March 2025
14Mar

2024 financial services monitor know better do better

By Old Mutual The key objective of the Old Mutual Financial Services Monitor is to provide a deep understanding of the working Ghanaian market, uncovering financial attitudes, perceptions, and behaviour in the informal and formal sectors. What makes Old Mutual’s Financial Services Monitor unique, is that its core objective is to support Old Mutual’s drive to champion the financial well-being of Ghanaians. This is aligned to Old Mutual’s overall purpose of becoming our customers’ first choice to sustain, grow and protect...

March 14, 2025
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13Mar

US. Corporate Pension Funding Ratios Decline Amid Weak Market Returns

  Corporate pension plans over the past year have seen their funding surpluses increase significantly, as strong market returns and heightened interest rates consistently improved the health of corporate pension finances. However, in February, corporate pension funding ratios declined, a result of both weak equity returns and an increase in the value of pension plan liabilities, breaking a three-to-four-month streak of month-over-month increases. Funded Status Declines Investment consultant Wilshire estimated that the funded status of corporate U.S. pension plans in the S&P 500...

March 13, 2025
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12Mar

South Africa . Ramaphosa assures MPs pension funds used to invest in infrastructure will be protected

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured MPs that the funds of pensioners that will be used to invest in infrastructure will be protected and safeguarded. He said that amendments to pension fund legislation and regulations had created room for these investments to be made into the country’s infrastructure. Ramaphosa was responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on issues around growing the economy. "They are not state resources. To facilitate in infrastructure investment, government needs to provide those savers with a reasonable...

March 12, 2025
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07Mar

US stock market meltdown hits UK pensions as Donald Trump’s tariffs spark panic

US shares have continued to fall as investors fear Donald Trump's trade wars will cause huge damage to the American economy. The decline in the value of US-based businesses will hit millions of people with savings in pension funds in countries such as the UK as well as across America. This is because many funds from across the world are invested at least partly in the US. The NASDAQ market, which has a particular focus on technology stocks, has fallen...

March 7, 2025
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07Mar

Switzerland raises concerns over handing pension fund management to US banks

For all intents and purposes, the funds appear to have been well-placed, yielding a return of 7.33% last year, thanks to positions in bonds, equities, oil and gold. Compenswiss, an independent public body that manages the assets (46.1 billion Swiss francs, or 48.9 billion euros) of Swiss social security insurers, has been pleased. "At the end of 2024, all asset classes were clearly in positive territory," said institution director Eric Breval three weeks ago, while presenting its annual results....

March 7, 2025
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06Mar

Canada’s biggest pension fund calls for economic diversification as tariffs hit

Canada must diversify its economy and position itself as more competitive on the global stage if tariffs promised by U.S. President Donald Trump take effect, Canada's biggest pension fund said on Tuesday. Edwin Cass, chief investment officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said his country's economy was "tied at the hip" to the U.S. after Trump said on Monday 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would go into effect almost immediately. "One of the things we obviously should have been doing...

March 6, 2025
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04Mar

UK. DB schemes reconsidering long-term strategies amid market changes

Defined benefit (DB) pension schemes may be reconsidering their endgame strategies in light of recent market movements, PwC has said, after its Low Reliance Index continued to show a record surplus position, rising to £180bn in February 2025. PwC’s Buyout Index also recorded a surplus position of £90bn, demonstrating that DB pensions schemes continue to have, on average, sufficient assets to buyout their pension promises. PwC head of investment strategy, Sam Seadon, noted that there has been "something of a roller...

March 4, 2025
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04Mar

UK. The People’s Pension Fund Revamps Investment Strategy

The People’s Pension has pulled more than US$35bn of investments from State Street over sustainability and ESG concerns, passing funds to Amundi & Invesco One of the UK's leading pension funds, the People’s Pension, has made a significant move by withdrawing £28bn (US$35bn) from State Street, as part of its strategic alignment towards enhanced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals. This reshuffling involves reallocating a substantial £20bn (US$25bn) to Amundi, and another £8bn (US$10bn) to Invesco. Consequently, only £5bn (US$6.2bn) remains under State Street's management, notably reduced...

March 4, 2025
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03Mar

Brookfield eyes UK’s pensions risk deals with insurance spin-off

Brookfield, the North American asset manager, is set to muscle in on a lucrative area of the UK pensions industry dominated by Legal & General, Aviva, Standard Life and other British insurers. The Canadian-American firm will launch Brookfield Wealth Solutions (BWS), its insurance spin-off, as an entrant into the bulk annuity pensions market. This is where private companies with traditional defined-benefit pension schemes seek buy-in or buy-out deals to transfer their risks to insurers and life assurance companies. The UK pension...

March 3, 2025
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03Mar

Taiwan. Record-breaking pension fund earnings distributed

People enrolled in the new Labor Pension Fund received record-breaking boosts to their pensions, as gains made through the fund’s investments were distributed across accounts today, the Bureau of Labor Insurance announced. Investments made by the fund netted record gains of NT$698.97 billion (US$21.25 billion) last year, the bureau said. A total of 12.92 million people enrolled in the fund had their pensions boosted, 200,000 more than the previous year, the bureau said. Bureau of Labor Insurance signage is pictured in Taipei...

March 3, 2025
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