October 2019

03Oct

Why the tone of doom for Europe’s ageing?

The EU’s ageing problems can’t be stopped by either fertility or migration. But labour participation and education trends offer clear reasons for optimism, writes Nicholas Gailey.​ In prosperous countries – including every single EU member state – long life spans and low birth rates are driving the average age upward. This byproduct of medical success and personal choice has set the stage for labour force decline, risking Europe’s ability to support itself. Many prominent voices clash over ways to...

October 3, 2019
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03Oct

US. The New Realities Of Work And Retirement

Bob Orozco barks out instructions like a drill sergeant. The 40 or so older adults in this class follow his lead, stretching and bending and marching in place. It goes like this for nearly an hour, with 89-year-old Orozco doing every move he asks of his class. He does that in each of the 11 classes he teaches every week at this YMCA in Laguna Niguel, Calif. "I probably will work until something stops me," Orozco says. He may...

October 3, 2019
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03Oct

UK. Opperman says Pensions Bill is ‘good to go’

The minister for pensions and financial inclusion has detailed the main areas that will be covered in the upcoming Pensions Bill, which he said is “completely ready and good to go”. Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester yesterday (October 1), organised by the Social Market Foundation and The Institute And Faculty Of Actuaries, Mr Opperman said his work on the bill was done, although he noted he was waiting for the Queen’s Speech...

October 3, 2019
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02Oct

Brazil Senate approves pension reform in first-round vote

Brazil’s Senate approved the main text of a pension reform bill in a first-round vote on Tuesday, clearing another key hurdle for the government’s bid to narrow its massive budget gap. The main text passed with a vote of 56 in favor - a comfortable margin above the 49 votes required - with 19 opposed and one abstention. Only 76 of 81 senators were present. The Senate is expected to consider amendments to the bill on Wednesday before it...

October 2, 2019
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02Oct

Japan. World’s Largest Pension Fund Reappoints Mizuno as CIO

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund reappointed Hiromichi Mizuno as its investment chief overseeing $1.47 trillion in assets. Mizuno, whose term was extended to March 31 after expiring Monday, captained sweeping changes to the investment strategy of the world’s largest pension fund over the past five years. He became the GPIF’s first chief investment officer in January 2015, managing the fund’s shift to stocks from domestic debt, while advocating assets that incorporate environmental, social and governance factors. The fund will...

October 2, 2019
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02Oct

Cuba’s works to address population ageing

The statistics speak for themselves: almost 30 percent of the Cuban population will be over 60 by the end of the next decade. There are several causes for this fact. The increase in life expectancy, which has reached 78 years for men and 82 for women, according to the basic indicators published by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 2018, as well as low levels of sustained fertility and a demographic dynamic marked by a negative net migration...

October 2, 2019
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02Oct

Global aging crisis: We’re all getting on

People on the planet are getting older. Developed countries are already struggling to deal with rapidly aging populations. According to demographic information released recently by the United Nations, by 2050 one of every six people alive will be over 65. To consider this phenomenon, let’s analyze the populations of three large, industrialized countries — the U.S., Japan and China. The life expectancy of Americans in the year 1900 was only about 47. Today it’s about 79, an increase of...

October 2, 2019
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01Oct

UK’s new ESG pension rules are just the first step: PLSA

New disclosure rules relating to UK pension funds’ consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and engagement with investee companies should be seen as a first step in an “ESG journey for trustees”, according to the industry’s main trade group. Under the changes, which come into effect tomorrow, trustees must outline their approach to engagement with and voting of their shares in investee companies, and how they take account of financially material factors, including ESG and climate change considerations, in...

October 1, 2019
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01Oct

Trying Wall Street’s Patience, Brazil Postpones Pension

Brazil is trying Wall Street’s patience. Last Wednesday, the Senate was scheduled to vote on a much touted, and much needed, pension reform bill. Then it was postponed to Thursday. It didn’t happen on Friday. It is now supposed to go up for a vote on Tuesday, Senate leaders said. The market for Brazil equities has been in a holding pattern all week waiting for this vote; a vote that is supposed to be a lopsided win for president Jair Bolsonaro...

October 1, 2019
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01Oct

Australia. Super industry reacts to Treasury’s Retirement Review

Super industry experts have reacted positively to the Treasury’s announcement of a retirement income review, the first review of the superannuation industry in 30 years, but say they want the Government to stick to its existing planned reforms. The Retirement Income Review was announced by the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and will examine the interaction between the age pension, compulsory super and voluntary savings. The Productivity Commission had previously urged the Government to undertake the review before increasing the superannuation guarantee (SG)...

October 1, 2019
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