News Archives - Page 287 of 954 - Pension Policy International

23AugAugust 23, 2023

US. CalPERS CIO Nicole Musicco says pension fund taking cautious approach to China

The California Public Employees' Retirement System is being cautious in its approach to China because of the political blowback it could face for betting on a geopolitical rival of the U.S., according to Chief Investment Officer Nicole Musicco. "We're being mindful about our exposure in China right now," Ms. Musicco said during an episode of "Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein" — and she added that the pension fund giant is taking pains to "avoid having any big losses if we...

August 23, 2023

NewsChina, Investment, US

23AugAugust 23, 2023

Japan records its second-worst income disparity as society ages

Japan’s income inequality hit its second-worst level on record, according to a labor ministry survey conducted in 2021. The Gini coefficient--an index that measures income inequality on a scale ranging between 0 and 1--rose to 0.5700 based on initial income, or before distribution through taxation and social security, according to the Income Redistribution Survey released on Aug. 22. The coefficient, calculated based on income data from 2020, increased from 0.5594 in the previous survey in 2017. A 2014 survey saw the highest...

August 23, 2023

NewsAging, Income, Japan

22AugAugust 22, 2023

US. ‘Staggering’ Number of Adults Don’t Know How Long Retirements Last

They found that less than 40% of adults correctly identified the average lifespan at retirement age. “Longevity literacy is particularly important since retirement income security inherently involves planning, saving, and preparing for a period that is uncertain in length,” Surya Kolluri, head of the TIAA Institute, said in a statement. “Our research clearly demonstrates a lack of longevity literacy among the vast majority of U.S. adults. Improving this can promote better retirement security and mitigate longevity risk.” The researchers said there...

August 22, 2023

NewsFinancial Literacy, Retirement Planning, US

22AugAugust 22, 2023

ESG investing by pension funds in Africa is not a demand problem

Africa’s value tomorrow will be, in large part, determined by what is preserved today. The investment world is locked in a raging debate around “values vs value” in financial returns consideration. Opponents of ESG investing approaches believe that it is primarily the role of governments to fight climate change. Their responsibility, they contend, is to maximize shareholder returns, climate concerns notwithstanding. After all, government taxes them. The missing link in this argument is optimization. Portfolio optimization, the objective of...

August 22, 2023

NewsAfrica, ESG, Investment

22AugAugust 22, 2023

UK. PLSA: Can low earners be safely auto-enrolled in workplace pensions?

In the realm of pensions policy, there exists a significant knowledge gap when it comes to understanding and addressing the needs of low earners. While various segments of the population have been subject to extensive research, individuals with low incomes who are still engaged in employment have remained relatively understudied. The PLSA commissioned the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) to evaluate the issue of low earners and whether AE could provide a way of improving their retirement outcomes. The subsequent report -...

August 22, 2023

NewsIncome, Pension design, UK

22AugAugust 22, 2023

South Africa. Women struggle to retire as early or as securely as men

Longevity literacy is critical to help women live confidently and securely when it comes to their wind-down years. South Africa’s gender pension gap sits at 26%, reflecting the average difference in retirement income between men and women. Farzana Botha, segment manager at Sanlam Risk and Savings, said that often, women cannot afford to retire as early or as comfortably as men. She believes that turning this around should be a national imperative. Botha said: “A multitude of factors contribute to...

August 22, 2023

NewsAdequacy, Gender Gap, South Africa

21AugAugust 21, 2023

US. Pension Risk Transfer Deals Hit Record Level in First Half of 2023

In the first half of 2023 plan sponsors completed a record 289 pension-risk transfer transactions totaling $22.4 billion in premiums, according to a report from Aon, the largest PRT adviser. Aon predicted that the full year would see $40 billion in PRT deals, noting that the PRT market typically is busiest in a year’s second half. The report declared: “The pipeline continues to be robust, and we are hearing a lot of interest from plan sponsors. We expect a busy second half...

August 21, 2023

NewsPension Management, Risk, US

21AugAugust 21, 2023

UK. Triple lock helps the poorest pensioners

Discussion of the triple lock for state pensions has to take account of the fact that, according to the House of Commons library, “a comparison of state pension alone shows the UK providing a lower level of pension than most other advanced economies relative to average earnings”. The deficit is somewhat ameliorated for those with private pension income. This results in about 2.1 million pensioners living in poverty. Whatever its political intentions, the economic effect of the triple lock was...

August 21, 2023

NewsInflation, Regulation, UK

21AugAugust 21, 2023

Nigeria mulls Rwanda, Kenya model to spike micro- pension enrolment

Stakeholders in the Nigerian pension industry worried about the slow pace of informal sector enrolment into the country’s Micro Pension Plan (MPP) are considering workable models in Rwanda, Kenya among others. They believe that they lack of critical incentives like co-contributions, free healthcare and insurance found in micro pension scheme in these other countries are making the Nigerian model unattractive to potential enrolees. In this vein, the industry including the regulator, the National Pension Commission (PenCom) and the Pension Fund Administrators...

August 21, 2023

NewsInformal Sector, Nigeria, Pension design

21AugAugust 21, 2023

US. Pension funds in their best shape since just before the last two stock-market crashes

How do you lose more than $400 billion and still end up better off than you were before? Easy. You run a pension fund. America's top corporate pension funds have broken into surplus this year for the first time since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, despite disastrous 2022 investment losses on the stock and bond markets. The reason? Even while markets plunged, rocketing inflation has also led to soaring long-term interest rates. And thanks to accounting rules, pension funds can...

August 21, 2023

NewsPension Management, US

August 2023