May 2021
13May

Fintech and the Retirement Savings System

By Society of Actuaries This report provides a sampling of new financial technologies (fintech) and their applications related to retirement savings systems affecting participants, plan sponsors and service providers. This Executive Summary provides a brief overview of the contents of the report. We first discuss issues directly relevant to pension participants and the decisions they need to make. We then discuss issues relevant to plan sponsors and service providers. Each section also includes references about the fintech area discussed which can be found...

May 13, 2021
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12May

Chicago Boys’ Free-Market Pension Model Is Unraveling in Chile

Chile’s privately run pension funds are in a battle for survival, reeling under the impact of billions of dollars of withdrawals as politicians and social movements attack a system once viewed as a model for the world. Chileans have taken out more than $30 billion from their retirement savings in the past year and congress has authorized a third wave of withdrawals that could drive the figure to more than $50 billion. That would leave the pension funds with about...

May 12, 2021
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06May

US birth rate falls 4% to its lowest point ever

The American birth rate fell for the sixth consecutive year in 2020, with the lowest number of babies born since 1979, according to a new report. Some 3.6 million babies were born in the US in 2020 - marking a 4% decline from the year before, found the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics. The slump was seen across all recorded ethnicities and origins, according to the findings. The national picture mirrors a decline in...

May 6, 2021
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05May

BBC Africa Eye uncovers grand corruption in Nigeria’s pension pot

A new investigation by BBC Africa Eye into pensions in Nigeria has uncovered an unfair and corrupt system which leaves some elderly people sick and penniless, with government workers soliciting extra payments before paying out pensions, people arbitrarily being declared ‘dead’ and having to prove they are alive before their pension is reinstated, and politicians being offered outrageous retirement packages. The five month investigation began when Africa eye was approached by Obaji Akpet – a reporter / producer from Cross...

May 5, 2021
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03May

Ireland. A decent pension system isn’t something we can keep putting off

By John Mercer Ireland is entering a pivotal phase of transformational pensions change that should have a positive impact on individual retirement savers. The good news is that many of the necessary foundations for change are already in place - all that remains is a commitment to prioritising the rollout. The first development has now arrived with the long overdue implementation last week of the EU’s IORP II Directive. This slightly indigestible-sounding piece of legislation will govern the private retirement savings and...

May 3, 2021
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April 2021
29Apr

Pension reform throws harsh light on Irish retirement savings

It was fitting somehow that the biggest regulatory reform of Irish pensions was announced with no fanfare. Just a press release issued without notice at the end of the working day – after 5:30pm. Pensions are a difficult sell and, at first sight, this latest landmark reform is an indicator of why. Called IORP II, the acronym is even more impenetrable than its actual title – the EU directive on the activities and supervision of institutions for occupational retirement provision. Essentially, it is...

April 29, 2021
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26Apr

UK. Private sector DB disappearing ‘more rapidly than thought’

Private sector defined benefit schemes are closing more rapidly than realised, meaning the incomes of newly retired workers are set to fall at a much more dramatic rate in the coming decades than had previously been thought, according to consultancy LCP. A report from the firm found in the private sector the decline of traditional final salary-type pensions is more rapid than previously assumed, while the rise of new ‘pot-of-money’ workplace pensions will take longer to make a real impact than...

April 26, 2021
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March 2021
31Mar

Guyana. IDB study calls for overhaul of pension system

With Guyana’s pensionable cohort projected to reach 20% of the total population size by 2050, a complete overhaul of its pension system is being recommended by a recent Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Study. “The financial sustainability of the pension scheme is at risk, and… without any major reform the increasing pension expenses…will erode the government’s ability to provide other relevant services to the population,” the study stressed, while warning that the window of opportunity for reform is closing rapidly as...

March 31, 2021
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February 2021
22Feb

Albania. Deficit in State Pension Scheme Deepening

The decit in the state pension scheme reached Dollar 506 million at the end of 2020, reaching the highest level since the start of the implementation of the new reform in this area. Government spending on pensions amounted to Dollar 1.34 billion, 2.2% more than in 2019, while contributions for social security payments fell for the rst time since 2016. Economic experts link this phenomenon to the eects of the Covid-19 pandemic, where many people lost their jobs, and in many...

February 22, 2021
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19Feb

Spain Counts on Citizens to Buy Into Revolution for Pensions

Spain is hoping to entice people to prepare for retirement with a voluntary saving plan as it tries to wean them off relying solely on state pensions. The aim is to set up a fund run by private investment companies by the end of the year, offering Spaniards an affordable alternative to supplement their public pension. But unlike some other countries, the system will require workers to opt in rather than being automatically enrolled. “We think there’s a group of middle-...

February 19, 2021
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