September 2017

25Sep

Swiss voters reject raising women’s retirement age

Swiss voters rejected raising women’s retirement age to 65 in a referendum on Sunday on shoring up the wealthy nation’s pension system as a wave of Baby Boomers stops working. Authorities pushing the first serious reform of the pension system in two decades had warned that old-age benefits were increasingly at risk as life expectancy rises and interest rates remain exceptionally low, cutting investment yields. But it fell by a margin of 53-47 percent, sending the government back to the...

September 25, 2017
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15Sep

Why UBS Is Bringing Its Climate-Proofing Strategy to Proxy Voting

UBS Group AG increased its backing of shareholder climate resolutions this year, according to Christopher Greenwald, head of sustainable investing research at UBS Asset Management. UBS, which has more than $1 trillion of its $3.7 trillion in assets under management in sustainable and responsible strategies, made the firm-wide change after a collaboration with a client. The Swiss firm joins other asset managers, including State Street, Blackrock and Vanguard, that are stepping up their focus on climate change in discussions with...

September 15, 2017
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14Sep

Polls show Swiss pension reform hangs in the balance

According to a survey by 20 Minutes publisher Tamedia, the reform will be narrowly rejected, with only 48 percent in favour of the plan and 49 percent against it. Three percent said they had not decided. However a second survey by research institute gfs.bern showed the reverse, with 51 percent in favour of the reforms, a slight decrease from the 53 percent who expressed support for the plan during the institute’s first survey in August. The vote takes place on...

September 14, 2017
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04Sep

Switzerland. Pensions 2020 is a reform in name only

The original primary goal of the reform was to maintain the level of support offered by our pensions system. With support from the government, parliament reformulated this goal and – with a wafer-thin majority – pushed through a reform that expands old age pensions instead of restructuring it. Pensions 2020 has degenerated into an unfair, superficial reform that makes a mockery of the inter-generational contract. The reform of the old age and disability pension is unfair, because it leads two...

September 4, 2017
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August 2017

30Aug

Ageing population keeps Swiss millennials up at night

Switzerland’s ageing population is the most serious issue facing the country today, followed by inequality and climate change, according to Swiss millennials who took part in a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Shapers community. Around 63% of Swiss people aged 18-35 believe the ageing population is the most serious problem affecting the small alpine nation right now, followed by inequality (51%), climate change (38%) and loss of privacy (34%), the WEF reported on Monday. The third edition...

August 30, 2017
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24Aug

Switzerland. ‘If nothing changes, the young will pay twice’

Will Interior Minister Alain Berset be able to convince voters to back reforms of the old-age pension scheme? Interviewed by swissinfo.ch at the recent Congress of the Swiss Abroad in Basel, he discusses young people, women and billionaires. Faced with an aging population, reduced economic growth and low interest rates, the government and a parliamentary majority are calling for a sweeping reform of the old-age social security system to ensure that pensions can still be paid for in years to...

August 24, 2017
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July 2017

26Jul

Swiss Pension Fund Buys Bank

A first in Swiss banking: a pension fund is buying up a private bank in Switzerland with a view to creating a pension-focused bank. It stands out among the raft of recent deals in Switzerland: Tellco Vorsorge in central Switzerland is buying Zurich-based Dominick Private Bank. Together, they will become Switzerland's first pension-focused bank, the two said in a statement on Tuesday. While consolidation has been rife among private banks in recent years, the move marks the first time a pension...

July 26, 2017
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