September 2020

02Sep

European Pensions Lead Adoption of ESG Investments

While the United States is beginning to take notice of investments backed by environmental, social and governance principles, the majority of European pensions have already adopted the ESG theme. According to Mercer’s most recent European Asset Allocation Survey, the majority of European pension funds now incorporate environmental, social, and governance risks into their investments, compared to just two years ago when less than half even considered ESG as an option, Chief Investment Officer reports. The survey results showed that...

September 2, 2020
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August 2020

14Aug

Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a pan-European Personal Pension Product

By EIOPA THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2019/1238 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on a pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP)1 , and in particular the fourth subparagraph of Article 28(5), third subparagraph of Article 30(2), third subparagraph of Article 33(3), second subparagraph of Article 36(2), third subparagraph of Article 37(2), third subparagraph of Article 45(3) and the third subparagraph...

August 14, 2020
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14Aug

EIOPA finalises the regulation of the pan-European Personal Pension Product

Today the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) delivered to the European Commission a set of draft Regulatory and Implementing Technical Standards and its advice on Delegated Acts to implement the framework for the design and delivery of the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP). Read also Chilean Central Bank Measures Reduce Banks’ Risks from Pension Withdrawal EIOPA’s proposed legal instruments follow the objective to unlock the potential of the European personal pension market by setting the right incentives for...

August 14, 2020
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11Aug

Switzerland. Pension reform initiative runs out of steam at early stage

The campaigners announced they had failed to collect the required minimum number of signatures and saw no chances of doing so by the deadline in early October. “Without any doubt I have been miscalculating a few things. The coronavirus did the rest for us,” said the main promoter of the initiative. Josef Bachmann said citizens were aware of the flaws in the current system, but under the restrictions imposed to fight the pandemic, it was much more difficult to...

August 11, 2020
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07Aug

Are Dutch Old-Age Pensions Taxed Fairly and Efficiently?

By Bernd Genser, Robert Holzmann The Dutch pension system is internationally top-ranked as a well-designed three-pillar system. Moreover, almost all forms of pension benefits are expenditure taxed in line with the European Commission's recommendations. Consequently, the Dutch pension policy approach could be regarded as a welcome blueprint for pension policy reform, currently on the agenda of all EU member countries. This paper focuses on the taxation of Dutch pensions and identifies two classes of problems that challenge the suitability...

August 7, 2020
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July 2020

31Jul

COVID-19 Pandemic to Intensify Risks for Insurers: EU Regulator

Insurers in the European Union are confronted with risks on several fronts that are intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and could face lengthy legal battles from claims relating to lockdowns, the bloc’s insurance watchdog said on Thursday. Read also Jamaica. COVID Economic Task Force Favours Lifting Pension Investment Limits Insurers and reinsurers had a “solid and comfortable” capital buffer going into the crisis, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) said in a Financial Stability Report. However, a high...

July 31, 2020
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30Jul

Health and Aging Before and After Retirement

By Ana Abeliansky, Holger Strulik In this paper, we investigate health and aging before and after retirement for specific occupational groups. We use five waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) dataset and construct a frailty index for elderly men and women from 10 European countries. We classify occupation by low vs. high education, blue vs. white collar color, and by high vs. low physical or psychosocial job burden. Controlling for individual fixed effects,...

July 30, 2020
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22Jul

COVID-19 Relief Packages Help Fuel Ultra-Low Interest Rates

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has warned that the current ultra-low interest rate environment—which it said is being fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic relief packages—represents a key source of systemic risk for insurers for the future. EIOPA said in a recent report that the COVID-19 pandemic and central banks’ response measures to alleviate the impact on the economic activity will contribute to the continuation of the low interest rate environment. It also...

July 22, 2020
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20Jul

France delays retirement reform that caused mass strikes

France''s government is delaying a divisive overhaul of the country''s retirement system until at least the end of the year because of the economic crisis unleashed by the pandemic. Prime Minister Jean Castex announced after meeting with unions Friday that the pension reform “will be maintained.” But he added that the government will extend negotiations on details of the plan over the coming months, instead of pushing to finalise it this summer. The plan would end some specific pension...

July 20, 2020
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10Jul

Financial System Requirements for Successful Pension Reform

By David P. Blake This paper examines the financial system prerequisites needed for the successful delivery of funded private pensions. In particular, it examines the financial instruments and investment strategies required during both the accumulation and decumulation stages. It does so within the context of a specific developed economy with a mature pension system, namely the United Kingdom. The lessons learned can help to inform the debate in developing countries that are in the process of undertaking pension reform....

July 10, 2020
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