February 2025
24Feb

Hong Kong raises ESG disclosure standards for MPF managers

Hong Kong’s pension regulator said money managers would need to raise their disclosure standards on environment, social and governance (ESG) funds to help contributors understand their risk management and investment strategies The 12 participating fund managers, or trustees, including HSBC and Manulife, should improve the transparency levels on ESG-related reporting in their pension schemes, the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) said on Monday. The trustees must clearly state ESG strategies and focus on risk management in their brochures, as well...

February 24, 2025
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24Feb

Could Retirement Finance Reform Reboot the European Economy?

The European Union is grappling with two interlinked crises that threaten its long-term economic stability: a severe shortfall in risk capital and an impending pension crisis exacerbated by demographic aging. Recent reports by Mario Draghi and Enrico Letta have sounded the alarm on the EU’s moribund growth prospects, highlighting a critical lack of investment liquidity for innovation and infrastructure. At the same time, Europe’s dominant pay-as-you-go pension systems are in an actuarial death spiral as the working-age population shrinks...

February 24, 2025
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24Feb

The fertility crash comes down to what men are doing—or not doing—Nobel laureate says

Countries with low fertility exhibit a key difference from those with even lower birth rates, according to Nobel-prize winning economist Claudia Goldin, who pointed to the extra hours women spend on child-rearing and household chores compared with men. While numerous policies and financial incentives have been employed, few have been proven to reliably boost fertility. But a new study from Nobel-prize winning economist Claudia Goldin points to the extra hours women spend on child-rearing and household chores compared with men. She...

February 24, 2025
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21Feb

US. Milliman analysis: Multiemployer pensions approach 100% funding in aggregate at year-end 2024

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the 2024 year-end results of its Multiemployer Pension Funding Study (MPFS), which analyzes the funded status of all U.S. multiemployer defined benefit pension plans based on assumptions and data in their latest Form 5500 filings. “Strong returns during the first and third quarters of 2024 largely drove the year’s significant rise in the aggregate funded percentage, which reached the second-highest point since Milliman launched this study in 2007” Post this As...

February 21, 2025
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21Feb

France. Pensions: a deficit of 30 billion euros in 2045 without new reform

The Court of Auditors unveiled this Thursday an alarming report on the future of the pension system in France, commissioned by François Bayrou to serve as a basis for negotiations between social partners. According to its projections, the deficit would reach 15 billion euros in 2035 and 30 billion in 2045 if no additional reforms are implemented. In 2023, a surplus of 8,5 billion euros was recorded, but this is explained by cyclical effects linked to inflation and the...

February 21, 2025
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21Feb

More Than Half of Workers in Hong Kong are Considering Changing Employers in 2025, Aon Study Reveals

Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today released results from its 2025 Human Capital Employee Sentiment Study with new insights specific to employees in Hong Kong. The global study of more than 9,000 employees across 23 geographies, including the U.S., UK, China, India and Australia, found that more than half of workers in Hong Kong are considering changing employers. The research reveals a troubling trend: almost one in five employees (17 percent) in Hong Kong feel undervalued in...

February 21, 2025
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20Feb

Global aging: The (almost) invisible crisis shaping our future

Societies are becoming older, smaller, and lonelier, with shrinking labor forces, stagnant productivity, declining growth, and overstretched health care and social protection systems. The economic and social consequences of global aging are enormous and will affect how the world manages other global challenges. Population aging could reduce GDP growth by 0.5–1.0 percentage points a year, for example—an effect on output that is greater than the impact of climate change. The demographic crisis has a high degree of certainty in the short and medium terms....

February 20, 2025
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20Feb

Why trustees must keep ahead of greenwashing risks

‘Greenwashing’ by asset managers and other entities can leave trustees exposed to legal, regulatory and reputational risk, a law firm has warned. It comes after some high-profile campaigns have highlighted investments into fossil fuel companies made by asset managers and pension providers, despite claims of low carbon and sustainable approaches. Most recently, the Make My Money Matter campaign highlighted 12 of the UK’s biggest pension providers and claimed there was a “persistent failure” across the industry to address climate change concerns. Kate Granville Smith,...

February 20, 2025
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20Feb

UPS to deliver $1.2 billion to U.S. pension plans in 2025

United Parcel Service Inc., Atlanta, plans to contribute $1.2 billion to its U.S. pension plans in 2025. The shipping company disclosed its plans in its Feb. 18 10-K filing with the SEC. UPS previously contributed $1.2 billion each to the U.S. pension plans in 2024 and 2023 and $2 billion to the plans in 2022. In 2024, UPS hired Goldman Sachs Asset Management to provide outsourced CIO services for its U.S. pension plans. As of Sept. 30, UPS’ team of 22 investment...

February 20, 2025
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20Feb

Sustainability has a very different meaning when retirement is around the corner

Sustainability: it’s a buzzword that won’t stop buzzing. Even in financial services, the concept exists, whenever there’s talk about maintaining an income, bank balance or savings account. It’s also a key component of one of the biggest goals in life — retirement. “Many retirees and pre-retirees worry about having enough retirement income to maintain their desired lifestyle, fearing they may outlive their savings,” says Hostplus senior financial planner Bahar McLeod. “This often leads to a reluctance to spend their savings...

February 20, 2025
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