September 2025
12Sep

UK. What longevity trends mean for pensions and insurers

Over the last two centuries, average life spans have doubled. For pension schemes, insurers and policymakers, this long-term trend has shaped how we think about retirement, ageing and financial security. But the story is becoming more complex. Recent decades have seen a slowdown in improvements. Covid-19 caused widespread disruption, and continuing healthcare pressures mean the future is less predictable. In this blog, we reflect on what’s happening to longevity – and what it means for pensions and insurance. By Ben...

September 12, 2025
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12Sep

The climate crisis might jeopardize your retirement: Experts warn Canada’s pension watchdog is underestimating risks

Wildfires, floods and other severe weather events are not going away, they are only becoming more common, part of what scientists have been warning for decades. The economic shocks of changing oceans, the jet stream and the loss of our polar ice caps, as well as mass glacial loss in Canada turning our forests into tinder boxes, will only get worse as global temperatures blow past the tipping point that marked severe planetary distress. For those who have to plan...

September 12, 2025
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11Sep

US. Frozen Pensions Are Sitting on Billions. Sponsors Want Access.

With billions of dollars locked in overfunded U.S. corporate pensions, the companies sponsoring these plans are actively exploring ways to unlock that capital (albeit at different rates of speed). Investment consulting giants are seeing strategies that range from funding lump-sum payouts to pursuing full plan terminations. As the average pension plan has crept into overfunded territory, Matt Maloney, a senior partner at Aon Wealth, sees sponsors taking three approaches: holding the surplus as a buffer, funding partial lift-outs or a...

September 11, 2025
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11Sep

UK. Life on a Low Pension – the growing problem of financial insecurity in retirement

The Living Wage Foundation’s Living Pension is an independently calculated savings target, based on the real cost of living, designed to provide an acceptable standard of living in retirement when combined with a full UK State Pension income. It is based on a yearly contribution of 12 per cent of all earnings to an employee’s pension pot, or £2,950 of savings in 2024/25, with at least 7 per cent coming from the employer. Over 80 per cent of workers with a Defined Contribution pension are...

September 11, 2025
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11Sep

Australian Retirement Trust invests $1b in Macquarie green energy fund

The Australian Retirement Trust (ART) has invested nearly $1 billion in the renewable energy-focused Macquarie Green Energy and Climate Opportunities Fund (MGECO). The numbers: The investment is part of the superannuation fund’s commitment to invest at least $2 billion by 2030 in assets that can generate returns while delivering social and environmental benefits. ART manages $350 billion in retirement savings on behalf of more than 2.4 million Australians. The context: Aside from climate change, ART’s $2 billion impact investment commitment will also flow to...

September 11, 2025
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11Sep

Prospective elderly residents in Indonesia are vulnerable to poverty.

The number of individuals aged 30 to 50 years, or potential elderly, in Indonesia reaches approximately 87.7 million people. About one-third of them are actively working and earning low wages. Their median wage is only two-thirds of the average wage/salary of workers, employees, and civil servants in Indonesia, which amounts to Rp 3.09 million per month. The Deputy Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Sonny Harry B Harmadi, stated on Tuesday (26/8/2025) that such groups are generally located in...

September 11, 2025
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10Sep

How Crypto and Private Equity Are Rewriting Risks of US Retirement Savings

America’s nest eggs are taking a risky turn. For the first time, ordinary Americans’ 401(k) plans—the backbone of retirement security for more than 60 million people—are being open to bitcoin and private equity. Introduction 401k plans are one of the most popular ways working Americans save for retirement, giving them option to invest some of their salaries in publicly traded securities tax-free. Since May 2025, US retirement plans are opening the door to private markets and cryptocurrency investments, with some 401(k)...

September 10, 2025
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10Sep

DWP one-off payment for Brits receiving State Pension and other benefits this year

Nearly 24 million people across the UK are claiming at least one benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), including 13 million pensioners receiving State Pension payments, 5.7 million on Universal Credit, and 3.7 million Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants. However, many people, such as those newly retired or those receiving disability benefits like the new devolved Pension Age Disability Payment or Adult/Child Disability Payment, might not be aware of an annual bonus paid to certain claimants before...

September 10, 2025
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10Sep

Ghana. Retired Officials Face Scrutiny Over Dual Salary Entitlements

Ghana grapples with constitutional questions as debate intensifies over whether retired public officers should receive full compensation when appointed to new positions, potentially earning combined monthly payments exceeding ₵115,000. The controversy centers on retired Chief Justices who collect ₵65,000 monthly pensions while earning ₵50,000 as Council of State members, creating what critics call an unsustainable fiscal burden during economic uncertainty. U.S.-based legal scholar Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare has emerged as a prominent voice challenging the practice. The academic has questioned why...

September 10, 2025
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10Sep

Shell outsources pension investment to Goldman in $40bn multi-country deal

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has landed one of the biggest fiduciary management mandates in a multi-country deal with oil giant Shell. The company has agreed to take over the management of approximately $40bn (£29.5bn) of assets, including the main UK defined benefit scheme, the £11.1bn Shell Contributory Pension Plan. The total consists of separate awards from Shell pension entities in six different jurisdictions, including the UK, Germany, and North America, according to a press release from Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM)....

September 10, 2025
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