April 2019

15Apr

The future of Spain: five parties, two models

On April 28, Spaniards will go to the polls in a snap national election triggered by a deadlock over the 2019 budget. Whichever government emerges from the vote will have to deal with this and other longstanding economic issues such as persistently high unemployment, ballooning debt and how to finance the pensions system with an ageing population. And on the political front, immigration and the Catalan crisis will continue to shape the national agenda. Spain in a snapshot Spain...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

How the World’s Largest Pension Manager Is Trying to Make ESG Investing More Popular

The financial industry has jumped on the impact investing and environmental, social or governance—or ESG—bandwagon. But Hiromichi Mizuno, the man who oversees $1.6 trillion in the world’s largest public pension fund, says true believers on Wall Street are still hard to find, so he is taking his own steps to push ESG and impact investing off the sidelines. As chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, Mizuno requires his asset managers to integrate ESG into their investment...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

How behavioral technology will improve retirement planning

Technology has always been the great disrupter. When robo-advisers came around, traditional advisers began preparing for battle. Now financial advisers are largely embracing technology, using it to free them up to be a better adviser. But technology isn't done evolving. The tech you have today is most likely more of a starting line than a finish line. Financial services is notoriously behind the times when it comes to technology. Does it strike anyone else as strange that social media,...

April 15, 2019
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15Apr

UK. State pension age changes ‘risk creating new inequalities’

Making people work longer before they can collect their state pensions risks exacerbating social inequalities and threatens to create new gender inequalities, a report claims. Analysis by the thinktank International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) found that women who struggled to reconcile longer working lives with caring responsibilities would be badly hit by changes to the law. Worst hit, however, would be women with lower education levels, who were projected to lose up to 25% of their monthly pension entitlements...

April 15, 2019
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12Apr

Foreign insurers gear up to tap China’s $1.6 trillion pensions business – sources

Foreign insurers including Generali and Prudential Plc are in early talks with authorities to enter China’s private pensions sector, people with knowledge of the matter said, as Beijing opens up to overseas companies. Hong Kong-based AIA Group and Manulife Financial are also considering similar moves, they said. Beijing gave approval to the first foreign joint-venture firm to establish a pensions insurance business last month and two of the people said China has been running pilot projects in three provinces involving...

April 12, 2019
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12Apr

UK. Pensioners to protest at HSBC’s annual meeting

Sharon McGeough-Adams faces losing £200 a month from her HSBC pension and will protest at the bank's annual general meeting on Friday to demand changes. Having worked for the UK's biggest bank for more than 37 years, she says it is money that could be put aside for other necessities, such as fuel. The loss is caused by the bank's move to reduce pension payments when the recipient receives state pension. HSBC has said it would cost £450m to...

April 12, 2019
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11Apr

When a $240 Billion Corporate Pension Shortfall Is a Good Thing

The 200 biggest pension plans in the S&P 500 were underfunded by $240 billion at the end of 2018. Sounds like a big number but it’s actually an improvement from the $382 billion gap in 2016. Funding levels have jumped in recent years due to incentives from tax law changes and a record equity bull market. S&P 500 companies contributed about $63 billion to their defined-benefit plans in 2017, the highest level since 2003, according to a 2018 report...

April 11, 2019
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11Apr

China. Urban pension funds likely to run out by 2035: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Pension funds in China could run out before workers born in the 1980s retire, according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on Wednesday. According to the report, pension funds for urban employees are expected to begin declining from a peak of 6.99 trillion ($1.04 trillion) yuan in 2027. By 2035, there is a possibility of exhausting the accumulated balances, before people born in the 80s retire, the report said. The report also noted that...

April 11, 2019
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11Apr

A new option for retirement … the hybrid annuity

From March this year all retirement funds must offer their members annuity (pension) options that conform to regulations that came into effect in September 2017. The aim of the regulations is to improve the likelihood that you, the fund member, will choose a pension that will last for the rest of your life. These so-called default regulations affect three important areas of retirement saving: how your contributions are invested while you are accumulating savings (Regulation 37 of the Pension...

April 11, 2019
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11Apr

US. Millennials Are Making This Major 401(k) Mistake

Participating in an employer's 401(k) plan is a good way to set aside funds for the future, especially if your company offers a generous match that helps boost your savings. But new data from investment banking company Natixis reveals that a large chunk of younger workers are making a major mistake on the 401(k) front: removing funds from their plans. Specifically, 30% of millennials have taken out a 401(k) loan, while 26% have taken an early withdrawal. And the...

April 11, 2019
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