June 2021

Chile. Los retiros anticipados de los fondos reducen los montos de las pensiones

A partir de las décadas de los 80 y 90 la mayoría de los países de América Latina iniciaron el camino para sustituir los sistemas previsionales de reparto que eran demográficamente insostenibles y, por estar influenciados por presiones políticas, injustos y regresivos. En su reemplazo, establecieron sistemas basados en la capitalización individual, en que los trabajadores financian sus pensiones con sus propios ahorros. Las altas tasas de rentabilidad obtenidas con la inversión de los recursos de los trabajadores que hicieron...

México. La inclusión financiera, un viacrucis para las personas en movilidad

En 2019 una mujer guatemalteca, a punto de naturalizarse mexicana y dueña de una joyería en la Ciudad de México, nos contó: “He vivido varios años en México, pero no puedo tener un crédito... en cualquier lugar me piden la INE y, aunque les explico que tengo la residencia [permanente], me lo niegan, dicen que así son las leyes. Por eso quiero ser mexicana, quiero un crédito para mi negocio”. Esta y otras historias reflejan una problemática real: la nula...

Impact investing grows to address problems raised by pandemic

Sometimes a crisis can help bring positive change. For impact investing, the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequities it exposed are boosting its outlook. Read also ​Pension investors press companies over Myanmar human rights risks Impact investments are made with the intention of generating positive and measurable social, economic and environmental outcomes as well as a financial return. Asset owners and managers put them under various asset and strategy buckets, including ESG or sustainable investing — and note that the one shorthand...

UK. Watchdog warns of imbalance in pension schemes

Almost two thirds of pension schemes’ liabilities of €64 billion have been accumulated to pay the pensions of the one third of members who have already retired. The lopsided nature of scheme finances is revealed in figures from the Pensions Authority, which show that providing a guaranteed income in retirement is becoming increasingly unsustainable for the dwindling number of employers that offer them. The Pensions Authority warned that trustees were running too much investment risk as schemes struggled to remain solvent. “This...

Black tax, debt and inadequate pensions – South Africans have little to nothing left to save

How do you tell a person avoiding debt collectors and cutting down food spend that they need to save more for retirement? This was one of the burning questions at Allan Gray's first retirement benefits conference last week. Confronted with "black tax", rising food costs, exorbitant electricity prices and a debt-to-disposable-income ratio of 75.3% in the last quarter of 2020, saving for retirement is the last thing in the minds of many South Africans. According to the Mercer CFA Institute Global...

US. Pensions under fire after PE underperforms

For decades, state pension funds have relied on the private equity industry to invest retirement savings for teachers, firefighters and other public-sector employees. But in recent years, critics of alternative assets have argued that pension managers, who oversee some $4.5 trillion across the US, would be better served investing in low-cost index funds that track the S&P 500 and avoiding PE's high fees. This past week, public pension fund managers threw PE detractors more red meat, raising larger questions about...

How Does Social Security Reform Indecision Affect Younger Cohorts?

By John B. Shoven, Sita Slavov, John G. Watson The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in the early 2030s. The U.S. government will need to make a choice about how to address the impending trust fund exhaustion, but it is unclear what it will choose to do. This indecision leaves young and middle-aged workers not knowing whether they will face Social Security benefit cuts, payroll tax increases, or an increase in the full retirement age. This uncertainty about...

Is informality a barrier to economic growth in Uganda? Empirical analysis

By Stephen Esaku We apply autoregressive distributed lag modeling approach to investigate the short- and long-run relationship between economic growth and informality in Uganda. We use annual time series data, covering the period from 1991 to 2017. We find evidence of short- and long-run relationship between economic growth and informality. The results indicate that an increase in informality significantly reduces the rate of economic growth in both the long- and short-run. This evidence seems to indicate that in low income...

Risk-Adjusted Valuation in the Worker’s Economic Decision Making

By Hangsuck Lee, Doojin Ryu, Jihoon Son We suggest an overlapping generations model incorporating the risk-adjusted valuation in a worker’s decision problem. The risk-adjusted probabilities allow risk-averse workers to place more weight on cash flows upon retirement when assessing lifetime income at present value. The risk-adjusted valuation is consistently applied to any non-financial asset, allowing them to be evaluated collectively or separately. We predict capital returns under demographic structure, consumption preference, and social security policy changes. Source: SSRN 608 views

México. Sólo 30% de fondos administrados por Afores se invierte en proyectos productivos: Amafore

La Asociación Mexicana de Afores (Amafore) señaló que de los 5 billones de pesos que manejan las administradoras de fondos para el retiro (Afores), solamente 30 por ciento se invierte en proyectos productivos del sector privado y 50 por ciento se sigue prestando al gobierno, recolocar los recursos y darle una mayor profundidad al mercado de valores requiere la intervención de todo el ecosistema financiero, aseguró. Leer también México. La inclusión financiera, un viacrucis para las personas en movilidad El presidente...