May 2019

15May

The Financial Burden of Retirement Is a Global Problem—but Asia Is Uniquely Vulnerable

Asian pension systems are facing major challenges. The region is experiencing seismic demographic changes, with rapidly aging populations and declining birthrates. But investment returns are relatively low due to geopolitical uncertainty and minimal interest rates. With the region having relatively few robust retirement systems, many Asian countries will struggle to provide adequate pensions. Governments need to take positive action now to reduce financial pressures and avoid intergenerational conflicts between the young and old. Life expectancy at birth in the...

May 15, 2019
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February 2019

22Feb

Cybersecurity risks

Data breaches created some of 2018’s biggest, most immediate scare stories for the general public. Facebook’s revelation in the spring that the personal information of at least 87 million users had been shared was just one of the standout examples. Asia, as it happens, went one better, with January’s disclosure that the personal information of every single one of the 1.1 billion-plus registrants for India’s Aadhaar unique identity number was up for sale. In this kind of environment, who...

February 22, 2019
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January 2019

17Jan

Asia must navigate pensions crunch

Region unprepared to manage growing financial burdens of retirement. Asian pension systems are facing major challenges. The region is experiencing seismic demographic changes, with rapidly aging populations and declining birthrates. But investment returns are relatively low due to geopolitical uncertainty and minimal interest rates. With the region having relatively few robust retirement systems, many Asian countries will struggle to provide adequate pensions. Governments need to take positive action now to reduce financial pressures and avoid intergenerational conflicts between the young...

January 17, 2019
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October 2018

24Oct

A grey area: Asia’s elderly

Asia’s ageing population will come under discussion today at a conference in Tehran, co-hosted by the Iranian government, the United Nations and HelpAge International, an NGO. Unlike the West, some Asian countries will grow old before they get rich. Deloitte, a consultancy, reckons that by 2030 the region will account for three-fifths of the world’s over 65s. The elderly are living longer with better access to health care. Younger ones are marrying late, causing fertility rates to drop sharply....

October 24, 2018
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03Oct

How can smart buildings help an ageing Asia?

Artificial intelligence, the internet of things and other smart technologies can help to make buildings smarter and more efficient, but can they make cities better places to live for the elderly? The technology of the fourth industrial revolution could make cities smarter than ever. But are smarter cities better for the environment and its residents? This was a central theme at the International Green Building Conference held in Singapore in September, where two panel sessions were dedicated to the topic of...

October 3, 2018
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September 2018

06Sep

Pensions and insurers give new impetus to Asia’s ETFs

Yield-chasing has been a persistent theme among Asian insurers. “As low interest rates reduce the income-generating ability of fixed-income investments, insurers are looking to diversify their return sources,” says Brian Roberts, senior vice‑president and head of exchange-traded products at HKEX. “Investors can’t control market returns, but can control fees that eat away at their returns. The low-cost, tax-efficient nature of ETFs is one of the reasons we’re seeing stronger interest among insurers.” According to data compiled by research provider ETFGI,...

September 6, 2018
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August 2018

31Aug

Asians must wake up to the hidden costs of retirement

It is no secret that global debt levels are rising, and now stand above 300% of overall gross domestic product, to the consternation of at least some investors. Less well known is the equally disturbing fact that retirement liabilities -- future commitments covering pensions, health and social care costs -- are also rising rapidly and, in some countries, they already dwarf current debt levels. Today, this is primarily a problem for the developed world, including the U.S., Europe and Japan. But...

August 31, 2018
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25Aug

Demographics and Interest Rates in Asia

By Serkan Arslanalp (International Monetary Fund (IMF)), Jaewoo Lee (International Monetary Fund (IMF) - Research Department) & Umang Rawat (International Monetary Fund (IMF)) Demographic developments have been regarded as one important cause of the long-termmovement in global interest rates. This paper provides empirical evidence of therelationship between demographics and interest rates over a wide sample of advanced andemerging market economies. It also finds that capital account openness limits the directsensitivity of a country's interest rates to its own demographics. The results suggest...

August 25, 2018
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23Aug

4 ways to rethink social protection for future work in Asia

Anyone who studies welfare systems, particularly on providing social protection or social security for every citizen, usually goes back to the argument between the approaches defended by 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and UK progressive economist Lord William Beveridge. These two models have divergent objectives: while Bismarck’s is to assure a standard of living, the Beveridge system focuses on securing a subsistence level. Although there is some convergence, both models are still being practiced throughout the world. People are...

August 23, 2018
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June 2018

16Jun

Population Aging and the Possibility of a Middle-Income Trap in Asia

By Joonkyung Ha (Hanyang University - Ansan Campus) & Sang-Hyop Lee (University of Hawaii - Department of Economics) We present three conditions for a demography-driven middle-income trap and show that many economies in East, South, and Southeast Asia satisfy all of them. The conditions are (1) support ratio—the ratio of workers to consumers—matters for economic growth, (2) economic development accompanies more investment in human capital and lower fertility due to the quantity–quality trade-off, and (3) current low level of fertility...

June 16, 2018
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