May 2026

Why de-risking your pension is riskier than you think

People spend a lot of time fretting about how much income to draw from their pension every year. There is another, equally important question, however: what do you invest your money in? On the one hand, you want your savings to grow so they can sustain you through your whole retirement. On the other hand, you don’t want to take on too much risk; volatility can be financially and emotionally draining. Over the long term, equities generally outperform other asset classes,...

UK. Almost two thirds of adults fear running out of money in retirement

Nearly two thirds (63 per cent) of adults are worried about running out of money in retirement, as the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that people are living longer, research by LV= has shown. The ONS data showed that a woman aged 66 can expect, on average, to live to around 90, while a man of the same age is expected to live to approximately 87. The LV= research found that 62 per cent of UK...

Kenya’s 18.1 Million Informal Workers Hold The Future Of Pensions

Kenya created over 822,000 new jobs in 2025, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Economic Survey 2026 released recently.  At first glance, this signals a resilient economy. But the composition of those jobs tells a more important story that reshape how we think about savings, pensions, and financial security. Over 87% of these jobs were created in the informal sector. Today, 83.8% of Kenya’s workforce, about 18.1 million people, earn their living outside formal employment. This is not...

Q&A with a portfolio manager – the evolution of impact investing

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF)1 – the world’s biggest pension fund – has made impact investing a key focus, while several major pension funds in France2 publicly announced similar intentions in 2025. Five years ago, impact investing might have been confined to more of a niche within our client base. Today, many clients across different segments are actively looking to allocate capital to such strategies, to generate financial returns, while also addressing pressing societal challenges. As climate change, geopolitical instability and...

UK. Triple lock row intensifies as major pension reforms take effect

Triple lock under threat as new pension law comes into force The Pensions Schemes Act 2026, now law, aims to simplify and strengthen pension provision through measures like automatic consolidation of small pots, creation of large-scale 'megafunds', a standardised value-for-money framework, and legal duties for retirement advice. Ministers argue these changes could add up to £29,000 to the average pension pot and benefit more than 20 million workers, with some provisions phased in over several years. However, former pensions minister...

Most people in the US are at risk of outliving their retirement savings

Retirement savings may have hit record levels, but a mere 12% of retirement savers in the U.S. have enough funds set aside to last more than 10 years, a new survey warns. The survey of 1,000 U.S. retirement savers by online retirement pension provider PensionBee also found that just 13% of respondents could not survive one month on their funds. Increasing lifespans are also adding to the retirement savings pressure. Life expectancy for the U.S. population was 79 years in 2024, according to CDC data,...

Chile’s Pension Reform: A Good Idea Running Out of Chances

By Dr. Arturo Cifuentes Original ideas seldom get a second chance to be implemented successfully. The Chilean pension system is one of the few exceptions. To grasp how much is at stake in the coming months—a third opportunity might never happen—we need to go back to its origins and identify the key events that shaped its evolution. The Chilean pension system was the brainchild of José Piñera, who, as minister of labor and social security, conceived its basic architecture in 1981. The...

Korea pension giant NPS bolsters operating system to manage risk amid market volatility

Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) is strengthening its operating system to better manage portfolio risk amid uncertainty in global markets, according to Won Joo Seo, executive fund director and chief investment officer of the pension giant. He said that even though the pension fund achieved a “good” record  18.82% investment return last year, it remains vigilant over rising volatility in Korean and international markets. “Global market uncertainty and transformation are becoming more complex and structural. Competition among countries in security, industrial policy...

CDC pensions approaching ‘pivotal moment’ in the UK

Collective defined contribution (CDC) pensions are approaching a “pivotal moment” in the UK, according to Aon, as the consultancy predicted they could “revolutionise pensions” for both employers and savers. In its new report, CDC Pensions: Everything You Need to Know in 2026, Aon noted that multi-employer CDC arrangements are expected to begin operating from 2027, following the finalisation of regulations for whole-life unconnected multi-employer CDC schemes. Last week, the Pensions Regulator’s (TPR) updated code of practice for CDC schemes was laid before parliament, bringing multi‑employer...

China now home to more people over 65 than children, official survey finds

For the first time in records dating back to 1949, China is now home to more people aged 65 and above than children, the latest official data showed, underscoring the country’s deepening demographic pressure. By November last year, 15.87 per cent of China’s roughly 1.4 billion-strong population was aged at least 65, compared with 15.25 per cent aged between 0 to 14, according to the results of a nationwide sample survey released late last week. That meant China’s traditional family-based model...