March 2025
31Mar

Flights grounded as Belgium strikes over pension reform

Brussels: A general strike over proposed pension reforms severely disrupted air traffic and other services in Belgium on Monday, with the country’s two main airports cancelling all outbound flights. Government plans to scrap a special pension scheme and align the retirement age for all civil servants with that of the private sector at 66 have enraged trade unions and many workers. A large section of security and maintenance staff, including baggage handlers, were expected to down tools, prompting the Brussels and...

March 31, 2025
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31Mar

Japan’s $1.7 Trillion Pension Fund Offers New Backing to ESG

Japan’s $1.7 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund issued new guidelines backing sustainability-related investments as crucial to long-term returns. The fund, one of the world’s largest pensions, sees managing environmental and social issues as fundamental to its strategy, GPIF said Monday in a new policy document — rejecting the shift by other asset managers to downgrade or remove green commitments. Read more @

March 31, 2025
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31Mar

As the U.S. population ages, solo caregiving becomes more common

Call it a silver tsunami or just going gray. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in just 10 years, older adults will outnumber those under 18 for the first time in U.S. history. America is aging, and that means more families providing care for parents and grandparents and even great-great-grandparents. And while much has already been said about caregiving, there is far less research into what it's like to walk that road alone. To talk about solo caregiving and...

March 31, 2025
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28Mar

Chile: Strengthening social security and increasing labor costs

Congress has approved social security reforms aimed at improving retirement outcomes for workers, primarily by significantly increasing employer contributions over time and encouraging greater competition among service providers. In Chile, social security retirement, survivors’ and disability benefits are based on compulsory individual defined contribution (DC) accounts managed by private fund administrators (Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones – AFPs). Accounts are funded primarily by employee contributions at 10.0% of covered pay. The increases are to start six months after publication of...

March 28, 2025
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28Mar

UK. Reeves could tax pensions and wealth if economy worsens, says IFS

Pensioners and wealthy people could be the target of tax increases at Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget if the drastically worsening economic backdrop fails to improve, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said. After the chancellor’s spring statement featured deep cuts to welfare to meet her fiscal targets, the UK’s leading experts on the public finances said Reeves could be forced to come back later this year with tax rises. Paul Johnson, the IFS director, said a “risky and changing world – as...

March 28, 2025
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28Mar

BlackRock Targets Pension Funds in Growth Strategy for Brazil

BlackRock Inc., the world’s largest asset manager, is in talks with Brazilian pension funds to expand further into the 2.9 trillion-real ($510 billion) industry. “Today, we don’t have a mandate to manage money from pension funds locally in Brazil,” Bruno Barino, who took over as BlackRock’s Brazil country manager in October, said in an interview. “But it’s a natural evolution; there is no way to be in this market and not do it.” With $11.6 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock...

March 28, 2025
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27Mar

UK. Three quarters of pension schemes have now adopted net-zero targets

Three quarters (75 per cent) of schemes have adopted net-zero targets, with more schemes than ever taking action to address climate risks, XPS analysis has revealed. The firm published a new analysis of 48 pension schemes' task force on climate-related financial disclosure (TCFD) reports to review climate change risk management and reporting approaches. This showed that three-quarters of schemes have adopted net zero targets, up from 60 per cent last year. Of these, 75 per cent have indicated clear plans aligned to...

March 27, 2025
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27Mar

U.S. Bill Seeks to Limit ESG Investments in Pension Funds

U.S. lawmakers target ESG in pensions: A U.S. bill previously rejected by Biden seeks to limit ESG factors in pension investments. InnoEnergy accounces €160B clean tech push: With focus on batteries, solar PV, and hydrogen, InnoEnergy mobilizes €160 billion for clean tech. Nvidia hit by China’s new energy efficiency rules: China’s stricter energy efficiency rules threaten chip sales. New PRI data reveals ESG investing remains strong: Report shows responsible investing is still growing despite political setbacks. U.S. lawmakers propose bill to curb ESG...

March 27, 2025
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27Mar

How one of Japan’s largest insurers is pivoting to serve an aging population

Sompo Holdings, a leading global insurance provider, is undergoing a significant transformation under Group CEO Mikio Okumura. The company, with operations in 28 countries, has restructured into two main segments: Sompo Property and Casualty (P&C) and Sompo Wellbeing. “The integration between Sompo Japan, Sompo International, we hope they can improve resilience. They can utilize balance sheets wisely, so they can improve risk-taking capability,” Okumura told CNBC’s Christine Tan in the latest episode of Managing Asia. Okumura hopes the restructuring will help the company to compete...

March 27, 2025
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27Mar

The value of active strategies in old-age provision

The choice between active and passive strategies should not be reduced to a binary decision, eg, based solely on fees. Instead, it should reflect the investor’s unique goals, the product framework (eg, unitlinked or pension plans) and the market environment. In the context of old-age provision, we question the suitability of passive strategies. In a competitive market situation, with greater volatility and structural shifts, we think active approaches with selective decisions have greater potential to outperform and protect...

March 27, 2025
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