News Archives - Page 349 of 955 - Pension Policy International

26JanJanuary 26, 2023

South Africa. Take-home pay falls almost 5% in December, capping off dismal year, index shows

South Africans' average take home pay declined almost 5% in December, ending a dismal year at a low point, with signs that record load shedding and rampant inflation took its toll on households, Africa's largest automated clearing house BankservAfrica said on Wednesday. Average pay, as measured in BankservAfrica's Take-home Pay Index, slipped to R14 663 in December, when more than 200 000 new jobs were added, probably reflecting the fact that many new jobs are likely to have been created...

January 26, 2023

News, UncategorizedIncome, South Africa

25JanJanuary 25, 2023

UK pension schemes search out forestry investments

Nest and Cushon, two UK pension schemes with combined assets of more than £26bn, are in a joint search for asset management partners to develop new forestry investment strategies to address climate change pressures. Both pension schemes believe that allocating money to forestry projects will offset environmentally damaging emissions from other investments and deliver attractive returns as the price of carbon rises to reflect the increasing costs of pollution by human activity. The schemes have set aside an initial £600mn for...

January 25, 2023

NewsClimate crisis, Investment, Pension Management

25JanJanuary 25, 2023

U.S. insurers likely to increase risk tolerance, private assets – Conning

Most U.S. insurers expect to increase their investment risk tolerance, while adding to their allocations to private assets this year, amid an environment of higher volatility and rising inflation, according to a survey of U.S. life and property and casualty insurers released Tuesday by Conning, a global insurance asset management firm. Specifically, 64% of insurers responding to the survey said they expect an increase in investment risk tolerance in 2023, while 73% said risk-adjusted returns are the No. 1 investment...

January 25, 2023

NewsInvestment, US

25JanJanuary 25, 2023

Plans to raise retirement age in Lithuania

This month Lithuanian society is left shaken after spreading the news about the increasing of the retirement age. In Lithuania, the retirement age has increased every year since 2012 and by 2026 it will be 65 years. Previously, discussion surfaced on whether raising the retirement age to 72 would help offset Lithuania’s ageing population issues. As Lithuania’s demographic situation continues to worsen, the European Commission estimates that the number of working-age people capable of supporting pensioners will go down in...

January 25, 2023

NewsLithuania, Pension Reform, Retirement Age

25JanJanuary 25, 2023

Spain’s pension spending is approaching the point of no return (and the “baby boom” generation has not yet entered)

Pensions weigh on Spain. As much or more than most of its neighbors in the European Union. Although the bulk of the country’s boomers —born between 1957 and 1977— have not yet retired and the coverage rate of their pension system is lower than the European average, the spending that Spain allocates to them in relation to the size of its economy exceeded the simple average of the EU. If weighted measures are handled, it is already in tune...

January 25, 2023

NewsSpain, System sustainability

25JanJanuary 25, 2023

Ireland. Employers call for rethink on contributions to mandatory workplace pension

Employers’ group Ibec is calling for changes to planned legislation that will put mandatory workplace pensions in place. Contribution levels to the proposed auto-enrolment pension scheme should be looked at again, with competitiveness and affordability reviews completed before contributions are increased from their entry level, Ibec executive Fergal O’Brien will tell an Oireachtas committee on Wednesday. The scheme foresees employers and workers each putting 1.5 per cent of the employee’s gross salary into the scheme at the outset, with the figure...

January 25, 2023

NewsIreland, Occupational Pensions, savings

24JanJanuary 24, 2023

France to move ahead on pension reform despite protests

The French government on Monday said it would move forward with a pension reform plan that has been met with fierce opposition from unions, left-wing parties, and the general public. The plan envisages raising the retirement age gradually from 62 to 64 by 2030, and increasing the number of years needed to pay into the system to obtain a full pension from 42 to 43. All people in retirement in France receive a state pension — currently around €1,400 ($1,500) per...

January 24, 2023

NewsFrance, Pension Reform

24JanJanuary 24, 2023

Why Older Americans Regret Not Saving Early and Enough

Any Americans head into their retirement years with little rigor in their planning, and then they find themselves nursing a bundle of regrets. Those regrets are about not saving more earlier in life, not investing in long-term care or annuities, and dipping into their social security payments much too early. How widespread are those regrets, and how can people plan more smartly for their retirement? That is the focus of a new paper titled “Financial Regret at Older Ages and...

January 24, 2023

NewsLongevity, savings, US

24JanJanuary 24, 2023

UK. The role of the Regulator in monitoring and enforcing pensions dashboards compliance

The Pensions Regulator ("TPR") is responsible for ensuring that all in scope occupational pension schemes comply with their duties under the Pensions Dashboards Regulations 2022 (the "Regulations"). The Regulations introduce new legal duties for trustees and scheme managers – discussed in more detail in our previous blog – and give TPR the power to monitor their compliance and take enforcement action if necessary. With the connection deadlines for some of the UK's largest pension schemes edging ever closer, TPR...

January 24, 2023

NewsRegulation, Technology, UK

24JanJanuary 24, 2023

Europe’s Biggest Pension Fund Issues ESG Warning to Banks

One of Europe’s biggest investors is putting banks on notice and may start exiting the sector unless it sees proof that claims of portfolio decarbonization are matched by action. “The financial sector has really lagged,” said Dominique Dijkhuis, a member of the executive board and head of investments at ABP, which is Europe’s largest pension fund. “If you say you’re committing to a climate course and then still actively granting loans to new fossil products, that’s just not aligned.” ABP is...

January 24, 2023

NewsESG, Investment

January 2023