December 2023

Overview of social protection systems in Latin America and the Caribbean: Progress and setbacks in the face of the pandemic

By International Labour Organization The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak has exposed the gap that persists in the region to achieve comprehensive protection systems, based on a social protection floor which guarantees for universal access to health and economic security over the life cycle. Social protection coverage in Latin America evolved positively in the decade before the pandemic. Contributing members to the system increased by 14 per cent over the 2012-2019 period and the ratio of contributing workers to the employed population was 46.9...

Global Public Pensions 2023

By Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum The Global Public Pensions 2023 report explores how public pension and sovereign funds are building optimal investment strategies to address the uncertain economic environment and factor sustainability into their portfolios. The report draws on surveys, discussions, and written contributions from 22 global public funds across the world with combined assets under management of $4.3tn. These include the likes of Singapore’s GIC, Canada’s CDPQ, Australia’s Future Fund and India’s National Infrastructure Investment Fund. It...

2023 Prudent Pension Funding Report: A story of positive trends and persistent outliers

By Michael Hall  In the wake of last year’s market turbulence, are most corporate pension plans still on a pathway to achieving full funding? Yes, according to our latest research. Our 2023 Prudent Pension Funding Report reveals most (97%) corporate pension plans can achieve full funding without a significant draw on corporate cash, based on the respective firms’ latest disclosures as well as market and interest rate movement so far in 2023. This finding increased from 86% in last year’s report. Despite...

November 2023

Population Aging and the Generational Economy: A Global Perspective

By Ronald Lee & Andrew Mason Over coming decades, changes in population age structure will have profound implications for the macroeconomy, influencing economic growth, generational equity, human capital, saving and investment, and the sustainability of public and private transfer systems. How the future unfolds will depend on key actors in the generational economy: governments, families, financial institutions, and others. This path-breaking book provides a comprehensive analysis of the macroeconomic effects of changes in population age structure across the globe. The result...

Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2022: Transforming education as a basis for sustainable development

By ECLAC Social Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2022 has four chapters. Chapter I presents the relevant macroeconomic background in terms of the evolution of per capita GDP, employment, household income distribution and the consumer price index, and looks at how income inequality and poverty have changed over the past two decades (2002–2021). The chapter also discusses changes that occurred in social stratification during the pandemic. Chapter II addresses the worrying silent crisis of education as another of the...

The National Landscape of State Retirement Benefits

By Jonathan Moody & Anthony Randazzo   Retirement security is ultimately about retirement income. Families and individuals want to know that during their retirement years they will have enough weekly, monthly, or annual income to live comfortably and meet their basic needs. Of course, many people aspire to more than just the basics. Ask even a handful of individuals about how they want to live in retirement, and you’ll hear a wide range of preferences. Expenses can vary from family-to-family, too,...

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World

By Axel Börsch-Supan & Courtney C. Coile This ninth phase of the International Social Security project, which studies the experiences of twelve developed countries, examines the effects of public pension reform on employment at older ages. In the past two decades, men’s labor force participation at older ages has increased, reversing a long-term pattern of decline; participation rates for older women have increased dramatically as well. While better health, more education, and changes in labor-supply behavior of married couples may...

Annual Survey of Investment Regulation of Pension Funds and Other Pension Providers 2021

By Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos This report describes the main quantitative investment regulations that pension funds are subject to in OECD and a selection of non-OECD countries, most of which are IOPS Member countries. This report also covers the investment rules for other pension providers, such as life insurance companies, for countries like Denmark, France, Ireland, Korea, Latvia and Sweden among OECD countries and Jordan among non-OECD jurisdictions. The information reflects the rules in force at the end of 2020...

The world’s largest pension funds – 2023

By Thinking Ahead Institute  The global top 300 pension funds is an annual study conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute, in conjunction with Pensions and Investments. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on how the characteristics of these top funds have changed. Key findings Assets Under Management (AUM) of the top 300 pension funds total US$20.6 trillion, having reduced by 12.9% in 2022, down from 8.9% growth the previous year Volatility and uncertainty in...

2022 Future Focus Survey: ESG and sustainable investing trends in Europe

By J.P. Morgan Asset Management   While allocations to sustainable investing strategies continue to grow, the average allocation across Europe is relatively low, at 23%. Even in Finland, which tops the table, the average allocation is only 33%. It is clear that even in the region where sustainable investing is most popular, broad ESG adoption is still at the early part of its journey.* Interestingly, there is far more divergence among the investors within countries than between them. Therefore, we urge investors to focus on the...