October 2023

Inflation hits occupational pensions in Germany, says Deloitte

Inflation is having a negative impact on occupational pensions in Germany, with both the number of employers interested in, or contributing to company pension schemes declining this year compared with 2022, according to an occupational pensions study conducted by Deloitte. According to the research, 38% of the employers surveyed is “clearly” worried about losses in terms of retirement provision because of the current level of inflation, 14% consider the impact of increasing consumer prices on pensions dramatic, whereas only 14% is...

MPs pension scheme abandons UK stocks

MP retirement savings have been pulled out of British companies – despite the Chancellor pushing pension schemes to invest tens of billions in UK business. Jeremy Hunt has called on pension funds to plough at least 5pc of their assets into British start-ups and private equity in a bid to boost growth. However, his own Parliamentary pension scheme now invests just 1.7pc (£14m) in British companies, down from nearly 12pc the year before. When Mr Hunt first announced the policy at his...

Korea sees accelerating drop in birth rate

The number of babies born in Korea in August plummeted to the lowest level in nearly three years, data showed, Wednesday, heightening concerns of a looming demographic crisis driven by the world’s lowest fertility rate, decline in marriage and aging population. Statistics Korea said a total of 18,984 babies were born in August, down 12.8 percent from a year earlier. It marks the steepest year-on-year decline since November 2020, when the number of childbirths dipped 15.5 percent. The latest tally also marks...

Retirees tend to be happier than younger people — even if their finances aren’t great

Much of the work we do suggests that people are not saving enough for retirement. More specifically, since 2006 we have published our National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI), which uses the Federal Reserve’s triennial Survey of Consumer Finances to compare households’ projected replacement rates — retirement income as a percentage of preretirement income — with targets that would maintain their standard of living. Those households with a projected replacement rate that is more than 10% below the target are characterized as...

World’s largest sovereign wealth fund loses $34 billion as all asset classes fall in third quarter

Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, on Tuesday reported losses of 2.1% in the third quarter, as all asset classes fell in value. The so-called Government Pension Fund Global returned a loss of 374 billion Norwegian kroner ($34 billion) in the third quarter, citing a weaker three-month period, compared with the first half of the year. The results were still 0.17 percentage point stronger than the return on the fund’s benchmark index. The fund last reported a quarterly loss...

U.S. state pension plans’ funding ratios fall in Q3

U.S. state pension plans' aggregate funding ratios fell in the third quarter to the lowest level since the end of 2022, according to Wilshire Advisors estimates. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the estimated ratio dropped by 3 percentage points from three months earlier to 75.2%, the result of an estimated 3% decrease in asset values exacerbated by an estimated 0.8% increase in liability values. It is the lowest estimated ratio since Dec. 31, when Wilshire estimated an aggregate funding ratio...

Fund managers are updating bond models to capture a new risk

A growing number of asset managers is reassessing bond values tied to real assets, as a spike in the frequency of flash floods, fires and storms hits conventional pricing models. Mitch Reznick, head of sustainable fixed income at Federated Hermes, says climate risk is a key reason why the investment manager is now underweight real estate credit. Jonathan Bailey, global head of ESG and impact investing at Neuberger Berman Group, says he's increasingly looking at whether issuers have enough capital to...

Zimbabwe seeks compensation for pensioners whose savings were wiped out in 2009

Zimbabwe wants the retirement industry to help compensate pensioners who lost their savings 14 years ago following a bout of hyperinflation that led to the collapse of the local currency and its eventual scrapping in favour of the US dollar. The switch to the greenback immediately wiped out the value of Zimbabwe dollar-denominated investments, leaving thousands of pensioners destitute. The payment of compensation is a key step toward helping restore confidence across the retirement industry, said Grace Muradzikwa, head of...

China, India face daunting challenge to grow retirement security amid demographic, cultural shifts

Retirement systems in China and India, home to the world's largest populations with around 1.4 billion people in each country, are still in nascent stages but are expected to grow as their economies expand and their demographics shift. In both countries, the first pension pillar — a state-sponsored pension system — has been seen as inadequate, and the second pillar — employer-sponsored retirement plans — is often insufficient in meeting people's rising post-retirement needs. A third pillar focused on building...

Statisticians adopt new standards on measuring informal employment

The 21st International Conference of Labour Statisticians  (ICLS) has adopted new standards on the informal economy that will enable countries to collect better data and make better policies for workers employed in the informal economy. The resolution was passed at the centennial ICLS, held at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland, between 11-20 October. Two billion people worldwide work in the informal economy, often with no labour protections or social security coverage and in poor working conditions. Yet,...