July 2024

How long you may live is one of retirement planning’s biggest unknowns. How experts say to get the best estimate

Effective retirement planning largely depends on the answer to one question: How long will I live? Yet no one truly knows the answer to that question. Here's what experts say you should consider to best gauge your plans. To effectively plan for your retirement, experts say, you need to watch your savings rate and total nest egg. But how much you really need to have set aside depends on another number — your life expectancy. Yet that figure is also the most elusive — no one knows how...

June 2024

The list of money managers axing oil stocks just got longer

There’s a growing list of institutional investors in Europe who are stripping oil and gas stocks out of their portfolios, in a move they say reduces the risk of ending up with stranded assets and financial losses. The latest to do so is PFA, Denmark’s largest commercial pension fund with roughly USD 110bn of assets under management. The investor has just offloaded its USD 170m stake in Shell Plc based on an assessment that the company’s capital expenditure on renewables...

UK trustee boards show robust governance frameworks – survey

A recent survey conducted by WTW has shown that most UK pension schemes are not overwhelmed by the new requirements of the General Code, with only 1% of respondents expecting significant changes to comply with it. The WTW 2024 Trustee Governance Survey — of 132 trustees, pension managers, and other stakeholders in March and April 2024 – has shed light on the evolving landscape of pension scheme governance in response to the newly implemented General Code, which came into effect in March 2024. It...

LGBTQ+ workers are paid 16% less than their peers, study finds

While “a record number of non-LGBTQ Americans support equal rights for the LGBTQ community,” according to a 2023 study from GLAAD, workers who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community still face workplace discrimination and a wage gap, a new study has found. The majority (63%) of the 2,000 LGBTQ+ workers surveyed by writing platform EduBirdie said they have been discriminated against in the workplace and 45% said they have been passed over for a promotion due to their identity. These...

What if every worker in America were auto-enrolled in retirement savings?

What if every employee in America were automatically enrolled in an Individual Retirement Account? In an ongoing study, researchers from Princeton University and the Treasury Department have analyzed just such a scenario. Their conclusion: Not surprisingly, a national retirement savings plan would substantially raise the nation’s savings rate, especially for low-income workers. If every worker were automatically enrolled in a retirement plan, the savings rate among low-income workers would double, from 21% to 40%. Because fewer lower-income Americans save for retirement, a national savings...

Two-thirds of Brits think the state pension won’t exist when they retire

More than 70 per cent of working-age Britons think the state pension will not exist in its current form when they or their children come to retire - but the majority still would not pay into someone else's pension. This is according to research from adviser platform Nucleus, which revealed 71 per cent of people aged 18 and above believe the state pension will not exist or will be less generous when they retire. Carried out among 2,100 UK adults aged...

Commentary: Investors’ role addressing intergenerational risk of LGBTQIA+ inequity

Investor demand for LGBTQIA+ investment options is strong and set to grow, so why is the market not responding? Today, the proportion of the population identifying as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community is estimated to grow exponentially, with each generation nearly twice as likely as the generation preceding it to identify as LGBTQIA+, according to Gallup. However, our systems — spanning corporate human resources, education, healthcare and more — are unprepared to address this ongoing generational shift. The exclusion of...

UK. DB schemes taking steps to manage risks as funding positions improve

Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes have taken advantage of last year’s “relative calm” to make progress on endgame planning, net-zero targets, and tackling diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) issues, research from LCP has revealed. LCP’s latest Chart Your Own Course report found that many schemes have seen improvements to their funding positions and are exploring various endgame options. In particular, LCP found that completing a de-risking transaction remained a top priority for many, cited as a key priority in the coming year...

How to save for retirement: Investment tips for moderate risk takers

If you plan to retire at 50, you will need to build a big enough corpus to last you through 30-35 years of retirement, or even longer. Considering inflation, and the extended period in retirement will necessitate a larger corpus than ₹2 crore to provide for your needs. Let's assume you will need ₹75,000 per month to sustain your expenses. This is 50% of your current income. If your retirement corpus of ₹2 crore (current prices) earns 9% returns, it will sustain inflation...

US. Pension fund for N.Y. public workers sees significant increase

The pension fund for public retirees in New York saw significant investment returns for the previous fiscal year, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office. The New York State Common Retirement Fund had an investment return of more than 11.5 percent during the fiscal year ending on March 31, nearly double the long-term expected rate of return of 5.9 percent. The fund, which manages the money for local and state government retirees, ended the year at nearly $268 billion. While inflation persists...