July 2023

Houston Police Officers reports 7% return for fiscal year

Houston Police Officers' Pension System posted a preliminary net return of 7% for the fiscal year ended June 30. The $7.1 billion pension fund's return fell short of the benchmark return of 7.3% for the period, according to an investment update on its website. Annualized returns for the three, five and 10 years ended June 30 were not provided. The pension fund had posted a net loss of 1.3% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022. The latest fiscal year's improvement over...

México. Hay 200,000 millones de pesos olvidados en afores; superan monto de ahorro voluntario

Dentro del Sistema del Ahorro para el Retiro (SAR), el monto de las 18 millones de cuentas no reconocidas –también llamadas asignadas– por los trabajadores es de 200,000 millones de pesos, de acuerdo con información de la Asociación Mexicana de Afores (Amafore). Si bien representa sólo 4% de los más de 5.56 billones de pesos del SAR, es mayor a los 182,493 millones de pesos que pertenecen al rubro de Ahorro Voluntario y Solidario, con corte a junio. Los trabajadores que...

Chile. Gobierno no renovará suma urgencia en discusión de reforma a las pensiones

La decisión tiene el objetivo de dar espacio a un acuerdo político amplio, en el contexto del desarrollo de la mesa técnica a la que ha convocado el Gobierno y en la que participan parlamentarios y partidos políticos a través de sus técnicos El Ministerio del Trabajo y Previsión Social informó que el Gobierno decidió no renovar, transitoriamente, la suma urgencia en la discusión del proyecto que reforma el sistema previsional. Esto, en atención al diálogo que ha mostrado parte importante...

Public Pension Funds Continue to Boost Alts Allocations in Search of Higher Returns

Public pension funds have more money in alternative investments than at any point in history, according to a report from the Equable Institute, which warns that “pension funds are addicted to risk.” The nonprofit organization’s State of Pensions 2023 report identified that the risk profiles of U.S. state and local pension funds have changed significantly in recent years, with pension fund alts allocations ballooning to more than $1.6 trillion in 2022 from approximately $100 billion in 2001. Although the authors of the Equable...

UK. Pensions transfer scams on the increase

Between April and June, 1685 pension scam assessments were completed using helpandadvice.co.uk's MoneyHelper flagged scam predictor tool. A quarter of those approached were asked to make a quick decision on whether to transfer, up significantly from 15 per cent in the previous quarter. The average scam likelihood score was 23 per cent, meaning that of the 1685 people that completed the assessment, almost a quarter of cases had associated red flags, a red flag means further investigation is needed. Having tracked the data for over...

Over half of people in Hong Kong expect to Work after Retirement, with One-Third citing Lack of Money

Reasons vary among the different generations, households, and genders – from family obligations, desired lifestyles, and financial status, reflecting the diverse nature of people’s thinking about retirement. The findings are part of Manulife Investment Management's Diverse Asia retirement series, which looks at the challenges and opportunities facing Asia’s ageing populations and how they are woven into the demographic profiles and socioeconomic foundations in the region. For Gen Z, Gen X and Baby boomers, their primary reasons for working after retirement are for their...

Wall Street’s hottest ticket is these Australian funds

Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman has been tapping his Australian roots to access one of the world’s fastest-growing corners of global capital. The bank’s Melbourne-born boss is one of a string of executives from Wall Street and beyond doing more business with the largest players in Australia’s $3.5 trillion superannuation sector. The big attraction: inflows of more than $1 billion a week that need to find an investment destination. As the guardians of the country’s retirement savings outgrow their own backyard, they’re partnering...

Pillar III pension funds inhibited by restrictive deductibility and double taxation in Romania

The weighted rate of return for all medium-risk voluntary funds (Pillar III) was only 4% compared to 5.5% for the mandatory funds (Pillar II), calculated by the financial supervision authority ASF at the end of June. The differential in favour of Pillar II was constant at 1.5pp over the past seven months and 3.9pp in the three months before that. The more intuitive annual increase of the value of the fund unit shows a similar pattern and wider discrepancy: 8.9%-10.9%...

Colombia. Récord de ahorro de trabajadores en fondos privados de pensiones

El balance para el ahorro que pertenece a más de 18,9 millones de trabajadores registró máximos históricos, tanto en sus ganancias, como en el monto acumulado al cierre del primer semestre de este año. Así lo reflejan las cifras entregadas por Asofondos, que reúne a las cuatro administradoras de los fondos pensionales (Colfondos, Porvenir, Protección y Skandia). Los afiliados de estas administradoras, quienes por estos días están recibiendo su extracto trimestral, pueden revisarlo y constatar el positivo desempeño que han...

México. Programas sociales, insostenibles en el futuro

Una de las banderas que enarbola el presidente López Obrador como suya, es la de los programas sociales; algunos los diseñó e implementó y otros los mantuvo, como el de los Adultos Mayores, pero más allá de la paternidad, lo cierto es que para la mayoría de los beneficiarios es necesario que se fortalezca el andamiaje institucional público para sacarlos de la pobreza y la marginación. Los programas sociales en favor de diversos grupos de la población ya tienen rango...