November 2024

China’s economy adapts to serve older people

One person's aging is another's opportunity. In China, companies and services are adapting to serve what demographers call the silver economy - hundreds of millions of people over the age of 60. NPR's Emily Feng has this report. (SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) EMILY FENG, BYLINE: This is a drumming club in southwestern China for people over 65 years of age only. They've occupied a large warehouse base and filled it with rows of drums and disco lights. ZHU NANFEI: (Speaking Mandarin). FENG: Zhu Nanfei,...

Four Questions to Narrow the Field of Retirement Income Solutions

The ranks of retirement income solutions are already impressive and continue to grow as participants’ needs evolve and providers innovate. It may seem like a tall task for defined contribution (DC) plan sponsors to home in on the solutions that warrant a closer look—even as the growing demand for lifetime income adds urgency to the effort. We think working through four critical questions, which address aspects such as the location, income certainty and accessibility of solutions, can help bring the...

UK. HMRC issues National Insurance act fast warning to boost State Pension before cut-off date

The deadline for those impacted by new State Pension transitional arrangements is fast approaching HM Revenue and Customs bosses have issued a message to people to act ahead of a looming deadline. HMRC officials have disclosed that more than 10,000 payments, amounting to £12.5 million, have been made through the new digital service to boost individuals' State Pensions since its launch in April. With less than six months left to address any National Insurance (NI) record gaps dating back to...

Brazil. Military pensions post largest deficit among retirement systems

The segment is also the one with the most retirement benefits, according to a TCU report Targeted by the fiscal reforms under consideration by the government, Brazil’s military pension system (SPSMFA) recorded a deficit of R$49.73 billion last year, placing it as less sustainable than the General Social Security System (RGPS) and generating a per capita deficit 17 times higher. This data appears in a separate report by Walton Alencar of the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU), presented during the review...

México. El ISSSTE revisará las pensiones de los trabajadores y podrá revocarlas

Martí Batres, director general del ISSSTE, anuncia que las pensiones que excedan el límite de la ley pasarán por una verificación, en la que podrán ser modificadas o revocadas. Las pensiones otorgadas por el Instituto de Seguridad y Servicios Sociales de los Trabajadores del Estado (ISSSTE) tendrán un proceso más riguroso de revisión, verificación e incluso de revocación para aquellas superen el límite establecido por la ley. Martí Batres anunció el viernes que el ISSSTE revisará pensiones como una manera en...

Estos serían los casos en que podrían embargar una pensión en Colombia, tras la reforma del gobierno Petro

Con la entrada en vigencia de la reforma pensional en julio de 2025 surgen diferentes inquietudes alrededor del ahorro pensional y una duda recurrente entre la ciudadanía es cuáles serían los casos en que podría realizarse el embargo de una pensión en Colombia. De acuerdo con la legislación actual, se reconoce que las pensiones no pueden ser sujeto de embargo únicamente podría aplicar sobre ellas el descuento del 50% del valor neto para cuotas alimentarias y créditos a favor de...

US. Why do workers yearn for defined-benefit pension plans?

A closer look at the Boeing negotiations only makes the question more puzzling Boeing Co. unionized workers recently voted to accept the aerospace company's third contract offer and end their strike. The agreement does not include reopening the Boeing (BA) defined-benefit pension plan, which was cited as the major reason that the union rejected the second offer. Even though the strike is over, I find the fact that reopening the pension plan played such a prominent role in the negotiations really...

APG, AIA Thailand turn climate risk into investment opportunity

Two major asset owners discuss how they are deploying capital across the region and targeting sustainable investments in forestry, infrastructure, and green energy. For the nearly $600 billion Dutch pension fund investor, sustainable investment isn't just about ticking boxes – it's about wielding their considerable investment capital to address real-world climate and biodiversity challenges while delivering strong returns, according to Eric van der Maarel, chief executive officer of APG Asset Management’s Singapore office. "Allocating to megatrends with clear sustainability goals is...

Nigeria. Micro Pension Subscribers To Get Free Health Insurance Cover

There are strong indications that Micro Pension Plan(MPP) subscribers in the country will soon get free health insurance cover as part of benefits of subscribing to the micro pension scheme. To this end, LEADERSHIP learnt that the National Pension Commission (PenCom) has had meetings with health insurance stakeholders, comprising the National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA) and some Health Management Organisations(HMOs) on the possibility of procuring this cover for subscribers of the scheme. Hence, the cost of the annual basic health cover...

Canadian sustainability investment standards to launch in December

The Canadian edition of an international set of sustainability investment disclosure standards will be officially released in December, according to the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board. The organization was tasked with creating a set of sustainability investment standards in Canada based on those created by the International Sustainability Standards Board. The two new disclosure metrics — CSDS 1 and CSDS 2 — will be voluntary and are designed to offer consistency, comparability and transparency to sustainability reporting for institutional investors to...