October 2025
09Oct

Europe’s pension system reform could bring boost to risk assets

Europe’s growing productivity gap to the US and China in particular could be closed with the help of more long-term risk capital in asset classes such as public and private equities and infrastructure to drive productive investments, according to a study authored by researchers at McGill University in collaboration with the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI). In a report titled “EUROPE’S PRODUCTIVE CAPITAL GAP – Mobilising pension and household savings to scale up risk capital”, authors based at...

October 9, 2025
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09Oct

Bad Sleep Makes Your Brain Age Faster, Study Finds

People who struggle with poor sleep tend to have brains that look older than their actual age, according to an extensive brain imaging study conducted by Karolinska Institutet and published in eBioMedicine. The researchers suggest that increased inflammation in the body could help explain this connection. Although poor sleep has long been associated with dementia, scientists still debate whether unhealthy sleep patterns contribute to cognitive decline or if they are early signs of the disease. In this new investigation, the Karolinska...

October 9, 2025
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08Oct

Top U.S. union warns Senate crypto bill could threaten workers and pensions

The nation’s biggest labour federation, the AFL-CIO, has come out against the Senate’s crypto regulation proposal, arguing that the measure lacks sufficient worker protections and could endanger financial stability. AFL-CIO director Jody Calemine wrote, referring to the RFIA bill, “This bill’s treatment of crypto assets poses risks to both retirement funds and to the overall financial stability of the U.S. economy. As drafted, this bill will enable the crypto industry to operate in wider and deeper ways in our financial...

October 8, 2025
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08Oct

African pension funds unify to mobilize $700b for continent’s development

African pension providers are for the first time unifying their efforts to create a domestic financing pool, aiming to mobilize their collective $700 billion in assets to establish a “Development Fund for Africa.” The unprecedented move is driven by an imperative to fund the continent’s development needs locally and reduce reliance on traditional foreign funding, according to leaders in the industry. The African Development Bank estimates the continent needs more than $1.3 trillion annually to meet its development goals. The plan...

October 8, 2025
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08Oct

Macroeconomic Conditions Continue to Drive Pension Risk Transfer

Amid ongoing market conditions and economic uncertainty, U.S. plan sponsors are moving decisively to reduce pension risk. According to the newly released MetLife’s 2025 Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) Poll, a record 94% of defined benefit (DB) pension plan sponsors with de-risking goals intend to fully divest their pension liabilities with 80% planning to do so within five years. The company’s latest research shows market volatility is driving plan sponsors to de-risk, which, coupled with economic trends and stronger plan funding, is...

October 8, 2025
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08Oct

UK. DB pension surpluses continue to stand at record levels, up £48bn year-on-year in September

XPS Group estimates UK DB pension schemes maintained a £222bn aggregate surplus against long-term funding targets, up £2bn in September 2025 and £48bn year-on-year. Aggregate scheme assets saw a small rise in September 2025, as matching assets rose in value as bond yields decreased. Growth assets such as global equities also displayed positive performance. Aggregate scheme liabilities also increased, driven by a slight reduction in gilt yields. New analysis from XPS Group shows UK pension schemes continued to enjoy...

October 8, 2025
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07Oct

Dutch PME fund withdraws investments from Israeli companies

The Dutch pension fund PME, with assets totaling $68 billion, has divested from investments in several companies linked to activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, after classifying these holdings as potentially connected to human rights violations. A spokesperson for the fund said the decision came after “a comprehensive review and months of consultations,” noting that the affected companies include U.S. online travel company Booking Holdings, cement company Cemex SAB de CV, and telecommunications equipment firm Motorola Solutions. The spokesperson added that...

October 7, 2025
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07Oct

UK. Six key challenges for the revived Pensions Commission

Aon has warned that the government’s revived Pensions Commission will face major structural hurdles if it hopes to deliver meaningful reform to the UK’s pension system. In a new paper exploring the aims of the Pensions Commission, Matthew Arends, head of UK retirement policy at Aon, argued that the commission’s narrow remit may stop it from addressing the root causes of poor retirement adequacy. He warned that by being instructed to “build on the foundation of the state pension” rather than...

October 7, 2025
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07Oct

Later retirement expected in 2026 budget as Malaysia tackles economic pressures

Malaysians may be asked to retire five years later at 65 but should be spared any sharp tax rises in Friday’s budget, economists say, as Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim faces an economy hampered by an ageing population, high youth joblessness and surging living costs at the halfway point of his administration. About 8 per cent of Malaysia’s 34 million population are aged 65 and older, according to government data, firmly placing the Southeast Asian nation in the ageing nation category. At the same time,...

October 7, 2025
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07Oct

Aging, not smartphones, drives US’s growing loneliness crisis

In a recent study in PLoS One, researchers examined how birth cohort, time period, and age shape the time that people spend alone when social media and smartphone use are widespread. Their findings show that social isolation has increased sharply over the past two decades, accelerating since the mid-2010s. However, smartphones alone cannot explain these changes, with generational differences and aging contributing to isolation. Background The U.S. Surgeon General described isolation and loneliness as a national epidemic in 2023, pointing to online...

October 7, 2025
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