December 2025
11Dec

UK. Trustees need flexibility to make pension investments matter for long term

Politics can struggle to look past the next week. Fortunately, others must. Take pension funds, for example. Today’s youngest pension savers will retire into the world in 2070. What’s that world going to look like? Capital shapes the world around us. It finances our homes, our jobs, and the goods we consume. And UK pension funds sit on a lot of this capital; £2.5tn in total, equivalent to the size of the entire UK stock market or the annual GDP...

December 11, 2025
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11Dec

Australia. Foreign pension giants sour on banks over green issues

Overseas pension funds managing hundreds of billions of dollars have thrown their support behind shareholder resolutions from environmental groups pushing for changes from Westpac and National Australia Bank at their annual meetings this week. Westpac’s fossil fuel lending is likely to be a key topic of discussion at the bank’s annual meeting in Sydney on Thursday, after environmental group Market Forces put forward a resolution that it says would require the bank to prove how its fossil fuel financing, including...

December 11, 2025
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10Dec

US Workforce Is Aging Fastest in These Industries

The U.S. workforce is aging, and workers who are 55 or older have been the fastest-growing age group in the labor force for more than two decades, according to new research by the U.S. Census Bureau. Those aged 55 or older made up almost a quarter (24 percent) of the U.S. workforce in 2022, which was up from 10 percent in 1994. The data also revealed which industries have greater concentrations of older workers than others. Why It Matters There is growing concern about America's...

December 10, 2025
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10Dec

Dignity in Retirement: A Call for Pension Justice in Ghana

In Ghana today, pensioners face indignity in retirement: no cost-of-living allowance, no inflation-indexed increases, and shrinking benefits that erode their livelihoods. Meanwhile, executives enjoy perks while elders struggle to survive. This injustice demands urgent reform. To restore dignity and align with international social security standards, Act 766 must be amended without delay. Pension justice is not charity — it is a right, and Ghana must rise to meet it. The Crisis of Pensioner Welfare Retirement should be a season of dignity,...

December 10, 2025
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10Dec

US. AIC President in Fortune: “Private equity is an essential part of solving our country’s retirement crisis”

Yesterday, Fortune published an op-ed by Will Dunham, President and CEO of the American Investment Council, highlighting how expanding Americans’ access to private markets through their 401(k)s can play a key role in solving the retirement crisis. The op-ed cites data from a new AIC report showing that private equity has delivered stronger returns compared to public markets and other asset classes over 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-year time horizons, even when accounting for fees. Some key takeaways from Will’s op-ed are outlined below: Read...

December 10, 2025
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10Dec

Bulgaria: Over 2 Million Retirees to See Pension Increase in 2026

Pension insurance contributions will not increase in 2026, while pensions themselves will be updated from 1 July under the Swiss indexation formula, resulting in an expected rise of 7–8%. These measures are part of the revised 2026 State Social Security (SSS) budget, approved at first reading by the parliamentary budget committee. Minimum Wage Set at €620.20 From 1 January 2026, the national minimum wage will be €620.20. The minimum insurance threshold for self-employed persons will match this amount, also rising to €620.20. The maximum insurance income will be €2300, a slight decrease compared to the earlier draft...

December 10, 2025
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09Dec

US. 3 Big Changes for Retirement Planning in 2026

Provisions in Secure 2.0, OBBBA affect retirement savers and retirees. For retirement savers and retirees, the ringing in of the new year will bring more than the usual inflation adjustments to retirement contributions. The retirement legislation known as Secure 2.0 will also continue to phase in, bringing implications for retirement savers. In addition, the budget law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has impacts for retirement savers and retirees. Here’s a roundup of three key retirement-related changes to watch...

December 9, 2025
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09Dec

Côte d’Ivoire Insurers Push for Pension Reform as Life-Insurance Penetration Stalls at 0.6%

Côte d’Ivoire’s Association of Insurance Companies (ASA-CI) has called for a mandatory supplementary pension plan for private-sector workers. The proposal was presented at the country’s first life-insurance conference, held in Abidjan on Dec. 3-4. Under the proposed scheme, private-sector employees would make additional contributions to boost their future retirement income, as the basic pension often fails to cover living costs, according to the ASA-CI. To support the new plan, the ASA-CI urged the government to develop tailored retirement savings and investment...

December 9, 2025
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09Dec

Germany. Merz hopes to avoid German coalition crisis with vow to overhaul pensions

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday his coalition has agreed to carry out a comprehensive pension reform next year, a move aimed at easing concerns over an interim pensions bill that had threatened to destabilise his government. The youth wing of Merz's conservatives had said they would not back the new bill, which aims to maintain current pension levels in relation to incomes while incentivizing people to work longer, as it would leave younger Germans to bear the costs. Their...

December 9, 2025
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09Dec

UK. The Pensions Regulator probes barriers to investment in private markets

The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has launched an initiative to better understand the barriers people face when it comes to investing in private markets. Through the voluntary Mansion House Accord, 17 workplace pension providers have signalled their intent to invest more in private markets by 2030, including in the UK. The announcement in October of the Sterling 20 partnership between 20 of the UK’s largest pension funds and insurers has continued to build on that momentum. TPR published private markets guidance last year...

December 9, 2025
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