September 2025
26Sep

2025 Individual Investor Survey: Welcome to the age of diminished expectations

By  Natixis Investment Managers Investors have been on an emotional roller coaster over the first 25 years of the 21st century. On the downside, they held on for dear life as the dotcom bubble, Global Financial Crisis, European debt crisis, Covid, and a historic bout of inflation played out in the headlines and their portfolios. But along with the losses, investors found compelling gains. A decade of record-low interest rates buoyed stocks, and the tech sector boomed. It was a thrill ride...

September 26, 2025
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26Sep

Optimization Algorithms for Pension Asset Allocation Under Market Volatility

By Akshay Sharma & Satish Kabade Pension fund organizations function as essential financial entities that protect employee retirement funds to provide complete and punctual pension distributions. Pension fund effectiveness through asset distribution determines how well a fund meets its future obligations. Traditional methods of portfolio optimization align with the Modern Portfolio Theory through the Markowitz model to help determine asset allocation by defining the relationship between return and risk. These static modeling approaches fail to fulfill their purpose in real...

September 26, 2025
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12Sep

The world’s largest pension funds – 2025

The global top 300 pension funds is an annual study conducted by the Thinking Ahead Institute, in conjunction with Pensions and Investments. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on how the characteristics of these top funds have changed. The world’s top 300 pensions funds now stand at a record US$ 24.4 trillion This surpasses the previous record set in 2021, completing a three year recovery Yet asset growth slowed in 2024, increasing by 7.8% from...

September 12, 2025
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09Sep

Top pension funds reach all-time global record

The world’s largest 300 pension funds reached a new US$ 24.4 trillion record in terms of their total assets under management, according to this year’s Global Top 300 Pension Funds report by leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute. The research highlights high-level trends in the pension fund industry and provides information on the changing composition of the top 300 list of pension funds globally, including the characteristics and investment allocations of these pension funds. This year’s...

September 9, 2025
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05Sep

Integrating Risk Management into Personal Financial Decisions

By Navin Kumar Effective personal financial planning demands navigating a landscape of uncertainty. This chapter explores how integrating risk management practices into personal finance decisions empowers individuals to achieve their financial goals. We begin by outlining the contemporary challenges individuals face and the importance of proactive planning. The chapter then delves into the concept of risk in personal finance, categorizing potential threats and their impact on financial stability. We highlight the benefits of a risk management approach, emphasizing its role...

September 5, 2025
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02Sep

UK. ​Schemes urged to probe asset managers’ net zero commitments

Pension schemes and institutional investors should look beyond industry pledges when assessing whether their asset managers are genuinely committed to net zero, consultancy LCP has said. The warning follows recent changes and an ongoing review of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative. While such pledges provide a useful indication of intent, including target setting and progress reporting, LCP said pension schemes must scrutinise managers’ actions more closely to ensure climate goals are credible. LCP has suggested four questions for pension schemes...

September 2, 2025
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02Sep

As Asia’s over-65 population nearly doubles by 2050, insurers face new financial risks: Swiss Re

As Asia’s population ages rapidly, insurers must adjust their strategies to meet the changing needs of older adults, according to Ping Ji, Matt Singleton, and Torben Swart of Swiss Re Group, a global reinsurance company that provides research and risk management support to life and health insurers. In 2000, only 6% of the region’s population was aged 65 or older; by 2025, this is projected to reach 10%, and by 2050 nearly one in five people will be in this...

September 2, 2025
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August 2025
26Aug

India. Switching from UPS to NPS? Govt clears one-time window with strict eligibility rules

The Ministry of Finance has introduced a one-time, one-way switch option for Central Government employees currently enrolled under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), allowing them to move to the National Pension System (NPS). According to an official memorandum dated August 20, 2025, this facility is available to UPS subscribers up to one year before their superannuation or three months before voluntary retirement. Employees facing dismissal, removal, or disciplinary action will not be eligible. Once the switch is exercised, employees will no...

August 26, 2025
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19Aug

Big tax changes for these retirement funds in South Africa

South Africans with foreign retirement funds and foreign nationals who become South African tax residents face a major shift from 1 March 2026. This follows a proposal from the National Treasury, which wants to scrap the current exemption and give SARS taxing rights over foreign retirement income. This was explained by Tax Consulting SA’s cross-border taxation legal manager, Delano Abdoll, and team lead, John-Paul Fraser. Abdoll and Fraser stressed that retirement planning is a crucial financial component for South African expatriates and...

August 19, 2025
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14Aug

Global investors find greener pastures beyond US borders

A sharp US$13.6bn moved into global ex-US equity funds in July, the largest monthly inflow since December 2021, as per LSEG Lipper data reported by Reuters. Investors increasingly redirected capital away from the United States, citing economic concerns, high stock valuations, and a weakening dollar. According to S&P Global, July’s US Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.7 percent year-on-year, unchanged from June and below market expectations. While this bolstered market conviction for a September interest rate cut—pricing in nearly 100 percent likelihood compared to...

August 14, 2025
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