April 2024
03Apr

53% of Americans surveyed feel they are behind on retirement planning and savings, CNBC poll finds

CNBC's International Your Money Financial Security Survey polled about 500 people each in nine countries. Of the 498 people surveyed in the U.S., more than half (53%) said they're behind schedule in retirement planning and savings. The poll was conducted by SurveyMonkey. "I think most Americans do struggle to save enough for retirement," said David Blanchett, a certified financial planner and head of retirement research for PGIM, a money manager. As part of its National Financial Literacy Month efforts, CNBC will...

April 3, 2024
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03Apr

Serbian voluntary pension funds’ assets rise 11.5% y/y at end-2023

The net assets held by voluntary pension funds (VPFs) in Serbia rose 11.5% on the year to 53.8 billion dinars ($495 million/461 million euro) at the end of 2023, the country's central bank, NBS, said. The volume of net assets was up 2.7% compared to the end of September, NBS said in a statement on Monday. At the close of December, the majority of VPF assets were allocated to government securities, comprising 70%, with balances in custody accounts and bank time...

April 3, 2024
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March 2024
27Mar

Surge in China personal pension accounts, contributions lag

The number of personal pension fund accounts surged last year, but the scheme designed to shore up China’s pension system remained hamstrung by low contributions and a lack of investment, reports Caixin. More than 50 million people had set up personal pension accounts as of the end of last year, Zhai Yanli, director-general of the Social Insurance Management Center at the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said Wednesday at an industry conference in Beijing. The number was up from...

March 27, 2024
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15Mar

The next stage of ESG evolution in the pension landscape

By Investment Institute A juggernaut that’s losing momentum or just refiring its engine? This question on ESG investing has come to the fore due to a confluence of exceptional events in 2022. After meeting investors’ return expectations since the 2015 Paris Agreement, last year’s savage bear market hit a broad range of investment strategies, no matter their intrinsic merits. ESG was no exception. The episode showed that ESG investments are exposed to periodic setbacks due to a larger dynamic that has little to do with...

March 15, 2024
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15Mar

Unpackaging ESG: Evidence from 401(k) Investment

By Jiaxing Tian & Jiahong Shi We study how investors respond to scandals related to three distinct aspects of ESG--E(nvironmental), S(ocial) and G(overnance)--in their retirement savings. Using data on 401(k) investments, we show that nearby ESG scandals correlate with increased ESG fund additions and flows, possibly through ``evoking'' their existing sustainable preferences. Investors with different characteristics respond heterogeneously to E, S and G scandals. In magnitude, old investors are twice as likely as young investors to add ESG funds to...

March 15, 2024
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15Mar

Japan. World’s largest pension fund to resume foreign stock lending

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) has confirmed it will resume foreign stock lending after it first suspended the practice in December 2019. In the future, the fund intends to “promptly proceed” with specific practical measures such as the selection of foreign stock lending agents by asset management organisations. However, GPIF does not intend to carry out lending of domestic stocks. The fund will resume its activities in foreign stock lending (securities loan management) with a number of foreign stock lending initiatives. GPIF...

March 15, 2024
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14Mar

US. Around 20% of people have no retirement savings, survey finds

The AARP and the Ad Council launched a campaign called “This is Pretirement” to help encourage people to seriously think about their retirement plans. “The idea of creating a new campaign to give people small, actionable steps, to really get their retirement savings on track but remove that shame and fear, which is all over us when it really comes to retirement savings,” Mary Liz Burns with the AARP said. “You know, we did a financial trends survey, we’ve been doing it since the pandemic,”...

March 14, 2024
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06Mar

Expert panel: How DC plan members can hedge longevity risk for more effective decumulation

Retiring baby boomers are in an era of decumulation anxiety, as they convert their pension assets into income that they fear won’t hold up over the entirety of their retirement. The decumulation problem is complex for defined contribution pension plan sponsors because it involves transferring lump sum pension assets to retirees who may lack investment expertise and who may not know how to distribute their savings to cover their entire retirement horizon. It’s not obvious how to calibrate between having the desired...

March 6, 2024
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05Mar

US. More households are prepared for retirement – but this good news might not last

Even with the improvement, two out of five households are still at risk, according to the National Retirement Risk Index. The release of the Federal Reserve's 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) offers an opportunity to reassess Americans' retirement preparedness as measured by the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI). The NRRI estimates the share of American households that are at risk of being unable to maintain their preretirement standard of living in retirement. Constructing the NRRI involves three steps: 1) projecting a replacement...

March 5, 2024
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04Mar

US. Retirement Account Balances Hit Their Highest Levels in Nearly Two Years

Key Takeaways 37% of workers increased their retirement savings contribution in 2023, boosting average account balances to their highest levels in nearly two years. Fidelity recommends that individuals save at least ten times their income by age 67, or 15% of their annual pre-tax income each year, to retire comfortably. As of year-end 2023, the average 401(k) balance of Gen X workers had reached more than half a million dollars ($501,000). Improved market conditions and consistent contributions boosted average retirement...

March 4, 2024
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