December 2023

US. Despite Concern from Lawmakers, US Pensions and Endowments Pour into China

American public pension funds and university endowments continue to invest billions in China, according to a report from Future Union, an advocacy organization. The “Rubicon Report” criticizes institutional investors and funds for financing what the organization calls adversarial states. According to data collected by Future Union, public pension funds in 43 U.S. states currently hold investments in China and Hong Kong, according to private and public databases as of June 30. Of the 74 largest pension funds, 29 have made...

US. Social Security rule for beneficiaries who keep working is ‘poorly understood,’ report finds

Workers who turn 62 years old might be tempted to increase their income by claiming Social Security retirement benefits. But those claimants should understand that their Social Security benefits may be temporarily reduced due to the income they earn. That Social Security rule — the retirement earnings test — is "poorly understood by the public," finds a new report from the Social Security Advisory Board, a bipartisan, independent federal agency. Between 20% and 50% of pre-retirees do not know that their monthly benefits might be lowered if they...

How Japan’s aging population is shaping the future of nursing care

How will the aging population impact the provision and sustainability of care? We put the question to Dr Yukari Nakano, Executive Officer at the Japanese Nursing Association People are living longer than ever before, and though this is a positive sign of improvements to physical and social surroundings, many still spend their twilight years in poor health. Population aging also equates to a greater demand for long-term care and an expanded healthcare workforce capable of providing the specialized care many...

The best and worst countries for pensions and retirement in Europe

Moving to another country to eventually retire requires a lot of careful research and planning, taking into account social security, health care, and finances. U.S. consultancy Mercer issues a closely-watched annual report that analyzes 47 different retirement income systems around the world — with European nations often coming out on top. In fact, three countries have dominated the Mercer CFA Institute’s global index since 2021. Namely, Iceland (a 84.6 average), the Netherlands (a 84.4 average) and Denmark (a 81.8 average) have...

UK. Good News — The UK’s Pensions Black Hole Is No More

By John Stepek   Welcome to Money Distilled. I’m John Stepek. Every week day I look at the biggest stories in markets and economics, and explain what it all means for your money. The good news on UK corporate pensions Merryn talks to Kokou Agbo-Bloua, global head of economics, cross-asset and quant research about the outlook for 2024, and why he thinks a slowdown in the US is inevitable. But what should you buy? There was a story over on our Markets Live blog yesterday that caught my eye, as I’d missed...

UK. 2023’s pension proposals need political consensus

At a technical level, not an awful lot changed in the world of pensions in 2023, but a huge number of changes have been proposed – and some of those are seismic. Perhaps the most significant of those in the first half of the year was the announcement by chancellor Jeremy Hunt that the lifetime allowance would be scrapped, followed within minutes by the pledge from the opposition that it would be reinstated should they gain power. As it was, the charge was...

México frena solicitud de arbitraje sobre energías renovables de fondos canadienses

El gobierno mexicano informó el miércoles que detuvo una solicitud de arbitraje internacional contra el país interpuesta en materia de energías renovables por los fondos de inversión canadienses Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) y CDP Groupe Infrastructures Inc.Los reclamos fueron registrados el 15 de diciembre ante el Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI), del Banco Mundial, según el portal del organismo, e invocan el Tratado Integral y Progresista de Asociación Transpacífico (TIPAT). La Secretaría de Economía informó en un comunicado del...

Santiago Peña sanciona polémica ley de pensiones en Paraguay

El presidente de Paraguay, Santiago Peña, sancionó este jueves (14.12.2023) una ley que crea la Superintendencia de Pensiones y Jubilaciones como institución reguladora de las entidades públicas y privadas, cuyo debate parlamentario desató protestas y movilizaciones convocadas por sindicatos, personas jubiladas y gremios de trabajadores en el país. Un día después de que la Cámara de Diputados avalara el proyecto de ley entre manifestaciones y cortes de rutas en distintos puntos del territorio paraguayo, Peña rubricó el texto, que fue publicado de inmediato en la Gaceta Oficial. "Se está...

La informalidad laboral y el desastre de las pensiones

Por Santiago Levy  Durante dos décadas, a partir de los años noventa, los países de América Latina y el Caribe se enzarzaron en un debate a propósito de cuál sería el tipo de sistema de pensión que mejor proveería para los ciudadanos jubilados. Se preveía que las poblaciones envejecerían rápidamente. Los presupuestos eran ajustados y las tasas de ahorro privado y nacional eran bajas. Había que encontrar una manera de garantizar las jubilaciones a la vez que se aumentaba el...

Once propuestas para aumentar la cobertura previsional contributiva en América Latina

Por Federación Internacional de Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones Debido al bajo porcentaje de trabajadores que efectivamente cotizan en los programas contributivos de pensiones, en promedio el 60% de los adultos mayores de 65 años en la región latinoamericana no recibe una pensión contributiva. Ante este panorama, surge el desafío de aumentar la cobertura previsional contributiva. En el documento se destacan 11 propuestas que permiten lograr ese objetivo. Las primeras 5 son: Promover el desarrollo económico de forma sostenida mediante...