May 2025
02May

How Companies With Frozen, Overfunded Pensions Approach the Future

Corporate pension funding surpluses are higher than they have been in more than a decade. Large surpluses are leading corporate pension plan sponsors to take a risk-on approach to their portfolios and evaluate options for the future of their plans. “We’ve hit the record high funded ratio since the [liability-driven investing] era,” says Jeff Passmore, lead LDI strategist at MetLife Investment Management. “We hit 107.2% funded intra-quarter—that was February 17.” According to Milliman, in 2024, about 34 U.S. companies had frozen pension plans with surplus...

May 2, 2025
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02May

Pension Systems Must Evolve as Asia Pacific Ages

By 2050, more than 25% of Asia-Pacific's population will be over 60, creating unprecedented challenges for pension systems already struggling with sustainability, according to a leading academic in actuarial science. Professor Johnny Li, Tan Bingzhao Professor of Actuarial Science at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Business School, outlined the gravity of the situation at the Economist Impact’s 4th annual Sustainability Week Asia held in Bangkok in March. "Across the Asia-Pacific region, life expectancy has increased by an average of...

May 2, 2025
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April 2025
30Apr

US budget: Senior care will shrink even as the country’s older population grows.

The Trump administration’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services delivers a devastating blow to the very foundation of aging services in America. By breaking apart the coordination and delivery of programs under the Older Americans Act, the administration is jeopardizing the health, independence and dignity of millions of older adults and their caregivers. At the core of this proposal is the dismantling of the Administration for Community Living, the agency that has effectively administered the Older...

April 30, 2025
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30Apr

Kenyan retirees win big as govt exempts pension from tax

How Kenyan retirees will benefit In a statement on Tuesday, April 29, the State House revealed the Cabinet had approved the bill that will benefit retirees in the public and private sectors. By removing pension taxes, the government intends to improve the financial stability of retirees, allowing them to enjoy their post-work years without worrying about additional tax deductions on their pension income. "Retirees will benefit significantly as all gratuity payments, whether in public or private pension schemes, will now be fully...

April 30, 2025
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30Apr

Longevity v interest rates – which poses the biggest risk for schemes?

Rising life expectancy poses a greater risk to UK corporate pension schemes than low interest rates, a report this week has suggested, but some industry experts have challenged the finding. Low interest rates have wreaked havoc on many schemes’ funding levels as liability calculations are revised up. Earlier this month the aggregate deficit of the Pension Protection Fund’s 7800 Index reached £254.2bn, up from £93.2bn a year ago. The cost of not hedging longevity in a low interest rate environment is proportionately greater...

April 30, 2025
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30Apr

96% of Ghanaian pensioners live on GH¢5,000 or less monthly – Paul Kofi Mante

At the 2025 edition of the Money Summit organized by the Business and Financial Times (B&FT), Paul Kofi Mante, Managing Director of EDC Investment Limited, raised urgent concerns about the state of pensions in Ghana, revealing that a staggering 96% of pensioners receive GH¢5,000 or less per month. Speaking as a panelist during a session focused on investment and retirement planning, Mr. Mante described the current pension reality as deeply worrying. He disclosed that out of the over 2 million Ghanaians aged 60 and above, fewer than 300,000 are enrolled on...

April 30, 2025
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29Apr

Economic volatility & tariff turmoil will elevate pension funds desire to diversify

In an increasingly volatile and uncertain financial world where the investment landscape has been exposed to unpredictable shocks, pension funds have been among the most affected by equity market declines and this is expected to further heighten the desire to diversify their asset portfolios. Stock market indices across major economies have fallen in the wake of the introduction of the United States administration’s tariff policy. While tariff amounts have been rolled back in some cases, or put on hold, with countries...

April 29, 2025
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29Apr

UK pension system is at a tipping point

The UK faces a pensions time bomb that could detonate within a generation. Unlike all good suspense movies, there is not going to be a cutting of the red or blue wire in the final seconds of a digital countdown; solutions are complex, multi-faceted and wide reaching. For decades, the UK pension system has been regarded as a stable safety net, ensuring workers can retire with dignity. But beneath this illusion of security lies a crisis in the making. The combined pressures of...

April 29, 2025
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29Apr

US. Benefits Cuts on the Table in House Budget Legislation

Cuts to federal employees’ benefits are being pitched in budget legislation scheduled to be marked up in the House of Representatives this week. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) announced that the Committee will mark up budget legislation on Wednesday, April 30 at 10:00 AM ET as part of the Trump administration’s plan to reduce federal spending to combat the growing debt which currently stands at about $36 trillion. Items Under Consideration The items to be considered would have...

April 29, 2025
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29Apr

Innovation, skills and reform of the pension system key to Luxembourg’s strong growth and public finances

Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita among the 38 OECD countries and low public debt. To maintain strong economic growth and public finances, policies should now focus on boosting innovation and skills and securing the sustainability of the pension system for future generations, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Luxembourg says that GDP growth is projected to pick up from 1.0% in 2024 to 2.1% in 2025 and 2.3% in 2026. Headline consumer price inflation is...

April 29, 2025
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