October 2023

US. Social Security Will Not Provide Sufficient Retirement Income for Low-Wage Workers

Even with the benefit of Social Security checks, low-income workers fall considerably short of replacing their income in retirement, emphasizing a need for policymakers and plan sponsors to step in to help improve options, according to Vanguard’s newest research.   By providing wider access to workplace retirement plans and implementing features like automatic enrollment and “under-saver sweeps,” policymakers and plan sponsors have an opportunity to help low-income workers address this shortfall. Delaying retirement and liquidating home equity are also strategies to...

DB schemes’ sustainability reporting will be ‘ineffective’ without integrated approach

Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes have been warned they will lack the information needed to understand how nature- and climate-related risks impact them without an integrated approach to sustainability reporting. In a briefing note on Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), Hymans Robertson highlighted key actions asset owners should take to try and ensure successful TNFD reporting. TNFD published its final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosures in September. The recommendations aim to outline the relationship between nature, business and financial capital,...

Most regions more financially inclusive despite economic headwinds – Principal

Financial inclusion improved across most regions over the last year despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop, with employers and governments providing their citizens with relevant tools, services and guidance. Principal Financial Group's annual research ranks the financial inclusivity of markets based on the support provided by employers, governments and the financial system. The ranking for the Global Financial Inclusion Index is produced alongside the Centre for Economics and Business Research. Singapore retained the top spot in the ranking, with Hong Kong in second place...

9 million Ghanaian workers without pension – NPRABY

About nine mil­lion people work­ing in the country without any form of pension risk slumping into retirement without income security, the Head of the Corporate Affairs of the National Pensions Regula­tory Authority (NPRA), Nana Sifa Twum, has stated. He said that between the next five and 10 years, the working individuals without any form of pension would retire poor and become a liability on their families and society if the situation was not addressed. Nana Twum who stated this in an...

Education gaps and time constraints: The ESG burdens facing UK pension trustees

With ESG rapidly rising up the agenda for UK pension schemes, their often overstretched trustee boards have been grappling with how to ensure it gets enough time on agendas and how to educate themselves on fast-moving developments. Janice Turner, co-chair of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees (AMNT), told Responsible Investor that the proportion of trustee time taken up by ESG matters has been increasing every year, especially due to enhanced regulatory requirements. “I would assume that ESG is an agenda item at...

South Africa. Some pensioners are still queuing for hours for their grants

Pensioners still had to wait hours to collect their grants at some places in Cape Town, though on the whole the payments seemed to be going more smoothly. Last month, thousands of social grant beneficiaries did not receive their money on time due to a technical glitch with PostBank. When GroundUp arrived at noon on Tuesday, about 80 people were waiting at the Gatesville Post Office to receive their pension. Elizabeth Fredericks, 75, waited for five hours before receiving her grant. She arrived...

México. Próximo Gobierno enfrentará dura presión fiscal, advierte el FMI

El Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) mejoró sus perspectivas del país al esperar un alza del PIB de 2.1 por ciento en 2024, seguido del alza de 3.2 por ciento en 2023, 0.6 puntos arriba de lo previsto en julio en ambos casos. Esto, debido a “un robusto consumo interno y mayor inversión con notable fuerza en el sector servicios, construcción y producción de autos”, según el organismo. Sin embargo, advirtió sobre las dificultades que el próximo Gobierno de México enfrentará para retomar la consolidación fiscal, luego del elevado...

Colombianos cada vez se pensionan más viejos

Uno de los aspectos inamovibles del proyecto de reforma pensional llevado por el Gobierno al Congreso es el que tiene que ver con la edad para acceder a ese beneficio, que actualmente es de 57 años para las mujeres y 62 para los hombres. En diversos espacios la ministra del Trabajo, Gloria Inés Ramírez, ha insistido en que la iniciativa “no tiene nada que ver con las edades de pensiones ni con el ingreso básico de liquidación”, y asegura que...

Llamó Cepal a erradicar la desigualdad y la pobreza en la región

Expandir y profundizar los sistemas de protección social y dar cobertura a las personas más vulnerables es un desafío, advirtió hoy la Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (Cepal). Al presentar el Informe Institucionalidad Social en la región, el secretario ejecutivo de ese mecanismo de la ONU, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs dijo que esa es una de las bases de nuevas políticas públicas de calidad, efectivas y sostenibles. El documento fue preparado por un grupo de expertos de la Cepal,...

90% of U.S. companies with DB plans looking for exits via PRT – MetLife

Nearly 90% of U.S. corporations with defined benefit plans look to fully transfer all their liabilities in an average of just four years, according to a new poll conducted by MetLife. In MetLife's 2023 Pension Risk Transfer Poll, the insurer said 89% of respondents said they plan to fully divest all their liabilities. Among that population, they plan to do so in an average of 4.1 years. Also, 94% of respondents said they are weighing the DB plan's value against the...