March 2023

Ghana. Government rolls out pension scheme for cocoa farmers

Government, through Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has rolled out the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme (CFPS) to ensure a decent pension for cocoa farmers, improve their welfare, and also make farming attractive to the youth. This comes after the Cocoa Management Systems (CMS) recorded some momentous strides after piloting the scheme for three weeks in August 2021 in New Edubiase and some other districts in the Ashanti Region. Just as government and private sector workers contribute during their working life, it has...

China’s Cities Are Buried in Debt, but They Keep Shoveling It On

China has long pursued growth by public spending, even after the payoff has faded. Cities stuck with the bill are still spending — and cutting essential services. In 2015, when Shangqiu, a municipality in central China, laid out a plan for the next two decades, it positioned itself as a transportation hub with a sprawling network of railways, highways and river shipping routes. By the end of 2020, Shangqiu had built 114 miles of high-speed rail, and today several national railways...

Key demographic trends that will impact the global economy

The global population is currently experiencing irreversible demographic shifts, from rapid urbanisation to low birth rates. A combination of economic, social, environmental, and political factors has accelerated this transition, as outlined below. The following demographic trends will significantly impact the global economy for decades to come. Urbanisation The United Nations (UN) estimates that over two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. Generally, urbanisation can be a positive phenomenon in improving national and individual economic performance, reducing poverty, and improving...

UK. What are the implications of removing the pensions lifetime allowance?

One of the headline announcements of the budget on 15 March was the scrapping of the lifetime allowance for private pensions. The allowance – which currently stands at just over £1 million – is the maximum that an individual can draw from their pension in their lifetime without paying additional tax. Unsurprisingly, this policy, which will come into force from April 2024, has been criticised by some commentators, as it is higher earners who are likely to benefit most. How does...

The 10 Years Before Retirement Are Critical. How to Be Ready

While retirement planning is a decadeslong endeavor, the way you handle your final decade before leaving the workforce will have a critical impact on how ready you’ll be when that day finally arrives. “It hits about 10 years out—this train is coming to me,” says Danielle Byrd Thompson, a financial professional at Equitable Advisors in Washington, D.C. “It’s like a time clock is starting.” Of course, that final stretch is far easier to navigate when the stock market cooperates. From 2009...

Canadian pension funds embrace ESG

Large Canadian pensions are making “impressive” progress on sustainable investments, according to the second annual Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing. The report examines the progress major Canadian pension funds have made in integrating ESG factors into their governance from 2020 to 2022. In just one year, the number of funds that have made public net-zero portfolio emission commitments by 2050 or sooner has grown from two to nine, which now accounts for or $1.8 trillion or 81% of total...

Hackers breach U.K. Pension Protection Fund, steal employee data

Hackers obtained data on some employees of the U.K.'s Pension Protection Fund after exploiting a third-party data transfer service, according to a fund spokesperson. The Pension Protection Fund manages £39 billion of assets for its 295,000 members, according to its website. The fund protects people with a defined benefit pension when an employer becomes insolvent. By exploiting the Go Anywhere transfer service, intruders compromised some employee data, Jenny Peters, a spokesperson for the fund, said in a statement. The hackers were...

French visit by Britain’s King Charles postponed due to pension protests

A visit to France by King Charles III, due to start on Sunday, has been postponed at the request of President Emmanuel Macron because of ongoing protests over pension reform. There has been widespread violence and unions have called a national day of protest on Tuesday. The French presidency said the postponement was decided after a call between Macron and the king on Friday morning. "Given the announcement yesterday of another national day of protests against pension reform on Tuesday March...

S. Korea’s pension fund posts 8.2% investment loss for 2022

South Korea's National Pension Fund reported a -8.2% investment return for 2022 and a 6.1% drop in assets to 890.5 trillion won ($706.4 billion). Domestic equity in the portfolio accounted for the biggest loss at -22.8%, followed by overseas equity at -12.3%, according to a statement by the Jeonju-based pension fund on March 2. "Domestic and overseas equity portfolios experienced a sharp drop in value due to ongoing market volatility at home and abroad triggered by the prolonged war in Ukraine...

UK. One third of people facing a drop in retirement standards

One in three savers have moved from an expected ‘moderate’ retirement lifestyle to a ‘minimum’ lifestyle, according to analysis by Wealth Wizards. The financial planning firm analysed data from more than 40,000 users of the Wealth Wizards Pension Guidance Software as a Service (SaaS) platform and found almost one in five pensioners are not on track for the living standards they would like in retirement. Additionally, the analysis of the data gathered over the last two years found one in three...