September 2025

How Africa is grappling with an impending aging crisis

Across Africa, a stunning success story has quietly taken hold: Decades of progress have begun delivering a wave of longevity that promises to reshape the demographics of the continent. But as lifespans lengthen and villages begin to fill with the old, pensions and social safety nets are minimal, medical care is lacking and routine problems of age are so commonly unaddressed that cataracts turn to blindness and minor infections end in death. Longer lives, time and again, come with more...

US. Retirement Planning In 2025: What’s On People’s Minds

If retirement has been on your mind lately, you’re not alone. A record number of Americans are hitting retirement age this year, and it’s clear that rising living expenses and health care costs are giving many people pause. Whether you're approaching retirement or already settling into your golden years, now’s the time to check in on your financial game plan. Confidence Is Shaky And Inflation Is a Big Culprit According to Fidelity’s latest State of Retirement Planning study, just 67% of...

UK. ​Schemes urged to probe asset managers’ net zero commitments

Pension schemes and institutional investors should look beyond industry pledges when assessing whether their asset managers are genuinely committed to net zero, consultancy LCP has said. The warning follows recent changes and an ongoing review of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. While such pledges provide a useful indication of intent, including target setting and progress reporting, LCP said pension schemes must scrutinise managers’ actions more closely to ensure climate goals are credible. LCP has suggested four questions for pension schemes...

US. Big Change To Workplace Investing

Ordinary Americans are about to see the biggest change to retirement investing perhaps since 401(k) plans replaced traditional pension plans. President Trump’s executive order permitting private equity and private credit plans, presumably along with crypto investments, to be included in qualified plans will democratize the investing world—at least in theory. For at least a decade, prominent people like former Blackstone No. 2 executive Hamilton James have made this argument: that since 401(k) investors in their 20s and 30s were locking...

As Asia’s over-65 population nearly doubles by 2050, insurers face new financial risks: Swiss Re

As Asia’s population ages rapidly, insurers must adjust their strategies to meet the changing needs of older adults, according to Ping Ji, Matt Singleton, and Torben Swart of Swiss Re Group, a global reinsurance company that provides research and risk management support to life and health insurers. In 2000, only 6% of the region’s population was aged 65 or older; by 2025, this is projected to reach 10%, and by 2050 nearly one in five people will be in this...

Global depopulation amidst gains in average longevity

A United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) report titled “World Fertility 2024” shows a gradual decrease in global fertility. It says the global fertility rate in 2024 was 2.2 births per woman on average, down from about 5 in the 1960s, and 3.3 in 1990. It is projected to continue declining, reaching the replacement level of 2.1 in 2050, and falling further to 1.8 births per woman in 2100. “Trends in fertility, together with trends in...

Crypto finds gateway into Australia’s $2.8t pensions pot

Australia’s A$4.3 trillion ($2.8 trillion) retirement system — long regarded as one of the world’s best-regulated savings pools — is emerging as a new frontier for crypto. Coinbase Global Inc. and OKX, two of the largest digital-asset exchanges, are rolling out products aimed at steering pension money into cryptocurrencies, underscoring how digital assets are edging further into mainstream finance. The initial focus is self-managed superannuation funds, or SMSFs, which already make up about a quarter of Australia’s pension pool. Unlike mainstream...

India’s gig economy expands rapidly, government steps up worker welfare measures

India’s fast-growing gig and platform workforce is reshaping the world of work, creating new opportunities in urban and semi-urban centres while also posing significant challenges around social security and worker protection. With its half-a-billion-strong labour force, the world’s youngest demographic profile, rapid urbanisation, and widespread smartphone penetration, the country is emerging as a global hub for gig-driven transformation, according to official data. The gig economy, broadly defined as a system where individuals earn outside traditional employer–employee relationships, has seen strong growth...

A “major trouble” of €2 trillion! Is the pension reform in the Netherlands about to ignite the European bond market?

The Zhito Finance APP has learned that a transformation nearing €2 trillion (approximately $2.3 trillion) is sweeping across the European bond market, adding further turbulence to the already unpredictable year of 2025—tariff upheavals, concerns over deficits, and a political crisis in France are all unfolding, and now the reform of the Dutch pension system has become the new eye of the storm. As the largest pension market in the European Union, this long-anticipated reform in the Netherlands has driven up...

August 2025

Other nations mandate retirement savings — the U.S. does not. Here’s why it matters

Retirement funding looks very different depending on where you live. While the United States leans heavily on voluntary 401(k)-style savings plans, other nations rely on mandatory contributions or more traditional pensions to ensure broad coverage and steady income. Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index takes these structural differences into consideration when ranking some of the world’s biggest retirement systems. “We do it because we want to give a picture of the retirement landscape,” said Christine Mahoney, global pensions leader at Mercer, a consulting firm. “We try...