April 2021
01Apr

Latin America: A Growing Appetite for Alternative Assets

Preqin has launched its first Latin America-focused report. “Preqin Markets in Focus: Latin America’s Growing Appetite for Alternative Assets” explores the emerging market and trends paving the region’s future in the alternatives industry. With diverse challenges and opportunities unique to the economies and investors in the region, this report reveals how Latin America is leaving the global pandemic behind and expanding further into the world of alternative investments. Read also Guyana. IDB study calls for overhaul of pension system The region’s...

April 1, 2021
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March 2021
27Mar

Retirees who pay the most in taxes make only $36,000 a year on average, study finds

Retirees who have the most money pay the most in taxes, according to a recent working paper, but they’re not necessarily rich. “Most of the tax burden is carried by the top quintile of households,” Anqi Chen, co-author and assistant director of savings research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, told Yahoo Money. But “it's important to keep in mind that when we think about the top quintile of households — the top 20% — they're not...

March 27, 2021
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26Mar

US. Single-Employer Plans Can Lower Target Returns to 4% and 5%

What can corporate allocators expect now that the pension relief bill has passed? For starters, they can target lower returns and pursue less risky investment strategies. Plan sponsors at single-employer pension plans can reduce their return targets to as low as 4% or 5%, versus higher targets of 6% or 7%, when they extend their amortization periods to 15 years as a result of the stimulus bill, according to calculations from asset manager Insight Investment. Earlier this month, several provisions passed...

March 26, 2021
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24Mar

US. 82% say Covid affected their retirement plans

A year after the Covid-19 pandemic first ravaged the world’s societies and economies, more than 80% of Americans say the events of the past year have affected their retirement plans, according to a new study from Fidelity Investments. One-third of the more than 1,200 financial decision-makers Fidelity surveyed said it would take them two to three years to get back on track due to factors such as job loss or withdrawals from retirement savings, according to Fidelity’s 2021 State of...

March 24, 2021
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19Mar

Private Markets, Infrastructure and Venture Capital in the Post-COVID Era: The Pension Perspective

By David Weeks, M. Nicolas J. Firzli This second of a series of seven papers co-authored by M. Nicolas J. Firzli and David Weeks looks at the notions of private markets – PE, VC, private debt and infrastructure – and the "quest for yields" in a low interest rates environment, which where discussed at two recent global conferences organised by the G7 Pensions Summit (G7 P7) and the Singapore Economic Forum (SEF). ESG, impact investing, renewable energy and the notion of...

March 19, 2021
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12Mar

China. Power or Profits: Beijing’s Pension Dilemma

When it comes to China’s economy, the sexy issue is the annual growth target for gross domestic product or carbon emissions or corporate debt defaults or the property market. But only one topic is really important for the longer-term survival of the Communist Party regime: pensions. And the party seems to know it. Read also India. NPS Scheme: PFRDA empowers National Pension System subscribers by offering this facility – Check benefits That’s why pension reform popped up, albeit in attenuated form,...

March 12, 2021
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February 2021
18Feb

International retirement, savings plans grow in popularity

International retirement and savings plans for participants working outside their home country have continued to grow in popularity around the globe, with assets increasing 8.9% in 2020 to $17.2 billion. These plans are finding new cohorts of participants, research by Willis Towers Watson found. Originally aimed at expatriates who were unable to remain enrolled in their home country arrangements, international pension plans — known as IPPs — and international savings plans — ISPs — are also growing in popularity among...

February 18, 2021
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January 2021

29Jan

Portfolio Management for Insurers and Pension Funds and COVID-19: Targeting Volatility for Equity, Balanced and Target-Date Funds with Leverage Constraints

By Bao Huy Doan, Jonathan J. Reeves, Michael Sherris Insurers and pension funds face the challenges of historically low interest rates and volatility in equity markets, that have been accentuated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent advances in equity portfolio management with a target volatility have been shown to deliver improved on average risk adjusted return, after transaction costs. This paper studies these targeted volatility portfolios in applications to equity, balanced and target-date funds with varying constraints on leverage....

January 29, 2021
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18Jan

China’s plan to ease the pension pressure

China's pension system has been continuously developed since its launch in 1951, with a focus mainly on public pensions. Through seven decades of development, China has made impressive strides in retirement payments, with a public pension coverage of almost 960 million people in 2019. However, the size of the pension in China is still relatively small, mainly due to a lack of a private pensions system that encompasses enterprise annuities, occupational annuities, and pensions for individuals. As it faces...

January 18, 2021
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18Jan

US. Reforming public pensions

By Nadeem Jeddy Government employees need lifelong incomes to stay independent and promote public interest. Private employees serve no higher cause. Replacing public pensions with traditional defined contribution (DC) schemes like Voluntary Pension System (VPS) and provident funds (PFs) will destroy the security of lifelong incomes. Government employees will be forced to take greater interest in personal finance. New forms of malfeasance will emerge that will be hard to catch and difficult to reverse. A better alternative would be to offer...

January 18, 2021
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