January 2023

Switzerland. Thousands of retired seniors falling into poverty

In Switzerland a huge wealth gap exists among retirees. While most senior citizens can comfortably make ends meet, one in five is living either below or close to the poverty line. Some 50,000 pensioners have no financial cushion to offset their low income. Bernard and Pierrette Apothéloz are both in their early 70s. With their meagre pensions and no savings or additional benefits, the couple often struggle to pay their bills. Because of their financial situation, they are unable to...

China: Unified pension management system ensures more equity

More Chinese people have access to coverage provided by the country's government-run basic old-age insurance, since the adoption of unified management of insurance funds, according to the authorities. China's basic old-age insurance covered 1.05bn people as of the end of 2022, 24.3m more than a year earlier, reported the Xinhua News Agency quoting data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The country formally implemented the national unified management of basic old-age insurance funds for enterprise employees in January...

China’s going to have to figure out how to care for 400 million elderly people by 2040

China reached a pivotal moment this year, announcing on Tuesday that its population had, for the first time since the 1960s, shrunk. It's not just fewer people that China has to contend with. The country's planners have another mammoth challenge ahead: a rapidly aging population. The World Health Organization expects China to have more than 400 million people over the age of 60 by 2040, up from 254 million in 2019. That's nearly a third of its total population, compared to...

China’s Population Falls, Heralding a Demographic Crisis

The world’s most populous country has reached a pivotal moment: China’s population has begun to shrink, after a steady, yearslong decline in its birthrate that experts say is irreversible. The government said on Tuesday that 9.56 million people were born in China last year, while 10.41 million people died. It was the first time deaths had outnumbered births in China since the Great Leap Forward, Mao Zedong’s failed economic experiment that led to widespread famine and death in the 1960s. Chinese...

China. Authorities mull measures to address aging population

Moves may include the gradual raising of the national retirement age and changes to the ways senior care is funded. Li Lei reports. As officials wrapped up 12 months of work and planned for the future at closely watched meetings that marked the end of the year, issues involving older people came under the spotlight. Data published by the National Health Commission in October showed that 267 million people, or 18.9 percent of the population, were age 60 and older. That meant...

Principal announces pension joint venture in China

Principal Financial Group ®, a leading global financial services provider, today announced an exciting new chapter in their ongoing expansion of their global pension footprint as Principal® acquires a minority ownership stake (17.647%) in China Construction Bank (CCB) Pension Management Co., Ltd. (CCBP), CCB’s pension business with the Social Security Fund of China (SSF). CCB will remain as the majority shareholder of CCBP with a 70% interest and an additional minority stake (12.353%) held by the SSF. Principal is the...

December 2022

China to launch commercial pension scheme in 10 regions from January

China will launch a commercial pension scheme along with insurance firms in 10 provinces and municipalities from Jan. 1, as Beijing develops its third pillar pension system to help its large ageing population. The scheme will supplement the private pension plan launched last week in 36 cities, allowing individuals to open retirement accounts with banks and buy financial products. Under the latest scheme, customers can open accounts at the insurance firms and invest in pension products offered by the companies, the...

November 2022

China. New pension program nears launch

China has almost completed all preparations for a private pension program and will soon start implementing the project, said an official at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2022 in Beijing on Wednesday. The country has rolled out supportive policies such as implementation measures, tax policies and rules for financial products in this regard after the General Office of the State Council issued its opinions on promoting the development of private pensions in April. System docking tests on the private...

Danish pension fund cuts China exposure

PFA, Denmark’s largest commercial pension fund, has exited two Chinese clothing manufacturers and is discussing how to handle its other China holdings amid an evolving risk environment, reports Bloomberg. The Copenhagen-based fund, which manages about $100 billion in assets, has sold out of Anta Sports and Li Ning, Rasmus Bessing, chief operating officer at PFA Asset Management, said in an interview. The holdings were worth around $4.2 million, he said. “We see China and the political development and believe that there...

Age for starting savings for pension drops in China

The average age for starting saving for a pension dropped sharply in China from 38 to 35, according to a survey on the prospect of China's elderly care released by Fidelity International and Ant Fortune on Tuesday, the Paper reported. Perceptions on and behaviors for retirement planning continue to improve when China's personal pension policy landed as a third pillar to support the country's pension system with the basic endowment insurance as the first pillar, and the enterprise annuity as...