March 2023

UK. Government backs expansion of automatic enrolment

Automatic enrolment was introduced in 2012 with the aim of helping more people save for their retirement. Since then 10.8 million people have been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme and pension participation in the private sector has increased from 41% in 2012 to 86% in 2021, according to recent analysis by the Department for Work and Pensions ("DWP"). We celebrated ten years of automatic enrolment in our previous blog wherein we discussed the possibility of future reform...

Ghana. Government rolls out pension scheme for cocoa farmers

Government, through Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), has rolled out the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme (CFPS) to ensure a decent pension for cocoa farmers, improve their welfare, and also make farming attractive to the youth. This comes after the Cocoa Management Systems (CMS) recorded some momentous strides after piloting the scheme for three weeks in August 2021 in New Edubiase and some other districts in the Ashanti Region. Just as government and private sector workers contribute during their working life, it has...

China’s Cities Are Buried in Debt, but They Keep Shoveling It On

China has long pursued growth by public spending, even after the payoff has faded. Cities stuck with the bill are still spending — and cutting essential services. In 2015, when Shangqiu, a municipality in central China, laid out a plan for the next two decades, it positioned itself as a transportation hub with a sprawling network of railways, highways and river shipping routes. By the end of 2020, Shangqiu had built 114 miles of high-speed rail, and today several national railways...

Key demographic trends that will impact the global economy

The global population is currently experiencing irreversible demographic shifts, from rapid urbanisation to low birth rates. A combination of economic, social, environmental, and political factors has accelerated this transition, as outlined below. The following demographic trends will significantly impact the global economy for decades to come. Urbanisation The United Nations (UN) estimates that over two-thirds of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. Generally, urbanisation can be a positive phenomenon in improving national and individual economic performance, reducing poverty, and improving...

México. 13 recomendaciones de política pública para el ahorro para el retiro

Vanguard y México, ¿cómo vamos? Presentaron esta mañana el estudio Diagnóstico del ahorro en México y el Micrositio México ¿cómo vamos con el ahorro para el retiro?, donde la intención es estimar el mercado potencial de personas que pueden ahorrar para el retiro en México. A partir del Diagnóstico del ahorro en México, de México, ¿cómo vamos? se emiten 13 recomendaciones de política pública, orientadas a distintas áreas: En el sistema de ahorro para el retiro: Planes de ahorro para el...

Colombia. El flujo de las AFP para el mercado de capitales caería 70% con la reforma pensional

La reforma pensional también tiene haciendo cuentas a los inversionistas, pues el nuevo sistema de pilares, que concentra las cotizaciones en Colpensiones, significaría un golpe al flujo del dinero que hoy invierten las Administradoras de Fondos de Pensión (AFP) en el mercado de capitales. Un informe de Davivienda Corredores precisó que, bajo el modelo que existe hoy, los aportes reales al sistema pensional llegan a cerca de $2,77 billones cada mes. Si se mira ese aporte de manera anual, sin...

UK. What are the implications of removing the pensions lifetime allowance?

One of the headline announcements of the budget on 15 March was the scrapping of the lifetime allowance for private pensions. The allowance – which currently stands at just over £1 million – is the maximum that an individual can draw from their pension in their lifetime without paying additional tax. Unsurprisingly, this policy, which will come into force from April 2024, has been criticised by some commentators, as it is higher earners who are likely to benefit most. How does...

The 10 Years Before Retirement Are Critical. How to Be Ready

While retirement planning is a decadeslong endeavor, the way you handle your final decade before leaving the workforce will have a critical impact on how ready you’ll be when that day finally arrives. “It hits about 10 years out—this train is coming to me,” says Danielle Byrd Thompson, a financial professional at Equitable Advisors in Washington, D.C. “It’s like a time clock is starting.” Of course, that final stretch is far easier to navigate when the stock market cooperates. From 2009...

Canadian pension funds embrace ESG

Large Canadian pensions are making “impressive” progress on sustainable investments, according to the second annual Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing. The report examines the progress major Canadian pension funds have made in integrating ESG factors into their governance from 2020 to 2022. In just one year, the number of funds that have made public net-zero portfolio emission commitments by 2050 or sooner has grown from two to nine, which now accounts for or $1.8 trillion or 81% of total...

Five steps to better pensions: Time for a new consensus

By Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association Millions more people are saving into a workplace pension due to the successes of automatic enrolment. However, ten years after Automatic Enrolment was first introduced the PLSA has undertaken a review to find opportunities to improve the retirement savings system. Our new research finds that without reform more than 50% of savers will fail to meet the retirement income targets set by the 2005 Pensions Commission. We are recommending five steps for reform: National objectives: The...