December 2025
18Dec

Pension discussions with family and friends remain rare

Just a third (33 per cent) of people have spoken to their family about pensions in the last year, research from Standard Life has revealed, as engagement with pension savings remains low. The research showed that this was far lower than the proportion of people discussing household bills (48 per cent) or inflation (41 per cent), highlighting how long-term financial planning is still something many households shy away from. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Standard Life found that there are significant generational differences when...

December 18, 2025
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17Dec

French MPs adopt social security budget, suspend pension reform

French lawmakers on Tuesday, December 16, adopted a social security budget, which includes the suspension of an unpopular pension reform, as Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu races to finalize a 2026 spending plan by year-end. The Assemblée Nationale approved the measure by 247 votes to 232, the first of two budget bills needed to pass before the December 31 deadline. The version of the bill lawmakers approved includes the suspension of a 2023 reform to raise the retirement age from 62...

December 17, 2025
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17Dec

US. New House Bill Revives Push for Automatic Retirement Accounts for Uncovered Workers

Representative Richard Neal D-Massachusetts reintroduced a bill Monday that would mandate employers with 10 or more workers to automatically enroll employees in individual retirement accounts, unless the company already provides a retirement plan. Neal, the ranking member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said in a statement that the bill would create a retirement savings option for gig workers and other independent contractors who do not have access to defined contribution retirement accounts. “Automatic IRAs are simple and effective, and they have...

December 17, 2025
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17Dec

UK. Trust-based pension schemes: Trustees and governance, building a stronger future

The pensions landscape is changing. The transition from Defined Benefit (DB) to Defined Contribution (DC) is well underway. The DC market itself is transitioning to a more mature structure, characterised by bigger schemes. Change is also being accelerated by the Pension Schemes Bill currently before Parliament. Amidst this change, one thing remains constant: the importance of good governance, with schemes overseen by trustees that have not only the skills and knowledge to navigate the changes to come, but also members best interests consistently front of mind. This consultation...

December 17, 2025
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17Dec

Dutch Pension Shift Obsessing Bond Traders Is About to Get Real

In the European market for long-term bonds, a once-loyal and deep pocketed customer is about to start shopping elsewhere. The €1.6 trillion ($1.9 trillion) Dutch pension system — the largest in the region — is undergoing a major transformation aimed at making it more sustainable for an aging population. Funds will invest more in riskier assets and less in bonds, with a big drop in demand expected for long-term interest-rate hedges. The big start of the shift, years in the planning,...

December 17, 2025
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17Dec

The Pension Fund of Uzbekistan and the ILO join forces to develop the work injury insurance system

As part of the Global Accelerator project in Uzbekistan aimed at employment formalization, representatives of the Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction, the Off-budget Pension Fund, the National Agency for Social Protection, and ILO specialists reviewed the current work injury insurance system and discussed the need for legislative amendments, at a meeting on 28 November 2026. The parties committed to facilitating an informed dialogue to strengthen protection for all workers, with the goal of preparing proposals in 2026. This decision...

December 17, 2025
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16Dec

Big pension funds make progress on climate but much more needed, report shows

Major pension funds are increasingly adopting climate targets and shifting their strategy to respond to global warming, according to a new report on the sector. However, many still invest in fossil fuel companies and more regulation is needed so the industry contributes further to the net zero transition. The proportion of pension funds with at least one climate target jumped to 63% in 2024 from just 9% in 2020, according to the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) thinktank. The CPI report...

December 16, 2025
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16Dec

US. Retirement Accounts Are The Country’s Emergency Funds

The Charade That “Retirement” Accounts Are For Retirement It’s time we stop the charade. Congress should rename 401(k)s and IRAs what they really are: "Emergency Savings Accounts for the Poor and Middle Class." Because that’s how they function for the bottom 90% of American workers. A new Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) report confirms what retirement experts have long understood: Americans are draining their 401(k)s to survive today, sacrificing tomorrow's security. The study reveals where borrowed retirement dollars actually go—not toward...

December 16, 2025
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16Dec

Nigeria. 92.4% of Personal Pension accounts unfunded despite push

Industry data indicate that the majority of the Retirement Savings Accounts under the rebranded Personal Pension Plan were largely unfunded, marking a glaring disparity between registration and actual contribution within the micro-pension scheme. This is against the backdrop of Nigeria’s pension industry recording a 5.93 per cent increase in its Total Net Asset Value to N26.09tn as of the end of the third quarter from N24.63tn in June 2025, driven by strong investment returns in equities and government securities. The PPP...

December 16, 2025
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16Dec

November Delivers Mixed Results for Pension Finances

Pension finances experienced a modest pullback in November, marking the first negative month since March, according to October Three Consulting’s “November Pension Finance Update.” Meanwhile, some measures reported a small increase in funding levels over the same period. Both model plans October Three tracks lost ground last month. Plan A, a traditional 60/40 equity/bond allocation, lost almost 1%, ending November up 6% for the year. The more conservative Plan B, comprised of 80% bonds, lost a fraction of 1% last...

December 16, 2025
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