March 2025

How to grow employee pension savings while shaping a more sustainable future

Climate change, social inequality and the transition to a low-carbon economy are among the most pressing challenges of our time. These issues are not abstract concerns for future generations — they are reshaping the world we live in today. And for employees, one of the levers they have to make a positive impact, while also building a more secure financial future, is their pension. Recent Scottish Widows’ research reveals that 72 per cent of employees now expect their employers to offer a...

Kuwait pension fund’s $1 billion corruption lawsuit begins in UK court

Kuwait's public pension fund accused asset manager Man Group, Swiss bank EFG and others of laundering bribes paid to its late director as a year-long $1 billion trial began at London's High Court on Monday. The Public Institution for Social Security (PIFSS), which operates Kuwait's social security and pension scheme, is suing the estate of Fahad Al Rajaan, its director from 1984 to 2014. Al Rajaan was in 2016 convicted in his absence of corruption and embezzling public money in Kuwait and died in...

​Danish pensions lobby rejects pension withdrawals for home purchase

Denmark’s pensions industry has rejected the idea of allowing younger people to withdraw their pension savings to finance home buying, saying people should rather be increasing pension contributions. Analysts at the Danish central bank, Danmarks Nationalbank, recently produced a report on access to the housing market for younger people with targeted financing relief, in which they also rejected the idea, currenly under discussion, of freeing young people to use their pension savings for house purchases. According to the report, authored by five analysts:...

PLSA IC 25: UK pension funds urged to take more risk

UK pension funds are not taking "anywhere near enough risk", particularly given efforts to reach net zero, National Wealth Fund head of banking and investment, Ian Brown, has said, emphasising the need for more investment in key UK assets. Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference 2025, Brown urged pension scheme trustees to "please take some more risk". "Please take some more risk - do it in a considered way by all means," he stated. "Do it...

Belgium: Significant and broad changes to employment law and social security proposed

Employer Action Code: Monitor The Federal Coalition Agreement of the new Belgian government contains a wide-ranging series of measures that, if implemented, would bring the most significant changes to the country’s labor laws in many years. The agreement covers a range of areas — from compensation and benefits to dismissal and unemployment — aiming overall to increase the flexibility and efficiency of the labor market while ensuring job security and social protection. Key details Planned changes in the area of compensation and...

Amid robust U.S. investment, Australia’s largest retirement fund plots an ambitious agenda

AustralianSuper first began operating in 2006 when the Superannuation Trust of Australia and the Australian Retirement Fund merged, seeing the benefits of size. That year, CIO and Deputy Chief Executive Mark Delaney was responsible for managing approximately A$21.3 billion. Almost 20 years later, he’s running Australia’s largest superannuation fund, with over A$380 billion ($239 billion) in assets and serving over 3.5 million Australians across a broad swath of professions. And that is only set to grow in coming years with...

US. Worried how the stock market could impact your retirement? Here are 3 questions from experts.

Watching your 401(k) plan savings recede as stocks slide can be gut-wrenching, sparking anxiety about whether you'll ever be able to retire — a particularly loaded issue for Gen Xers, given the oldest members of the generation are hitting 60 this year. But financial experts say it's important not to panic in the face of plunging markets or rising recession risks because that can lead to rash decisions that cost you money. Instead, it's important to focus on some key investment questions before taking...

Argentina: Pensioners and soccer fans unite in protests

Argentine pensioners and soccer fans clashed with police on Wednesday as a protest unfolded in front of Congress, with citizens rallying against the economic policies brought in by the government of President Javier Milei. It was an unlikely mix with retirees gathered in Buenos Aires flanked by soccer fans from teams normally at odds with one another. What started as a peaceful event escalated into violent clashes as police fired water cannons, tear gas and pellets while protesters threw stones. The crowd...

US. CalSTRS CIO Scott Chan: Trump administration policies raise risk of recession, stagflation

CalSTRS CIO Scott Chan said the probability of a future recession accompanied by stagflation has increased due to the “unprecedented and world-changing” risks associated with the Trump administration’s policies. In a livestream of the March 12 investment committee meeting of the $349.7 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System, West Sacramento, Chan cited President Donald Trump’s spate of executive orders in his first weeks in office as the primary driver of the risk of uncertainty in the markets. “As you know, markets...

ETFs set to be high on the menu for Hong Kong pension funds

Asset managers in Hong Kong could have a greater incentive to launch lower-cost passive solutions following the rollout of the digital platform for the local pensions sector, industry experts tell Ignites Asia. The eMPF, a digital version of the territory’s Mandatory Provident Fund retirement scheme launched in June 2024 after years of development, with all of Hong Kong’s 24 retirement saving schemes scheduled to join the platform by the end of 2025. The new platform looks to address long-standing criticisms of...