August 2026
31Aug

ECB warning of AI bubble: Contagion and concentration risk spreads

Warnings of a potential AI bubble have not exactly been thin on the ground lately. All the same, a blog post on August 17 by four senior economists at the European Central Bank (ECB) garnered extra attention, thanks to its source and prognosis. “Extremely optimistic valuations raise questions: do today’s stock market prices reflect a rational bet on the transformative technology?” the blog post notes, adding that a replay of the turn-of-the-century dotcom bubble and bust is far more likely. Concentration...

August 31, 2026
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28Aug

Hong Kong expands AI sandbox with projects that include banks, securities and insurance

Hong Kong’s financial regulators have selected the first batch of projects for an expanded generative artificial-intelligence (GenAI) testing programme spanning banking, securities, insurance and pensions, as the city explores the use of more autonomous AI agents in financial services. A total of 36 use cases were selected for the first cohort of the expanded GenAI Sandbox++ programme, according to a joint statement on Thursday by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Insurance Authority and Mandatory...

August 28, 2026
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27Aug

South Africa’s R2.7 trillion GEPF faces growing ESG data and governance test as pension capital comes under scrutiny

South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), the country’s largest public-sector pension fund and one of the continent’s biggest pools of institutional capital, is facing a broader governance challenge over how environmental, social and governance (ESG) information is assessed, verified and incorporated into investment decisions. With the fund holding more than R2.69 trillion in assets and more than 1.2 million active members, the quality of ESG analysis applied across its investment portfolio has implications well beyond the retirement savings...

August 27, 2026
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26Aug

US. Retirement Plans Could Be Sharing Your Personal Data. Are You at Risk?

If you’re one of the millions of Americans saving for retirement with a 401(k) or similar account, you assume (and hope) your financial and personal information are safe. But did you know that retirement plan service providers may share or sell your personal information or use it to market other financial products and services? Today’s WatchBlog post looks at our new report on why retirement plans share data and what’s being done to protect your personal information. When and why do retirement...

August 26, 2026
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20Aug

UK pension fund wants a climate tipping points analysis

UK’s largest pension fund wants to understand climate tipping points UK’s Nest, the countries public workplace pension scheme, is seeking proposals to understand how climate tipping points could impact portfolio resilience. Climate scenarios such as those from the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), often do not include tipping points, which are abrupt, often irreversible, changes to the Earth’s ecosystem. Some tipping points have already been breached or are close to be being breached, such as the bleaching of coral reefs. Nest...

August 20, 2026
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17Aug

UK. Logged in, checked out: The user experience problem pensions won’t face

The average pension app is a decade behind the average banking app. Until that changes, engagement is structurally impossible, argues PensionPay’s Archie Pritchett. Open a workplace pension app on a Monday morning – if you even have one – and in 30 seconds you can see a balance updated several weeks ago, a projection figure with no explanation attached, and a ‘change contributions’ page that ends with the words “please contact your employer”. Open a banking app, and in 30 seconds...

August 17, 2026
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13Aug

UK. TPR to accept multi-employer CDC scheme applications

The new framework gives employers and members an alternative to traditional defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension arrangements, building on the single-employer system introduced in 2021. CDC schemes offer a target retirement income for life rather than relying on individual pension pots, with benefits adjusted depending on investment performance and funding position. TPR urged organisations that are considering launching a CDC scheme to engage early with its supervision teams and Innovation Support Service. It has also published new...

August 13, 2026
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12Aug

European Commission approves non-binding guidelines for supplementary retirement savings

Set out in Recommendation (EU) 2025/2384, approved in November 2025 as part of the Savings and Investment Union initiative led by Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, these measures aim to boost future retirement income. However, under Article 288 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, these recommendations are non-binding; the decision on whether and how to implement them at the national level rests entirely with each Member State. Free national service A key proposal from Brussels is the creation of...

August 12, 2026
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06Aug

US. Large pension funds oppose SEC climate rule rescission

Several large public pension funds filed comments opposing the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) proposal to rescind its 2024 climate-risk disclosure rule. They wrote that eliminating standardized greenhouse gas emissions reporting would increase costs for investors and reduce the quality of information available for investment decisions. The SEC proposed rescinding the rule on May 29, 2026, and the public comment period ended on Aug. 3. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the rule was "a dramatic overreach of the Commission's statutory...

August 6, 2026
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July 2026
31Jul

US. Pension giants warn SEC climate rule rescission will cost investors

The SEC announced its rescission proposal in May, saying the rules exceed the scope of its statutory authority and are “unnecessary and inconsistent” with a registrant-specific, materiality-based approach to disclosure. In the proposal document, the US financial regulator also said it expects the market-driven flow of information to continue following a rescission of the rules. Several major pension funds have submitted responses in recent days, including US heavyweights CalPERs, and the New York City and Maryland comptrollers, as well as Sweden’s...

July 31, 2026
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