September 2024
25Sep

Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance unveils milestone emissions cuts

Institutional investors holding a combined $9.5 trillion of assets say they’ve slashed portfolio emissions at a rate that aligns them with the goal of limiting global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5C. The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, whose signatories include Allianz and the $519.9 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, said in a statement on Sept. 25 that reduction in greenhouse gas emissions registered by its 88 members was at least 6% on average, annually, since 2018. At...

September 25, 2024
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25Sep

EU. Who can expect the most healthy life years?

In 2022, the number of healthy life years at birth in the EU was 62.6 years on average, 62.8 years for women and 62.4 years for men. Life expectancy at birth for women in the EU was, on average, 5.4 years longer than that for men (83.3 years compared with 77.9 years). Healthy life years - free from activity limitations - represent 75% and 80% of the total life expectancy for women and men, respectively. Therefore, on average, men tend to spend a greater proportion...

September 25, 2024
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25Sep

US. 5 Ways a Kamala Harris Presidency Could Impact Retirees

Vice President Kamala Harris wasn’t even a contender for the White House earlier this year, but she is now the Democratic nominee for the presidency and running neck and neck with her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump. If she wins, she is expected to promote policies that could affect the bottom line of millions of retirees. “There’s been nothing that she’s said that would lead me to believe she’s a negative to retirees,” says Chris Orestis, president of Retirement Genius,...

September 25, 2024
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25Sep

UK. TPR data shows improvements in DB pension funding

The statistics show that overall, 47% of schemes reported a surplus on the Technical Provision (TP) funding basis in tranche 17 – schemes with effective valuation dates from 22 September 2021 to and inclusive of 21 September 2022 – a significant increase on the 32% in surplus in their previous valuation cycle (tranche 14). The average funding level had increased by 5% (97% in tranche 17 (median: 99%), compared to 92% in tranche 14 (median: 93%)) and recovery plan lengths...

September 25, 2024
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24Sep

China’s retirement age reforms not enough to fix pension headache

China's move to raise retirement ages is a starting point to plug gaping pension deficits and bolster a shrinking workforce but more pain lies ahead as the economy slows, making further reforms urgent, say economists and demographers. Aging populations are a global phenomenon, but the issue is particularly stark in China due to the legacy of its one-child-policy, which was in place for three decades and has exacerbated its demographic challenges. China’s number of births dropped to 9 million last year and the...

September 24, 2024
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24Sep

US. DOL vs. IRS rules: Courts asked to decide how 401(k) plans can use forfeiture assets

What started as a small law firm filing a handful of suits against 401(k) plans' use of forfeited funds has metastasized into a broad attack on sponsors that raises questions about reducing participants' expenses. It's a trend of more law firms filing more lawsuits seeking to use Department of Labor regulations regarding fiduciary duty to supersede IRS rules. Although there are differences among the various sponsor-defendants, the general theme is the same: What can sponsors do with company contributions to a...

September 24, 2024
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24Sep

UK. Pension schemes should not ignore SDR

With the rollout of the FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Regulations (SDR) now well underway, pension schemes should consider how their ESG and sustainability objectives could be impacted by the regime in the long-term, according to AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM). One of the key components of SDR is fund labelling, with qualifying asset managers having been able to use the four new sustainability labels for asset managers – Focus, Improvers, Impact and Mixed Goals – from 31 July 2024. Being a voluntary...

September 24, 2024
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24Sep

Korea promotes positive images of older workers amid aging population

As Korea is expected to become a super-aged society next year, with more than 20 percent of the population being 65 years or older, the government is stepping up efforts to promote positive images of older workers. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Monday that it will run a weeklong campaign to raise awareness of its efforts to create jobs for older adults and help improve perceptions of those who remain active in the labor market in the...

September 24, 2024
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24Sep

New Zealand. KiwiSaver funds break over $100b, withdrawals up by 19%

KiwiSaver investments topped $100 billion for the first time over the March year but withdrawals were up by almost 19% over the same period, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says in a report. The FMA’s latest KiwiSaver annual report shows funds reached $111.8 billion – up 19.3% from $93.6b in the previous year. John Horner - the FMA’s director markets, investors and reporting - said breaking through the $100b mark, for a relatively small country like New Zealand represented a “coming...

September 24, 2024
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23Sep

The U.S. Retirement System Will Fail Most Future Retirees

Careful research by Ph.D economists concludes America faces a huge retirement shortfall. We are about eight to nine years away from Social Security's inability to pay full benefits; all boomers are past age 60, and the typical Gen Y and Millennial is predicted to do a little worse or much worse than the cohorts of their big brothers, sisters, and parents. The erosion in retirement security is worse for the bottom 60% or so of the earnings distribution. Yes,...

September 23, 2024
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