January 2025
24Jan

China: Expansion of voluntary personal pension system

Employer Action Code: Act In 2022, China’s central government piloted new tax incentives in 36 cities and regions to encourage employees to make voluntary contributions to individual retirement accounts to complement social security pension benefits and help address the challenges of a rapidly aging population. After a successful pilot, the system is now fully implemented nationwide as of December 15, 2024. Key details The following changes to the individual accounts under the pilot program have been made: Money may be withdrawn in...

January 24, 2025
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24Jan

Australia. Avoiding the retirement poverty trap

More than one fifth of Australian retirees live in poverty, according to a recent report by the left-leaning think-tank, The Australia Institute. The Reducing poverty in retirement report compares the poverty rate of people aged 65 and over between Australia, Sweden, and Norway, which are nations with comparable GDPs. It concludes that the public pension systems in Sweden and Norway ensure retirement security while Australia’s system does not. The rate of poverty in retirement in Australia is 22.6% – more than one in five. In...

January 24, 2025
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23Jan

US. Pension funds push once again for private equity transparency

Pension funds and other institutional investors are pressing private-equity firms to provide more standardized reporting on fees and investment performance, reflecting long-standing frustration over inconsistent and opaque disclosures. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Institutional Limited Partners Association, a trade group representing pension plans such as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, recently proposed new guidelines aimed at improving transparency in the private-equity sector. According to the Journal, those guidelines...

January 23, 2025
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23Jan

Inside the Plan to Receive Thousands of Mexicans Deported From the U.S.

Mexico’s plan to receive thousands of its deported citizens from the United States is nothing short of ambitious. Plans are underway to build nine reception centers along the border — massive tents set up in parking lots, stadiums and warehouses — with mobile kitchens operated by the armed forces. Details of the initiative — called “Mexico Embraces You” — were revealed only this week, although Mexican officials said they had been devising it for the past few months, ever since...

January 23, 2025
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23Jan

European investors upbeat on impact investing, despite US concerns

Over 90% of European investors polled in the run up to the 21 January of US president Donald Trump said they were extremely or somewhat concerned over the state of ESG and sustainability practices in the US, but they still intend to either maintain or increase their impact allocations, a survey by Pensions for Purpose shows. Pensions for Purpose, a UK-based industry body, says the results are significant because, although European and US investors often follow distinct paths on sustainability...

January 23, 2025
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23Jan

China moves to boost languishing markets by ordering funds to invest more in shares

The Chinese government is trying to encourage people to spend more by ensuring that share prices will rise, ordering pensions and mutual funds to invest more in domestic stocks to help jolt its languid markets out of the doldrums. Officials told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that beginning this year mutual funds should increase holdings of onshore stocks, called A-shares, by at least 10% a year over the next three years. Commercial insurance funds will have to put 30% of their...

January 23, 2025
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22Jan

China Plunges Deeper Into Unprecedented Population Crisis

China's population contracted for the third year in a row in 2024 despite an uptick in births. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry by email with a request for comment. Why It Matters Xi Jinping's Chinese Communist Party government has been rolling out measure after measure in hopes of encouraging young Chinese to have more children. Births have overall been on the decline despite the end of the decades-long one-child policy in 2016, leaving policymakers anxious over the impact this will...

January 22, 2025
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22Jan

One in five pension funds lacks liquidity, survey shows

One in five pension funds (18%) admit they lack sufficient liquidity to withstand adverse scenarios, while 62% acknowledge that liquidity could become problematic in extreme cases, according to a survey by pension funds solution provider Ortec Finance. The survey, which polled senior executives managing $1.451 trillion in assets across the UK, US, the Netherlands, Canada, and the Nordics, revealed that just 20% of funds are confident in their liquidity positions. Long-term liquidity risks emerged as the primary concern for 60%...

January 22, 2025
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22Jan

South African ban on cryptocurrency for pensions in the crosshairs

As the value of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, continues to rise internationally, there have been growing calls for South African pension funds to be allowed to invest in cryptocurrencies. Currently, Regulation 28, which governs where pension funds can invest, tightly restricts their investment options. Proposals suggest amending this regulation to include cryptocurrencies, which could have significant implications for the industry and investors. Farzam Ehsani, co-founder and CEO of major South African cryptocurrency exchange VALR, said South Africans deserve nothing less than to lift...

January 22, 2025
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21Jan

Institutional investors ‘concerned’ about sustainability under Trump presidency

Nearly all (93 per cent) UK and European institutional investors, including pension funds, have expressed significant unease over the future of sustainability practices under a Trump presidency, research from Pensions for Purpose has revealed. The inaugural Impact Lens Survey Shorts found that while no respondents indicated that US sustainability practices “critically” shape their strategies, 83 per cent reported some level of influence, with 22 per cent citing a significant impact and 39 per cent noting a moderate impact. In addition to...

January 21, 2025
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