September 2022
30Sep

Do the Retired Elderly in Europe Decumulate Their Wealth? The Importance of Bequest Motives, Precautionary Saving, Public Pensions, and Homeownership

By Charles Yuji Horioka & Luigi Ventura In this paper, we use micro data on a large number of European countries from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to examine the wealth accumulation (saving) behavior of the retired elderly in Europe. To summarize our main findings, we find that less than half of the retired elderly in Europe are decumulating their wealth and that the average wealth accumulation rate of the retired elderly in Europe is...

September 30, 2022
Adequacy, Articles, Savings, , ,
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07Sep

Reducing portfolio volatility is top priority for European pension funds

European pension funds say reducing absolute portfolio volatility is their top risk management priority, as geopolitical tensions and high inflation continue to impact global investment markets. This is according to new research from Alpha Real Capital. Nearly half (46%) of European pension fund professionals interviewed, who collectively manage €324 billion in assets under management, say increasing portfolio diversification is their top strategic asset allocation priority. Meanwhile, more than a quarter (28%) of respondents say their priority is to increase expected...

September 7, 2022
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02Sep

Homeownership and the Perception of Material Security in Old Age

By Claudius Garten, Michal Myck, Monika Oczkowska Homeownership has been shown to be related to various aspects of well-being, although both the causal nature of this relationship and the possible channels behind it have been difficult to identify. We focus on one of the most often quoted mechanisms which could be responsible for the positive effects of homeownership, namely its role in providing material security in old age. Using data from 15 European countries collected in wave 2 of the...

September 2, 2022
Aging, Articles, , ,
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August 2022
19Aug

No Country for Old Men (or Women): The Impact of Migration on Pension Funding Adequacy and Sustainability

By Thomas Poufinas, James Ming Chen, Charalampos Agiropoulos & George Galanos Retirement security is of paramount importance to working people. Adequate retirement income is also a leading concern for private and public pension systems. Pension funding adequacy measures the ability of pension scheme assets to meet a system’s liabilities. Pension managers accumulate assets primarily from employee contributions. Assets then grow through investment returns. Liabilities consist mainly of benefits promised and paid to pensioners. In several countries, even within the European Union,...

August 19, 2022
Articles, Labor Market, , , ,
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17Aug

This is how long people across Europe can expect to work

Whether you love your job—or dream of retirement—most of us want to know how long our working lives will last. The next generation of Europeans are expected to work for an average of 36 years, although there are big differences between countries. Working lives in Europe have been getting longer since 2001, according to the European Commission’s data service Eurostat. They shortened slightly for the first time in 2020 because of COVID-19, but are now up to their pre-pandemic level. The...

August 17, 2022
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11Aug

Public Redistribution in Europe: Between Generations or Income Groups?

By Bernhard Hammer, Michael Christl & Silvia De Poli Governments face a potential trade-off between provision for the population in retirement and the support of working-age households with low income. Using EUROMOD-based microdata from 28 countries, we quantify public redistribution to pensioner- and working-age households, distinguishing also by income group. In general, Northern European countries are characterized by a low net redistribution between households, limited public pensions, but a strong support of low-income households. By contrast, most Southern European countries...

August 11, 2022
Articles, Public Pensions, , ,
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July 2022
15Jul

The Unbearable Lightness of the Reform of the Pension System

By Hans van Meerten & Sanne Vlastuin In this article, Hans van Meerten (Professor of European Pension Law at Utrecht University) and Sanne Vlastuin (Master's Student in Private Law at Utrecht University) discuss the transition to a new Dutch pension system. In particular, they pay attention to European law aspects that could be problematic in this light, including the pension participant as consumer and the information gap of pension participants. More is needed to make the envisaged pension system EU-proof...

July 15, 2022
Articles, System Characterization, , ,
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12Jul

Three-fifths of European employees want additional pensions advice from employers

Almost three-fifths (58%) of employees across Europe showed high or very high interest in accessing professional advice on managing their pensions via their employer, according to research from Alight Solutions. The Retirement perception index, undertaken in partnership with the University of Granada, was carried out among 2,400 employees in businesses across multiple sectors in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, exploring employees’ awareness, confidence and interest in their national pension system, and their interest in additional support...

July 12, 2022
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March 2022

New European pensions saving regime takes effect this week
21Mar

New European pensions saving regime takes effect this week

EU legislation which gives effect to a new European pensions savings regime is being introduced this week The Pan-European Personal Pension (PEPP) is a voluntary retirement savings option for EU citizens that complements existing pension schemes. It allows people to pay into the same scheme throughout the EU, even if they move countries. Read also China: National Pension Insurance Co receives green light to start operations Rachel McGovern, director of financial services at Brokers Ireland, which represents 1,225 brokers, says pension providers...

March 21, 2022
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October 2021
11Oct

Sustainable investment ‘rebooting’ Europe’s private markets, research finds

The rise in demand for sustainable investments is driving a “structural reboot” of private market investing in Europe, with environmental, social and governance funds on track to account for up to two-fifths of the industry’s assets in just a few years. According to research from PwC, ESG private market assets could hit between €775.7bn and €1.2tn by 2025, up from €253bn in 2020, as regulation and client demand force an overhaul of private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private debt...

October 11, 2021
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