July 2021
28Jul

Chileans tapped into pensions to survive the pandemic – now what?

Chile’s celebrated $200bn private pensions system, based on individual capital accounts, has served as a model for dozens of emerging markets since it was established 40 years ago during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. The system was trailblazing: Chile was the first country to eschew a government-backed pension system and replace it with mandatory private retirement savings. Read also Latin America. What Comes After the Commodity Super Cycle and the Pandemic? Policies to Tackle Poverty and Inequality in Latin America Over...

July 28, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
21Jul

Austrian sustainable funds see record rise in AUM to €22.4bn

Assets under management (AUM) for Austrian sustainability-driven investment funds rose by 29% to €22.4bn in the first half of this year, up from €17.3bn in 2020, according to figures published last week by the Vienna-based investment companies association VÖIG. The number of sustainable funds on the market grew from 96 in 2020 to 106 in the first half of this year, figures show. Last year the Fachverband der Pensionskassen, Austria’s occupational pension fund association, floated the idea of a “green supplementary...

July 21, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...

May 2021
20May

Prospective Longevity

By Warren C. Sanderson, Sergei Scherbov From two leading experts, a revolutionary new way to think about and measure aging. Aging is a complex phenomenon. We usually think of chronological age as a benchmark, but it is actually a backward way of defining lifespan. It tells us how long we’ve lived so far, but what about the rest of our lives? In this pathbreaking book, Warren C. Sanderson and Sergei Scherbov provide a new way to measure individual and population aging. Instead...

May 20, 2021
Aging, Books, , ,
Read more...
20May

Scaling Up Sustainable Investment through Blockchain-Based Project Bonds

By Yushi Chen, Ulrich Volz This paper explores options for mobilizing domestic savings through fintech solutions to scale up sustainable investment. Most developing and emerging economies face an urgent need to scale up sustainable finance for low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure investment, yet underdeveloped capital markets tend to inhibit domestic resource mobilization for infrastructure investment. At the same time, domestic savers in many developing and emerging economies face a scarcity of “safe” assets in the local currency, resulting in the exporting...

May 20, 2021
Articles, Investing, Savings, , , ,
Read more...
12May

Kenya. Civil servants mass departure pushes pension to Sh150bn

Mass retirement of civil servants has pushed pension payouts to more than Sh150 billion, underlining the burden of a fast-aging public service to taxpayers on the back of delays in implementing reforms in the past. The Treasury has projected the pension department will require Sh153.64 billion in the financial year starting July 2021 to honour monthly pensions claims and gratuity pay by senior citizens. Read also South Africa: Green light for infrastructure investment by retirement funds? This is a 38.24 percent jump...

May 12, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...

February 2021
23Feb

Swiss scheme assets expected to drop by 2035 if fossil investments kept

Swiss pension funds will experience on average a 10% loss in assets in the next 15 years if they continue to invest in fossil fuels and industries with high CO2 emissions, according to a report by Climate Alliance, a group of civil society organizations. Pension funds with an above-average share of foreign equities and bonds in their portfolios carrying high climate risks could see assets declining by 18%. The study predicted funding ratios to sink to 90% with assets falling...

February 23, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
22Feb

U.S. Retirement Crisis Hits Black Americans Hard

Kimberly Owens doesn’t know if retirement will ever be a reality for her. A well-educated project coordinator in her late 40s, she has pulled from her retirement funds for emergencies twice in 20 years. Her 401(k) balance is in the low-five figures. “I’m going to be working until I am 75 at this rate,” said Ms. Owens, who works for the New Haven, Conn., campus of a medical-device company. “I’m not anywhere close to where I thought I was going...

February 22, 2021
News, Slider, , , ,
Read more...
19Feb

The ongoing sustainability journey for UK pension schemes

With over £1.3trillion of investments held in the occupational pension arrangements of over 24 million of its citizens, it’s easy to see why pension schemes are an essential part of the UK government’s drive to net-zero. In terms of wider sustainability issues, however, trust law is slower to respond, leaving pension scheme trustees with difficult decisions in some instances. This article provides an overview of the current state of play. Read also Deutsche Bank inks buy-in deal for U.K. pension...

February 19, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...

January 2021

15Jan

UK Asset Owners and Managers to Form Sustainability Alliance

How can pension plans and financial managers boost sustainable investing? By forming a group to do so. Read also U.K. government cuts administration fees for smallest DC pots British asset owners and managers are forging an alliance with that in mind. It’s in response to greater calls from regulators in the country to further the fight against climate change and promote other societal goals. Read also U.K. corporate funds finish 2020 with increased deficits The steering group that convened this week...

January 15, 2021
News, Slider, , ,
Read more...
13Jan

U.K. corporate funds finish 2020 with increased deficits

The total deficit of U.K. defined benefit funds covered by the Pension Protection Fund's 7800 index increased 9.6% in December, to £86.4 billion ($117.3 billion). The deficit was £78.8 billion at the end of November. Deficits also worsened for the year ended Dec. 31, from £10.9 billion, said an update Tuesday by the London-based PPF. The PPF is the lifeboat fund for the defined benefit plans of insolvent U.K. companies. The funding ratio of the corporate pension plans worsened...

January 13, 2021
News, Slider, , , , ,
Read more...