January 2025
13Jan

US. Could climate change cost pensions 44 per cent?

Climate change is a complex financial risk. Its immediate impact on weather patterns and the various societal responses to a changing climate will influence GDP growth, inflation and ultimately, financial markets. An inaugural climate report released by Ortec Finance has found that Canadian pension funds are among the funds most vulnerable to climate change, second only to US pensions. Climate risk specialist at Ortec and author of the report Doruk Onal says Canadian pension funds are expected to experience profound...

January 13, 2025
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13Jan

Pension managers urge UK to ditch ‘megafund’ scale test

UK pension managers have objected to government plans to force the creation of a series of “megafunds”, arguing it could stifle competition and hamper investment returns. Fund managers say that the government should focus on optimising value for savers rather than applying an “arbitrary” scale test for pension funds that could discourage new market entrants and force some funds to merge with underperforming peers. The criticisms come after the government said last year defined contribution (DC) workplace pension schemes should consolidate...

January 13, 2025
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10Jan

The regions racing to become the “Silicon Valley” of an aging world

In 2018, when Inc. Magazine named Boston one of the country’s top places to start a business, it highlighted one significant reason: Boston is an innovation hub for products and services catering toward the aging population. The “longevity economy” represents a massive chunk of economic opportunity: As of 2020, the over-50 market contributed $45 trillion to global GDP, or 34 percent of the total, according to AARP and Economist Impact. What makes Boston such a good place to do business in aging? One important factor,...

January 10, 2025
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10Jan

UK. What the bond market turmoil means for your mortgage, pension and savings

The bond market sell-off has revived fears about rising borrowing costs after the crisis that followed Liz Truss’s disastrous mini budget in 2022. However, experts are suggesting there is no need to panic. Here is what it may mean for mortgages, pensions and savings. Pensions If you are aged under 50 and are saving into a pension, it is unlikely any of your money will be in bonds. It is instead probably going into stock market-based investments, and any short-term fall...

January 10, 2025
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10Jan

US. What We Need to Do to Protect Retirees’ Financial Security

As Americans live longer, the challenge of safeguarding the financial well-being of older and vulnerable populations — particularly those facing cognitive decline — has grown more urgent. For retirees who have spent decades contributing to pension plans or hoping to manage their financial futures via 401(k) plans, the golden years should provide peace of mind. However, without proper protections in place, some of these people may be at risk of losing their financial security at the most vulnerable stage of life. As...

January 10, 2025
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10Jan

As US banks leave net-zero, are Canadian banks close behind?

  Canada’s largest banks are reconsidering their involvement in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), as reported by BNN Bloomberg. The alliance, established to promote climate financing, has recently faced several high-profile departures. US banks such as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase have withdrawn, citing increased Republican criticism of ‘woke’ capitalism and doubts about the effectiveness of voluntary measures in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Bank of Montreal (BMO), two of...

January 10, 2025
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09Jan

US. Time to act: The role of pension trustees in reaching net zero

Asset owners, business leaders and pensions funds collectively hold the power to put the global economy on a sustainable footing. Pension funds are in a unique position of both vulnerability and strength: susceptible to the risks of an unsustainable future, but possessing the influence to promote positive outcomes. With just five years until the Paris Agreement’s 2030 deadline for halving carbon emissions, we face the possibility that we will fail to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (see below) and...

January 9, 2025
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09Jan

Why millions of young Chinese are refusing to make pension payments

China’s pension system is in danger of running out of cash within a decade due to severe underfunding. Now it faces a new threat: Tens of millions of mostly young workers are refusing to pay into it. On today’s Big Take Asia Podcast, host K. Oanh Ha talks to Bloomberg’s Qianwei Zhang about why workers are boycotting the system and what’s at stake for the struggling economy and the Communist Party. Here is a lightly edited transcript of the conversation: Gao Pengcheng...

January 9, 2025
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09Jan

Vietnam. Benefits of paying pensions and benefits without using cash

Thuan Duc Commune (Dong Hoi City, Quang Binh) became the first locality in Dong Hoi City to achieve 100% of pensioners and social insurance benefits receiving through bank accounts (ATM cards). In the middle of December 2024 month, with the last cases receiving pensions and social insurance benefits in cash switching to receiving them via e-commerce, Thuan Duc commune officially closed the list of social security payments via ATM cards at a rate of 100%. As one of the people on...

January 9, 2025
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09Jan

US. Pensions Got a Boost From Strong Markets in 2024, But They’re Still In Trouble

A solid year for the U.S. stock markets resulted in better-than-expected returns for state and local pensions last year. However, that boost may not be enough to pull them out of trouble. Pensions notched an average annual return of 10.3% in 2024, higher than the projected 6.87%, according to a new report from Equable Institute, a think tank focused on pension research.12 Yet public pension returns still lagged behind the gains of the broader equity markets–the S&P 500 rose more than 23% in 2024. The...

January 9, 2025
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