the $307.2 billion California...

Ghana. Private pension funds control 71% of industry’s assets

Private pension funds hace maintained their strong growth over the years, reaching a record hig of GH28Billion in 2021 from the previus year´s GH28Billion. the increse represents 27 èrcent, with private pension funds - the mandatory 2nd Tier and voluntary 3rd Tier schemes - now controlling a 71 percent share of the industry´s total assets under managment (AUM) in the year under reviw, latest data from the National Pension Regulatory (NPRA) show. A Breakdown of private schemes shows that 2nd Tier...

South Korea:Govt to reform national health insurance and pension schemes

The government will begin earnest discussions to boost the sustainability of the national health insurance system and plans to unveil reform measures by September. The Health Ministry has drawn up a plan to devise preliminary measures this month to improve the overall fiscal sustainability of health insurance coverage, according to a report by KBS World. The measures are expected to include some of those mentioned in a public hearing last year aimed at removing fiscal loopholes, such as stronger monitoring of...