November 2022

Time to address declining birth rates in the Middle East

Strong economies rely on the right combination of population demographics, skill sets and resources to achieve remarkable performance. However, in recent years, many countries have recorded alarming, record-low birth rates, with dire and multifaceted consequences. To illustrate the gravity of this issue, countries need a replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman to maintain a stable population size. Nonetheless, in 2021, the fertility rate in many countries was below this figure. For instance, Australia recorded 1.7 births per woman, while...

Canadian teachers could have a $95 million hole in their pensions due to the FTX crypto implosion

The crisis at cryptocurrency exchange FTX is having ramifications far and wide. Now Canada’s third largest pension plan is revealing details about its exposure to the troubled company led by 30-year-old crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. On Thursday, the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) released a statement saying that in October 2021 it invested $75 million in both FTX International and its U.S. entity FTX.US. Additionally, it said, it made a follow-on investment of $20 million in FTX.US in January this...

Liquidity crunch tops institutional investors’ greatest tail risks

The top three tail risks for global institutional asset owners are an unexpected liquidity crunch, a military conflict in the Asia-Pacific region and a major cyberattack, according to a new survey conducted by PGIM, the money management subsidiary of Prudential Financial. The survey of 400 senior investment officials at asset owners representing more than $12 trillion in assets shows the greatest common level of concern is a liquidity crunch in capital markets resulting in a market crash, according to a...

UK. Ten years of Automatic Enrolment achieves over £114bn pension savings

In 2021, employees across the UK saved £114.6 billion into their pensions. This is a real terms increase of £32.9 billion compared to 2012, when Automatic Enrolment was introduced. The figures reveal how the policy has transformed pensions saving over the last ten years for people from Sterling to Southend, by normalising workplace pension saving, establishing a culture of retirement saving for a new generation, and helping foster a greater sense of security in later life. More than 10.7 million employees...

Regulators researching all-to-all trading in U.S. Treasury market

In an effort to boost resiliency in the U.S. Treasury market, federal regulators are studying the pros and cons of widespread all-to-all trading, which would allow any market participant to trade directly with any other market participant, according to a report released Thursday. The report from the Inter-Agency Working Group on Treasury Market Surveillance, or IWAG, which is composed of staff from the Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank...

US. Here’s why you should be worried about state and local pensions

Public pensions may be facing a massive fiscal shortfall, according to two economics professors Right now, across America, about 26 million people are relying on state and local pension plans to take care of them in their retirement years. That figure includes 15 million retired teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public sector workers, and another 11 million who are still working. On the other side of the leger all the taxpayers— 330 million of us, give or take —who are...

Over 84,000 Nigerians enrolled in micro pension plan –PENCOM

The National Pension Commission (PenCom), yesterday revealed that over 84,000 Nigerians have enrolled in the ongoing Micro Pension plan. This was even as the Commission reiterated that it will continue to embark on massive awareness to ensure more Nigerians key into the initiative. The Head, Micro Pensions Department at PenCom, Dauda Ahmed, disclosed this to newsmen at the ongoing Lagos International Trade Fair organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Ahmed noted that the commission has had interactions with would-be-...

UK. Insurers face claims threat from pension fund LDI crisis

The events of the past few weeks are likely to result in claims and/or pressure on commercial relationships, particularly when pension schemes conduct their triennial valuations and agree new deficit reduction plans with employers. UK pension scheme managers and their insurers could face claims over their use of liability-driven investment strategies following the turbulence caused by Liz Truss's mini-budget There may be a surge in professional negligence claims against liability-driven investing (LDI) pension funds in the wake of the UK’s mini-budget. Claims...

How much does Europe spend on pensions?

Iceland Iceland’s pension system is rated by CNBC as the best in the world and yet remarkably it only spends 2.6% of GDP on retirees, the smallest amount in Europe. Pensioners are entitled to the full ellilífeyrir payment if they’ve lived in Iceland for 40 years. Retirees can apply for a basic pension, a pension supplement and a household supplement and all amounts are based on income. The regular pension age is 67, unless you have worked at sea for...

Nordic pension funds want to increase climate investments in emerging markets and developing economies

At COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, the Climate Investment Coalition (CIC), in collaboration with the Nordic Council of Ministers, presented key investor recommendations to bridge the climate finance and investment gap by 2030 towards emerging markets and developing economies. This was made alongside an overview of Nordic pension fund progress within climate and clean energy investments in 2022. Despite financial challenges and a volatile economic environment, the first wave of pension fund reporting in 2022 indicates that the Nordic pension...