August 2022
31Aug

​PFA rapped by Danish FSA over alternatives risks

Denmark’s largest commercial pension provider, PFA, has been reprimanded by the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) for failings in the way it manages its alternative investments, such as private equity, credit and infrastructure. PFA, which manages some DKK725bn (€97.5bn) of assets, said the Danish FSA had carried out an operational inspection of its alternative investments from 16 to 25 March 2021, and based on that, the firm had received five official orders to correct procedures. The five areas concerned were PFA’s...

August 31, 2022
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31Aug

China should encourage private pension accounts

By Jiang Xueqing China should encourage individuals to open personal accounts and choose investment vehicles under a private pension plan rolled out by the country, and the plan should be better connected with basic old-age insurance and occupational pensions to complement the current guaranteed retirement income system, industry experts said. The nation unveiled the framework of a private pension plan earlier this year amid increasing efforts to address the needs of its rapidly aging population. At the end of last year,...

August 31, 2022
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31Aug

Elon Musk thinks the population will collapse. Demographers say it’s not happening

Billionaire Elon Musk tweeted, not for the first time, that "population collapse due to low birth rates is a much bigger risk to civilization than global warming." Climate change is a serious problem facing the planet and experts say it's difficult to compare problems. What is clear, demographers say, is that the global population is growing, despite declines in some parts of the world, and it shouldn't be collapsing any time soon -- even with birth rates at lower levels...

August 31, 2022
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30Aug

Vanguard moves a third of $25.4 billion high-yield fund in-house

Vanguard Group has shifted management of one-third of the assets of its Vanguard High-Yield Corporate Fund to its internal fixed-income group from Wellington Management, which will continue to manage the remaining two-thirds. The High-Yield Corporate Fund had $25.4 billion in total net assets as of July 31, according to Vanguard's website. Wellington previously managed the entire fund. Jessica Schifalacqua, a spokeswoman for Vanguard, said by email that the fixed-income group's "long-term and disciplined approach is a natural complement to Wellington Management...

August 30, 2022
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30Aug

UK. Workers cut pension contributions amid cost of living crisis

Workers are leaving pension schemes or cutting their contributions, trade unions say, as the cost of living crisis prompts desperate measures that will reduce their retirement funds. The warning comes as UK inflation is predicted to hit 18.6 per cent, the highest rate among larger western economies, and as real wages fall at the fastest rate for at least two decades. The Trades Union Congress, the UK’s main movement for organised labour, said a growing number of its members in the...

August 30, 2022
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30Aug

Albania. Only wage increases through more productivity can save public pension system, Word Bank says

By Tirana Times The only way to guarantee that Albanians can rely on a public pension in the future is to increase wages through higher productivity, the World Bank says in a recent report. Albania is going through a major demographic transition with high rates of out-migration and the rapid aging of the population, which is making its social insurance system a huge burden on the economy as the contributor/beneficiary ratio continues to deteriorate. In Albania, expenditures in relation to GDP for...

August 30, 2022
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30Aug

US. Q2 Market Losses Hard on Self-Directed 401k Balances

Self-directed 401k investors’ balances declined with the market in the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest edition of the Charles Schwab SDBA Indicators Report, an industry-leading benchmark on retirement plan participant investment activity within self-directed brokerage accounts (SDBAs). The report, released today, found the average account balance across all participant accounts finished at $283,485 for the second quarter ending June 30, an 18.58% decrease year-over-year and a 14.62% decrease from the first quarter of 2022. The Q2 SDBA Indicators...

August 30, 2022
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29Aug

Nigeria. PenCom to provide health insurance for micro pension contributors

The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says it is planning to provide incentives to contributors under the micro pension plan (MPP). The commission said incentives such as health insurance would increase participation in the scheme. Aisha Dahir-Umar, director-general of PenCom, said this at a recent workshop for journalists in Abuja. Dahir-Umar said the MPP was implemented to curb old-age poverty by assisting informal sector workers, including small-scale businesses, entertainers, professionals, petty traders, and others. Also you may interesting in Japan’s GPIF joins GRESB as infrastructure...

August 29, 2022
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29Aug

Germany debates raising retirement age to 70

Germany is reporting a record number of job vacancies in the first quarter of this year the number jumped to an unprecedented 1.74 million open positions. That number was the highest since reunification 30 years ago. At the same time, Germany also has a record shortage of young people. According to the Federal Statistics Office in July, only 10% of the population is aged between 15 and 24, compared to 20% over the age of 65. The country's birth rate is too low to compensate for...

August 29, 2022
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29Aug

Technology can turn Asia’s ageing population problem into a longevity dividend

The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a fundamental shift in attitudes towards technology in the workplace. Concerns that computers would render workers obsolete are giving way to the appreciation that technology could free humanity from mundane tasks and enable more flexible ways of working and interaction. Crucially, digital technology will help keep older workers in employment and bring retirees back by permitting more flexible work arrangements and reducing the physical or cognitive demands of certain jobs. If mindsets can change, these...

August 29, 2022
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