January 2023

Afghanistan. Retired officials stage protest over unpaid pensions

Many retired officials held a protest in the Afghan capital of Kabul over unpaid pensions on Monday, TOLOnews reported. The retired military personnel and civil officials from previous governments conducted the protest, claiming that they are facing many problems in the freezing winter as they have not been paid for the last 16 months. "There is nothing to heat our rooms. I pay 4,000 Afs for house rent and we are three families. I have my daughter in laws with me,...

Chile. Gobierno condena “sexto retiro” de Jiles y defiende autopréstamo acotado de la reforma previsional

Como “una irresponsabilidad” calificó la ministra del Trabajo y Previsión Social, Jeannette Jara, el denominado proyecto de autopréstamo que es encabezado por la diputada Pamela Jiles, y defendió la iniciativa acotada propuesta por el Ejecutivo en la reforma previsional. Durante esta mañana, la secretaria de Estado dijo que “el proyecto de reforma a las pensiones de nuestro gobierno contempla un autopréstamo, un autopréstamo acotado que es hasta por $1.000.000 con un mecanismo de devolución de los fondos previsionales, porque sabemos...

República Dominicana. Las disposiciones en materia de pensiones del presidente Abinader

En las últimas 48 horas el presidente Luis Abinader ha emitido al menos cinco decretos disponiendo importantes medidas que van desde pensiones hasta la decisión de un día feriado, que no estaba contemplado en el calendario oficial. El mandatario promulgó dos acuerdos de servicios aéreos suscritos por República Dominicana con Catar y Uruguay en 2021 y 2018, respectivamente, de acuerdo con un comunicado de prensa del Poder Ejecutivo. El acuerdo con Catar tiene como objetivo la creación de una cooperación entre...

OECD says pension funds must take ‘extreme care’ with liquidity risks

Pension funds should be “extremely careful” when investing in illiquid assets, as rising interest rates and falling stock markets increase the likelihood of their having to access cash quickly, the OECD has warned. In the recent era of low interest rates, pension funds poured money into alternative investments, such as infrastructure projects and private equity, in an effort to escape the low yields available on government bonds. But such investments are typically illiquid, meaning the funds cannot quickly convert them...

Dutch medical specialists: focus on healthy pensions

Medicine and finance can be seen as two very distant disciplines. Perhaps pension fund management is where the two disciplines find common ground. When it comes to pensions, a finance practitioner must be able to think and act with a long-term objective in mind and to put the well-being of its clients above everything else, as a healthcare professional would deal with a patient. That common ground is a strong foundation for Stichting Pensioenfonds Medisch Specialisten (SPMS), the pension fund...

UK. Work and pensions minister quits for ‘personal reasons’

Work and pensions minister Baroness Stedman-Scott has stepped down for “personal reasons”, Downing Street has said. Lady Stedman-Scott, 67, has been a minister in the department since 2019, having previously been a Government whip in the House of Lords. She is replaced by Viscount Younger of Leckie, who moves from the whips’ office where he is in turn replaced by Lord Evans of Rainow. Read more @cityam 274 views

Robots Are Taking Over Jobs, but Don’t Panic Yet

One might easily think that robots are causing significant disruption in the labor market by replacing human workers, especially when considering examples like chatbots serving as more efficient customer service representatives or computer programs handling package tracking and transportation without human intervention. According to a study by Eric Dahlin, a sociology professor at Brigham Young University, there is no need to fear an imminent robot takeover of jobs. Dahlin’s research suggests that the rate at which robots are replacing humans...

December 2022

Malaysia’s ageing population needs government attention

A news portal recently reported that a developer plans to turn Butterworth into a retirees’ haven. The report’s subtitle read: “Jayamas Property Group to create niche location, as Malaysia heads towards an ageing population by 2030.” The report said Butterworth is already being targeted as a private housing development hub for the elderly, with medical and healthcare services. Unfortunately, only wealthy senior citizens will be able to afford such services. The Department of Statistics has predicted that the country may soon become...

5 Threats to Sustainable Investing in 2023

A term that went from euphoria to criticism. That has been the parabolic path of sustainable investing in recent years. Now, investors wonder what’s in store for environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing in 2023, and more importantly, what the threats to ESG might be. “Sustainable investing and the consideration of ESG factors have become part of the investment mainstream over the past few years. The rapid growth has been spurred by the need for investors to consider nonfinancial risks...

U.K. Altmann hits out at providers for pension positivity failure

Providers have failed to engage or enthuse millions of auto-enrolment customers with positive pension messages, undermining the policy by not explaining the advantages of pensions, Baroness Ros Altmann says. The campaigner and former pensions minister said that, rather than "constant negative messaging", people needed to know about the positives of pensions so they understand the free money they will have and higher benefit payments they could have if they keep paying in. Altmann's comments come as research by The Pensions Management Institute...