March 2021

Regulation and economics converge in ESG

By Sarah Rundell Investors from Schroders, Trillium and PensionDanmark discuss how a changing regulatory picture and the economics of sustainable investment are coming together to create a tipping point in ESG, but they warn their peers to look beyond the label to what is on the inside. In keeping with being one of the first investors in wind energy years ago, Denmark’s PensionDanmark was also an original investor in the country’s state of the art energy island in the North Sea....

México. Educación financiera para la mujer, es progreso para todos

Por Rebeca Feria García Es evidente que somos parte de una sociedad que forja y arropa serios problemas en contra de nosotras las mujeres. Elegir un tema para hablar este mes a propósito del Dia Internacional de la Mujer, resulta complejo, esto porque son varios temas que nos tiene en una posición de desventaja y que urge atender. Por mencionar algunos: violencia de género (en todas sus formas), acceso a educación, oportunidades de empleo, nivel de sueldos y acceso a...

México. Biva hace llamado a inversionistas y empresas a impulsar la igualdad salarial

Por Judith Santiago En el marco del Día Internacional de la Mujer, la Bolsa Institucional de Valores (Biva) hizo un llamado a inversionistas y empresas para cerrar la brecha salarial entre hombres y mujeres en México. “Hoy estamos solicitando e invitando a los principales inversionistas, como afores, manejadores de activos nacionales e internacionales, fondos inversión de México a comprometerse a buscar condiciones de equidad salarial no sólo dentro de sus firmas, sino haciendo extensiva esta iniciativa a las empresas que ellos...

UK. Pension challenges women face will impact on their retirement

By Jessica List March 8 marks International Women’s Day and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The campaign theme for this year is ‘Choose To Challenge’. The reason this has been chosen is that the organisers recognise that a challenged world is an alert world, and from challenge comes change. It is amazing to think that International Women’s Day is over 100 years old, the first gathering was in 1911. Much has changed over this time but according...

Taking a workforce break to raise children hurts retirement savings – economist

By Margarida Correia Taking time off from the workforce to take care of children can put a serious dent in workers’ long-term retirement savings. That was one of the central points that Michael Madowitz, an economist with the Center for American Progress, made as the keynote speaker Monday at Pensions & Investments' 2021 Defined Contribution Virtual Conference. A 29-year-old woman earning $44,000 who decides to take two years off for raising a child would not simply lose $88,000 for the two years she...

UK Budget: Sunak freezes lifetime allowance for pensions contributions

By Jenna Brown, Christopher Copper-Ind Britain's finance minister, Rishi Sunak, has frozen the lifetime allowance (LTA) for pension contributions at just over £1m for the remainder of this Parliament, and will be keeping IHT at the current level for a further five years. Read also UK. Women retirees win £2.7bn for underpaid pensions The Chancellor said the LTA would remain at its current level of £1,073,100 for 2020/21 rather than increasing in line with inflation. It had been expected to rise by...

Financial wellness can foster pension system in China

By Daisy Ho China faces mounting pension and retirement challenges, but it's not without silver linings. It's well known that China's huge and rapidly aging population will grapple with a shortage of pension coverage that looks set to worsen over the next few years. There is no quick fix for state pensions falling short of growing retirement needs, but policymakers see promoting private retirement saving schemes as a key means of filling the gap. Here, we see some encouraging signs, especially when...

US. Pension Relief Plan in COVID-19 Stimulus Bill That Passes House

On Saturday, a measure to give troubled multiemployer pension plans assistance from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) passed the House of Representatives, as part of a larger $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package from President Joe Biden. Read also US. Stimulus Bill Freezes Retirement Plan Contribution Limits The federal stimulus package, which includes $1,400 checks for many Americans and increased funding for vaccines, also holds the Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act of 2021 (EPPRA), an update to the Butch Lewis Act....

US. Prelude to a State Pension Bailout

By Andrew G. Biggs After decades of mismanagement, state and local government pensions face unfunded liabilities topping $4.2 trillion. When a major public plan finally runs dry, you can bet Congress will bail it out no matter the crippling cost. Congressional Democrats’ Covid-relief package includes a multibillion-dollar bailout for union-affiliated private-sector multiemployer pensions. If politicians will bail out truckers’ and coal miners’ pensions, why would they turn away teachers and firefighters? Multiemployer pensions are jointly run by labor unions and employers,...

February 2021

Ten degrees of sustainability

By Tanya Broadfield In November, when COP26 takes place in Glasgow, the eyes of the world will be looking at what progress the UK has made towards delivering sustainability targets to support net zero and the tackling of climate change. Savills has identified 10 drivers of change we can expect to hear more about this year. 1. TCFD and climate transparency A raft of sustainability disclosure requirements is coming and The Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is leading the way. Since January,...