August 2021

Sustainability, not size, is vital for growth

Research into economic growth has a long and distinguished history, but the recent introduction of sustainability into the debate has given the field a necessary and overdue shake-up. In particular, a report on the economics of biodiversity, commissioned by the UK government and led by Partha Dasgupta of the University of Cambridge, represents a tectonic shift in thinking, rather than only a logical extension of previous growth models. While this may be unsettling to some, it provides a great...

Access, participation and income: The state of retirement plan coverage in the U.S.

A study from The Inclusive Wealth Building Initiative starkly illustrates the gulf between those employees with access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan and those who participate—and, perhaps unsurprisingly, much of that participation depends on income levels. The Initiative, a project of The Economic Innovation Group, derived its data from various surveys, including the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ National Compensation Survey. The study also used the 2019 Current Population Survey’s Annual...

Asia vast savings can bring on an ‘age of sustainability’

Insurance companies, pension funds, and other institutional investors in Asia and the Pacific can pave the way to a resilient and sustainable future. The recent global public health crisis has revealed that economies can no longer afford to return to old ways of doing things. But there could be a silver lining in a coming “age of sustainability” in Asia and the Pacific that can get countries growing strongly again. Reaching this new age, however, will require greater use of insurance...

Brexit: Thousands of EU citizens face losing benefits

THOUSANDS of EU citizens living in the UK are set to lose their benefits next month if they haven’t applied for settled status. Campaigners have warned that the UK Government's decision to cut off European nationals could push vulnerable people into destitution. There are fears that many are still unaware that they need to apply for settled status after Brexit. The Independent reports that around 70,000 European nationals who receive benefits had not yet applied to the settlement scheme by the June...

World’s Largest Pension Fund GPIF Now Holds Record $1.75 Trillion in Assets

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund posted a fifth consecutive quarterly gain in its investments as returns from overseas assets helped make up for losses on domestic equities. Read also Nigeria. N12trn pension assets investment sidelines infrastructure The world’s biggest pension fund gained 2.7% for the quarter ended in June, boosting assets under management by 4.98 trillion yen ($45.4 billion) to a record 191.6 trillion yen, it announced on Friday. Overseas stocks were its best-performing investment, returning 8.6%, while domestic shares lost...

Regulator drops plans to cap investments for UK pension schemes

The UK pensions regulator has abandoned plans to limit investment freedoms for retirement schemes holding billions of pounds of assets, as Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak urge trustees to plough more cash into supporting the UK recovery. Read also UK. Pandemic widens pensions pot gender gap The Pensions Regulator has confirmed to the Financial Times that it will not proceed with a proposal, first outlined in March, to cap investment in unquoted assets to no more than a fifth of a...

Nigeria. N12trn pension assets investment sidelines infrastructure

Federal Government’s dream of ramping up pension assets for investments into infrastructure development seems floundering as most recent report shows a stagnation in funds allocation to the sector. Meanwhile the bulk of the over N12trillion assets are going into Federal Government Bond borrowing instrument which are used for government recurrent expenditure. At the backdrop of the quest to address the huge infrastructure gap in the country, the pension policy had envisaged about 15 percent of the total pension asset would be...

US. Pandemic not stopping workers from contributing to retirement plans

An overwhelming majority of U.S. workers are still saving for retirement despite the adverse economic, health and employment impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said Thursday. Eighty-two percent of workers are saving for retirement through a 401(k) or similar retirement plan and/or outside the workplace, the center reported. "Given the magnitude of the challenges workers have faced during the pandemic, it is truly remarkable that they have maintained focus on their future retirement," Catherine Collinson, CEO...

Argentina’s new pensions programme pays women for caregiving

The Argentine government is seeking to redress that gender inequity by assigning a pension contribution value to the time people have spent raising children. Read also It’s time to give essential workers the protections they deserve The programme, launched this week, marks the first time the role of an unpaid caregiver has been recognised by the Argentine state as something akin to work. The policy is expected to enable 155,000 more women to collect a pension immediately. Read also Towards Improved Retirement...

Uganda allows early, partial pension withdrawals to cushion economy

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has agreed to legislation allowing some workers early access to 20% of their savings held by the state pension fund, to help them absorb the economic blow from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Consumers in the East African nation have been hit hard by the impact of the pandemic, forcing some of them to demand that the legislature allows them to access part of their retirement savings. Read also 1 in 3 Singaporeans are worried about retirement...