August 2021

New Zealand. Super-sharers: How small contributions can push back against inequality

Creating a truly fair New Zealand will require transformational change. Until we get there, one charity is encouraging superannuitants to give whatever they can. New Zealand’s generational divide is well-documented. Over-65s, who benefitted from free education and affordable housing, now receive pensions that are not income or asset-tested. Younger generations rack up debt to gain tertiary education and face unaffordable housing prices, and those in need receive insufficient income and accommodation support. For much of the older generation, the NZ Super...

US. Despite the pandemic, 401(k) balances and savings rates are higher than ever

Even with climbing Covid-19 case numbers and ever-increasing inflation, employed retirement savers have been socking away record amounts of cash in their retirement investment accounts. Average 401(k) account balances and savings rates reached record highs in the second quarter of 2021, according to Fidelity Investments, the nation’s largest provider of 401(k) plans, marking three quarters of upward growth in a row. Another positive sign for savers’ finances: The number of outstanding 401(k) loans also decreased. At the start of the coronavirus pandemic,...

Royal Mail ready to launch first U.K. collective DC plan

The Royal Mail Group Ltd. is getting closer to the launch of its long-awaited collective defined contribution plan, which will be U.K.'s first such plan, as the government unveiled a final set of CDC requirements on July 19. Read also UK. Do CDCs offer the best of both? Sponsors of defined benefit funds in the U.K. such as Royal Mail, which have been grappling with the increasing costs of running a pension fund will soon be able to switch to a...

US. Why Is Gen Z Saving More for Retirement Than Their Parents?

By Ben Geier, CEPF A 2021 survey from TransAmerica says that the youngest generation of American adults is getting a jumpstart on retirement by saving a lot earlier than older generations. Financial experts will point out that this is in part due to the decline of pensions and the rise of defined contribution plans like 401(k)s, which allow employees to invest part of their paycheck into a tax-advantaged retirement account. In fact, Gen Z could be the first generation to...

China: New State Pension to Boost Retirement Savings

The establishment of the new state pension company is waiting for regulatory approval from the CBIRC. China plans to set up a state pension company with registered capital of CNY 11.15 billion (USD 1.72 billion) to boost the retirement funds available for its rapidly ageing population. According to Reuters, 17 bank-affiliated wealth management units, insurers and state institutions will take stakes in the company, whose largest shareholders include the wealth management units of China’s big five banks, each with a stake...

ESG: Impact Investing

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Investors are finding that financial performance and ESG ‘impact’ can be complementary goals Understanding the landscape of environmental, social and governance investing is critical to choosing the right investment strategy, particularly when it comes to the impact of that investment. As ESG investing continues to evolve and institutional investors have a growing number of strategies to pursue, they may find it challenging to navigate the wider array of options and to apply the appropriate nomenclature to the...

China plans $1.72bn national pension company

China plans to set up a national pension company in Beijing with registered capital of 11.15 billion yuan ($1.72 billion) as the country's population rapidly ages. Seventeen financial institutions will take stakes in the company, including the wealth management units of China's big five banks, each with 1 billion yuan, or 8.97%, the Insurance Association of China said Thursday in a statement on its website. China's largest brokerage, Citic Securities; Taikang Life Insurance; and the investment arm of Beijing's State-owned...

Why Tontines Should Be a Piece of the Retirement Solution

By Jasmin Sethi Retirees are often faced with the fear of outliving their assets. This fear, also known as longevity risk, has been eased by the availability of annuities, specifically annuities that I’ve termed in my paper as guaranteed income products, or GIPs, that offer fixed payments until death. One would think that a product offering fixed payments for life would be more popular among retirees, but the reality is that Americans choose not to purchase annuities. Why? A big factor...

Here’s The Only Retirement Risk That Really Matters To You

Chances are at some point in your retirement saving (or spending) life you’ve been asked a question or two about your appetite for risk. For a while, back in the era of Modern Portfolio Theory, the whole concept of “risk” and the investor was the cat’s pajamas. In the old days they even had entire questionnaires designed to extract this information from you without you knowing it. That is until it became clear those little quizzes had about as much...

US. Climate Change and Benchmarking Risk for Retirement Plans

Institutional Investors Generally  don´t mine coal, make cement or indiscriminately strip large forests. But the companies in which they invest might be engaged in such activities that experts say will prove incompatible with the shift to a lower-carbon world. And, they add, a retirement plan’s holdings of these at-risk investments could have negative consequences for plan participants.   Plan Exposures Climate change risks can affect plans in several ways, says Therese Feng, vice president of research for The Climate Service, a climate...