June 2025
25Jun

Vietnam: New social insurance law introduced

To increase long-term participation, Vietnam will introduce new social insurance laws from 1 July. Under the new social insurance law, workers who stop participating in social insurance can claim a lump-sum payout only if they meet specific conditions. The changes aim to increase long-term participation in the social insurance system and encouraging workers to opt for pensions instead of lump-sum payments. These include reaching retirement age with less than 15 years of contributions, emigrating from Vietnam, suffering from serious illnesses such...

June 25, 2025
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25Jun

UK pensions remain committed to net-zero

UK pension schemes are increasingly committed to climate- and nature-focused investing, even amid geopolitical instability and the growing politicisation of net-zero, according to new research. The report, Climate Innovation – Investing in the Net-Zero Economy, released by Pensions for Purpose and commissioned by SAIL Investments, found that 40% of UK pension schemes now have dedicated climate allocations, while 60% regard climate risk as a core fiduciary responsibility. “In our conversations with pension funds, we found that they do not expect political volatility, particularly in the US,...

June 25, 2025
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25Jun

Kenya. Treasury fails to release Sh30 billion in pension payments- CoB

The delays come as the government struggles with a growing pension payout backlog, with the Treasury now under pressure to release Sh57.24 billion in June alone, having paid out Sh165.9 billion between July 2024 and May 2025, out of the total annual pension budget of Sh223.1 billion. Ongoing delays and repeated system downtimes have left retirees in financial uncertainty, with the Controller of Budget revealing that the Treasury failed to allocate Sh30.14 billion in processed pension payments in the nine...

June 25, 2025
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24Jun

French prime minister to meet pension negotiators after talks fail

Months-long talks between French trade unions and employers over reforms to the pension system collapsed late on Monday, prompting Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to summon both sides to find a way forward. The so-called pension conclave's failure puts Bayrou in a vulnerable position, as his government can fall anytime if left-wing and far-right parties band together to back a motion of no-confidence. The hard-left France Unbowed has said it will call a confidence vote, and the Socialists are split. However, Marine...

June 24, 2025
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24Jun

Pension funds and monetary policy: Between burden and opportunity – WTW

On June 19, 2025, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) lowered its policy rate by 0.25 percentage points to 0.0%. This marks the second rate cut this year (fifth since June last year) and signals that the SNB is once again reacting more actively to cooling inflation and ongoing upward pressure on the Swiss franc. SNB President Martin Schlegel cited the subdued inflation outlook—current projections for the year are just 0.2%—as well as a globally uncertain environment. At the same time, the...

June 24, 2025
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24Jun

UK. Why the real problems of the pensions dashboard are yet to start

The pensions dashboard project's aspirations made sense a decade ago, but industry changes mean the government should focus its efforts on other aspects of pensions, writes James Floyd The ambition of the government's much-vaunted pensions dashboard has nearly been realised, but after a decade in the making, the real problems are likely still to come.  It was back in 2014 when the Financial Conduct Authority vocalised its notion of enabling consumers to see all their pension savings in one place.  With the Retail Distribution...

June 24, 2025
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24Jun

Japan proposes significant increases in defined contribution pension plan contribution limits

Japan is proposing various increases to contribution limits for both employer-sponsored defined contribution (DC) pension plans and individual defined contribution pension plans (iDeCo). These proposed changes aim to enhance retirement income security for participants and enable more individuals to contribute meaningfully to their pension savings. Background The Ministry of Finance included these changes as part of its proposed tax reforms for 2025. At this stage, the changes are still pending consideration and have yet to take effect. If finalized, the changes...

June 24, 2025
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24Jun

South Korea plans end to lump-sum retirement payouts for workers

The South Korean government is pushing forward with a major overhaul of how workers receive retirement benefits, aiming to replace the longstanding lump-sum severance system with mandatory pension-style disbursements across all workplaces. The Ministry of Employment and Labor has proposed a five-phase plan that would require all employers—beginning with large corporations and eventually extending to the smallest businesses—to transition to the retirement pension system. Once fully implemented, workers would no longer be able to receive their retirement pay as a...

June 24, 2025
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23Jun

CFOs rethink pensions, now embracing creative plan design and de-risking strategies

Many companies are considering changing their defined benefit (DB) plans this year, with hybrid structures and cash balance arrangements attracting increased attention, according to a recent Mercer survey of CFOs and financial executives. This appears to represent a shift in thinking about DB plans following a record number of plan terminations in recent years. According to the survey, half of CFOs do not plan to end DB plans in the near future, which Mercer said suggests they are taking a strategic approach...

June 23, 2025
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23Jun

‘Good news’: Australians tipped to be $125k better off in retirement

The average young Australian is tipped to be $125,000 better off in their retirement simply by staying in the workforce, a major superannuation fund reveals. Australian Retirement Trust says the rise in the superannuation guarantee over the last five years is “good news” for Australian workers who will have more in their retirement nest egg. Under changes to the superannuation guarantee proposed by the Rudd government and enacted by the Morrison government, every working Aussies superannuation rate automatically went from 9.5...

June 23, 2025
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