December 2025
04Dec

UK. Securing our future: Climate risk and the Pension Schemes Bill

The government is undertaking a once-in-a-generation review of the UK pensions system. It is much needed, and they have made some welcome proposals. However, they are missing the single biggest threat to long-term retirement security: climate change and the accelerating destruction of nature. By refusing to confront this reality, they are letting down pension savers and the pensions industry alike. UK pension schemes continue to hold substantial investments in fossil fuels, including new coal, oil and gas projects. These investments drive...

December 4, 2025
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03Dec

OECD Warns Mexico’s New Pension Fund Lacks Long-Term Stability

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has raised concerns about the long-term financing of Mexico’s Pension Fund for Well-being (FPB), warning that the program depends on temporary resources that may not be sustainable. In its Pensions at a Glance 2025 report, the OECD noted that the FPB is funded through various sources, many of which involve one-time transfers. As a result, “it is not clear how the financing measures planned for this complement will be able to cover...

December 3, 2025
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03Dec

‘Generation war’ dogs pension debates in France and Germany

A generational reckoning is brewing in Paris and Berlin, where a new wave of younger politicians is putting pensioners on notice: The system is buckling and can’t hold unless retirees do more to help fix it. Culture, language and local politics may add a distinct flavor to each debate, but the European Union’s two biggest economies are dealing with the same issue — how to pay for the soaring costs associated with the retirement of baby boomers. The problem is both...

December 3, 2025
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03Dec

UK. People’s allocates £3.6bn to emerging markets with new mandate

The People’s Pension has awarded a £3.6bn emerging markets mandate to Robeco – the latest in several investment strategy changes as it gears up for a period of growth. The £38bn master trust has shifted to an active, quantitative investing approach as part of the move, it said in a press release. The allocation was previously passive and run by State Street. People’s said the new mandate ensured “greater alignment with the scheme’s evolving responsible investment policy”, as well as aiming for...

December 3, 2025
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03Dec

​Sweden’s FI launches probe into costly individual occupational pensions

The Swedish financial watchdog is launching a new investigation into the cost of individual occupational pension products, after its government-mandated investment costs mapping exercise revealed these to be considerably more expensive than their collectively-agreed counterparts. The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen, FI) yesterday announced the probe as it published a 50-page report into fees and distribution in the Swedish mutual funds market. FI said: “Customers of big banks often pay more in fund fees, yet 85% of private savings are made...

December 3, 2025
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03Dec

UK. Pension opt-outs ‘early sign’ of mounting financial pressure

Around 15 per cent of employers reported that at least 2 per cent of their workforce have reduced or opted out of pension contributions over the past year, according to Broadstone’s latest UK Employee Benefits Landscape Report. The consultancy warned that the trend is an early sign of mounting financial pressure and weakening saver confidence at a time when adequacy is already under scrutiny. The report also found that among employers who adjusted their benefits packages following the Autumn 2024 Budget, 43 per...

December 3, 2025
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02Dec

UK. FCA unveils ESG ratings proposals; consultation launched

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled proposals to ensure that environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings are transparent, reliable and comparable, following the government's decision to bring ESG ratings within the regulator's remit for the first time. The reforms, which are expected to generate around £500m in net benefits over the next decade, form part of a new consultation launched by the FCA, which is open until 31 March 2026. According to the regulator, the decision to bring ESG ratings...

December 2, 2025
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02Dec

India. How Atal Pension Yojana is helping women claim long-term pension security

For millions of women who have spent lifetimes in unpaid labour or informal work, the idea of a guaranteed pension was once unimaginable. Today, they form 48% of all Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers in India, reshaping a scheme designed for the country’s most vulnerable workers, according to a Lok Sabha reply on the scheme dated December 1. Launched by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in 2015, Atal Pension Yojana is a government-backed pension scheme aimed primarily...

December 2, 2025
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02Dec

US. What Young People Need to Know About Workplace Retirement Savings

Workplace retirement savings plans are an excellent way to invest in your future, and the earlier you start, the more opportunity your savings have to grow. Typically automated through payroll deductions, contributions to a plan like a 401(k) or 403(b) are tax-advantaged and easy to make. Recent research by Edward Jones and Morning Consult shows that three in five Americans who have access to a workplace retirement plan contribute, however 59% of all Americans’ employers do not offer one, leaving...

December 2, 2025
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02Dec

Scientists identify 4 key turning points for your brain as you age

It’s no secret that our brains change as we age. The ease with which we form new connections—whether learning a language or picking up a new skill—shifts throughout life. But scientists are now showing just how dramatic and how patterned those shifts really are. A new study from the University of Cambridge has identified five distinct phases of brain development across the human lifespan. The phases are marked by four turning points: ages nine, 32, 66, and 83, where brain rewiring shifts....

December 2, 2025
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