May 2026

Korea pension giant NPS bolsters operating system to manage risk amid market volatility

Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) is strengthening its operating system to better manage portfolio risk amid uncertainty in global markets, according to Won Joo Seo, executive fund director and chief investment officer of the pension giant. He said that even though the pension fund achieved a “good” record  18.82% investment return last year, it remains vigilant over rising volatility in Korean and international markets. “Global market uncertainty and transformation are becoming more complex and structural. Competition among countries in security, industrial policy...

Pension Fund Investment and Firm Innovation

By Cédric Schneider, Dario Pozzoli & David Pinkus We use a unique database on domestic pension fund investment to analyze the relationship between pension fund investment and innovation within Danish firms. We find a significant positive association between pension fund investment and various measures of innovation, including green technologies for climate change mitigation and adaptation. However, this relationship is much weaker in highly competitive industries,suggesting that pension funds encourage innovation by monitoring and holding managers accountable. Our analysis also shows...

April 2026

UK. Four in five adults unaware of pensions dashboard

Four in five UK adults remain unaware of pensions dashboards, despite the approaching connection deadline and growing expectations that the tool will play a key role in retirement planning, research from KPMG UK has revealed. The study found that 80 per cent of UK adults have not heard of the pensions dashboard, with awareness particularly low among those closest to retirement. Among those aged 55–64, 81 per cent were unaware of the initiative, rising to 87 per cent among those aged...

UK. Pensions dashboards are schemes ready for the next step

TPR dashboards lead Lucy Stone emphasises that connection is just the start of the dashboards journey, urging schemes to keep up the momentum, focus on value data and embrace the opportunities to learn from user testing. We are edging ever closer to people being able to see all their pensions online at a time of their choosing, revolutionising how they plan for retirement. With the deadline for connection less than six months away, three quarters of all records are...

How Will AI Affect Financial Planning for Retirement?

By Luke Delorme  I recently attended a financial advisor conference focused on artificial intelligence. Drawing on what I learned, this post summarizes my thoughts on how AI may reshape financial planning for retirement savers. Spoiler alert: I think it has great potential to help both advisors and individuals. The first iteration of AI tools has already improved retirement planning. For example, forward-thinking advisors are currently using AI note-taking tools, which allow advisors to listen more closely to their clients without missing...

Ghana: NPRA to Launch Digital Platform to Boost Informal Sector Pension Enrolment

THE National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) has announced plans to roll out a comprehensive pension digital platform aimed at significantly increasing pension coverage among informal sector workers across the country. The initiative forms part of a broader policy direction by the Authority to introduce targeted incentives that will encourage workers in the informal economy to enrol onto personal pension schemes and secure their retirement income. Speaking at a media engagement in Accra, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the NPRA, Mr...

Large Language Models in Financial Decision-Making: A Methodological Framework for Evaluating AI Trading Strategies

By Theo Nicolas Sitjar Large Language Models (LLMs) offer new possibilities for financial decision-making, but evaluating their effectiveness in trading requires systematic approaches. This paper describes a practical framework for assessing LLM performance in stock market scenarios. Our method follows a 5-step process: data preparation, prompt engineering, LLM inference, backtesting, and statistical analysis. We include memory mechanisms and standard risk metrics to evaluate trading strategies comprehensively. Through testing against fifteen traditional quantitative baseline strategies, we examine both the potential benefits...

March 2026

Smartphones taking over the lives of Singapore’s seniors

It has happened several times over the past year. Hilda, 32, has found her 77-year-old father nodding off at the dining table, his smartphone propped upright, the same short video looping endlessly in front of him. The clips, usually Facebook Reels or TikTok videos narrated by an artificial voice, range from slapstick gags to condensed movie plots. When he wakes, he instinctively swipes the tabletop, as if the screen were still there. “He spends most of his free time at home, glued...

Why Kenya needs a one-stop pension dashboard now

The Retirement Benefits Authority (RBA) data shows that 7.5 million Kenyans are actively saving for retirement, with many contributing to multiple pension schemes through employer-sponsored schemes, Government-backed schemes or individual pension schemes. Keeping track of projected benefits, contribution history, and fund performance across different schemes can be challenging for these members. Without a centralised view, managing retirement savings requires navigating different platforms, statements and customer service portals. The global pensions landscape is changing and offering solutions to savers on multiple retirement...

February 2026

AI and technology shouldn’t replace retirement planning and policy: auditor

Naz Randeria, director of Reliance Auditing Services, was responding to a claim by tech billionaire Elon Musk that retirement savings could become irrelevant in an age of AI abundance. “It may sound visionary, but Australia’s superannuation system exists precisely because the future is uncertain, not guaranteed,” Randeria said. Musk stated in a recent appearance on the podcast Moonshots with Peter Diamandis, that people should not worry about saving for retirement as it will not be necessary in 10-20 years’ time. He suggested...