April 2024
09Apr

Financial sector faces challenges amid climate crisis

Many of us have life insurance or retirement funds: we may allocate a portion of our salary to them each month. But we rarely know how our money is being invested. We simply trust that, when the time comes, the resources will be available to us and that the financial system will have invested our savings wisely. Still, we don’t necessarily know precisely where our money is being invested, nor do we know what regulatory framework financial institutions are operating under. At...

April 9, 2024
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09Apr

Cyprus. State pension fund reaching critical levels

The Fiscal Council, advising the Cyprus government on economic policies, has renewed a warning call that borrowing from the Social Insurance Fund has reached critical levels, threatening to derail public finances if action is not taken. In an announcement on Thursday, it urged the government to act on the suggestions of an actuarial study, submitted to the authority earlier in the week. The authority has warned that it needs to address its dependency on the Social Insurance Fund, as it...

April 9, 2024
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09Apr

UK. Cover story: Pensions are on life support – but how do we save them?

We are in the midst of a pensions crisis. For a long time, experts have warned that UK adults aren’t saving anywhere near enough money to ensure a comfortable, or even moderate, retirement. But now it feels as though we’ve reached breaking point. If pensions were a person, it’s probably safe to say they’d be on life support. Let’s take a quick look at the facts. Around a fifth of working-age private-sector employees — approximately 3.5 million people — do not pay anything...

April 9, 2024
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09Apr

US. As Gen Xers Inch Toward Retirement, They’re Considering Where to Live

When they were raising their four children, Billy and Erin Shipley had space for their family to grow: a two-story, five-bedroom house in Sugar Land, Texas, with a large yard and a pool. But as the children became adults and moved out, the second floor was deserted and maintaining the lawn and pool became a burden. Like many members of Generation X facing an empty nest, the Shipleys decided to look for a home better suited to their needs where...

April 9, 2024
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08Apr

UK. Women’s pension pots ‘worth half of mens’

The comparison with male pensions find women’s savings are dwarfed, with men’s pensions average around £75,000. It was also found that men are ‘more likely to manage their own pensions’ than women. Independent research conducted on behalf of Handelsbanken Wealth & Asset Management on gender and the wealth gap. Nearly a third of women were found to have pensions below £25,000 and only one in 10 women have a pension exceeding £100,000, whole this is true for nearly a third...

April 8, 2024
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08Apr

Largest Australia Pension Fund Says Now Is the Time to Buy Private Assets

Australia’s largest pension fund wants to put more money into private-market investments and will further boost its exposure to overseas assets. “Now is a better time to put money into private markets than two or three years ago, when valuations were more expensive and deals were quite scarce,” AustralianSuper Chief Investment Officer Mark Delaney said on Bloomberg TV in Melbourne on Monday. “The inability for a lot of US pension plans to recycle capital has meant that private deal opportunities are...

April 8, 2024
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08Apr

Japan’s GPIF and Netherlands’ APG join forces to invest in infrastructure

Japan’s ¥225trn (€1.37trn) Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) and Dutch pensions asset manager APG have teamed up to invest in infrastructure. The pension fund investors said they have launched the joint investment programme to “gain access to attractive investment opportunities, with a focus on infrastructure in developed markets worldwide”, without disclosing any financial information. The partnership is expected to focus on sectors such as sustainable energy, fibre networks, transport and other infrastructure projects. “The partnership will focus on investment opportunities that align with...

April 8, 2024
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05Apr

UK. Single pensioner income inequality widens over past decade

The gap between the poorest and richest single pensioners has increased "considerably" over the past decade, analysis by Broadstone has found. The analysis of the Department for Work and Pensions’ pensioner income series showed that single pensioner incomes in the bottom quintile grew by 2 per cent before housing costs between 2010/11-2011/12 and 2020/21-2021/22. This is an average increase of £208 per year. Those who are in the top quintile saw income growth over the same period of 9 per cent,...

April 5, 2024
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05Apr

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses climb higher in March — 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses continued to climb in March, according to three new reports. Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 110.1% as of March 31, an increase of a full percentage point above the 109.1% funding ratio estimated as of Feb. 29. "March's increase in funded status was driven by the continued increase in asset value with most asset classes posting positive monthly performances, highlighted by the FT Wilshire 5000 index, which has now...

April 5, 2024
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05Apr

Fintechs are booming in Mexico but financial inclusion is lagging

Financial technology firms are eyeing Mexico’s vast market of 130 million individuals, an untapped frontier for both domestic companies and international endeavors. Yet despite strides in fintech, financial inclusion metrics lag behind, highlighting a disconnect between industry progress and broader adoption of financial products in this Latin American economy. To be sure, Mexico’s fintech ecosystem is thriving, boasting nearly 1,000 companies, including 217 foreign entities from over 22 nations. Over the past five years, the domestic sector has demonstrated impressive...

April 5, 2024
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