June 2025

What The Chancellor’s ‘Megafunds’ Plan Means For UK Pensions

UK pension savers are already used to jargon but will have to add “megafunds,” “LTAFs” and “legislative backstop” to their lexicon following substantial changes made to the industry in recent weeks. The Labour government, less than a year in power, is keen to overhaul UK pensions with a view to improving returns for the £800 billion invested in UK defined-contribution schemes and create a virtuous circle where this investment boosts the ailing domestic economy. The UK is looking to Australian and...

May 2025

Reforming pensions in Africa: Addressing coverage, payoutdisparities, and dementia outcomes for sustainable aging

By yprian M. Mostert, Catherine Ajalo & David Andai We appreciate the thoughtful feedback from scholars who suggest thatwe should have used life expectancy at age 45 or 25 to support ourargument for pension reforms in Africa. While life expectancy at thesespecific ages provides an average estimate of the remaining lifespan, itdoes not capture the nuances of individual survival probabilities, mak-ing it less reliable for certain analyses. This remains a debated topic inthe literature.1,2 Life expectancy at birth, on the...

South Korea. Targeting young voters, pension reform emerges as major policy issue

This year, Korea implemented its first structural pension reform in 18 years. Yet, frustration persists among younger generations, as they are expected to pay more but receive less compared to older generations. With a clear aim of appealing to these younger voters, presidential candidates are unveiling a range of additional reform proposals. The most radical proposal comes from the minor conservative Reform Party. Its candidate, Lee Jun-seok — the youngest among the presidential hopefuls — has unveiled a plan to establish...

Jamaica. House Approves Pension Reform, Grants Early Retirement with Full Benefits for Public Officers

The House of Representatives, on Tuesday (May 6), passed legislation granting public officers born between August 1, 1961 and February 28, 1963 the option of retiring before reaching age 65 while still receiving full benefits. The Pensions (Public Service) (Amendment and Validation) Act 2025 was piloted by Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Hon. Fayval Williams. The Bill also seeks to validate and confirm, as lawful, all the actions and omissions made by any person in relation to the grant...

April 2025

Innovation, skills and reform of the pension system key to Luxembourg’s strong growth and public finances

Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita among the 38 OECD countries and low public debt. To maintain strong economic growth and public finances, policies should now focus on boosting innovation and skills and securing the sustainability of the pension system for future generations, according to a new OECD report. The latest OECD Economic Survey of Luxembourg says that GDP growth is projected to pick up from 1.0% in 2024 to 2.1% in 2025 and 2.3% in 2026. Headline consumer price inflation is...

Varying effects of public pensions: Pension spending and old-age employment under different pension regimes

By Kun Lee Socioeconomic consequences of pension reforms have often been discussed without careful consideration of institutional contexts, despite the fact that institutional designs of public pensions differ substantially across countries. This study argues that the outcomes of pension reforms vary depending on the institutional structure of public pensions, by showing that the associations between public pension spending and old-age employment rates of different socio-demographic groups vary across different institutional contexts. Using time-series cross-section data from 20 European countries and...

Spain. AIReF’s evaluation of the pension reform: first match ball saved, but with big challenges on the horizon

At the end of March, the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (AIReF) published its estimate, as was its mandate, of the average impact during the period 2022-2050 of the new revenue measures introduced as part of the pension reforms and other economic measures implemented since 2020 in order to fund the pension system.1 This estimate was the last missing piece needed to determine whether the expenditure rule previously agreed between the government and the European Commission within the framework of the...

Conversion in the Act on Future Pensions, sailing to safe harbour?

By Hans van Meerten & Adrienn Pásztor This article explores the transformation of rights and entitlements during the transition to a new Dutch pension system within the second pillar for occupational pension schemes. It provides an examination of various national legal challenges such as the contractual basis and retrospective nature of this conversion process, alongside relevant aspects of European law including property rights and effective legal protection under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Charter of Fundamental...

Zimbabwe. Regulator reforms for $17bn pensions industry

Zimbabwe’s Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) is laying down the law on pension fund governance, reports News Day. Ipec’s pensions and life department manager Polite Chidumwa said the insurance and pensions regulator was working to make sure that the contributions were not wiped out over time, which involved ensuring proper governance structures. Ipec is engaged in several reforms to ensure that member contributions to pension funds do not lose value as payouts to pensioners continue to decline owing to exchange rate...

March 2025

Flights grounded as Belgium strikes over pension reform

Brussels: A general strike over proposed pension reforms severely disrupted air traffic and other services in Belgium on Monday, with the country’s two main airports cancelling all outbound flights. Government plans to scrap a special pension scheme and align the retirement age for all civil servants with that of the private sector at 66 have enraged trade unions and many workers. A large section of security and maintenance staff, including baggage handlers, were expected to down tools, prompting the Brussels and...