January 2022
06Jan

UK pension risk settlements to see volumes of over £45bn in 2021: Aon

Aon expects the UK pension risk settlement market to see volumes of over £45 billion reported for full-year 2021, making it the third year in a row that it has reached this level. Compared with recent years, the market in the first half of 2021 was relatively subdued with £7.7 billion of bulk annuity deals completed. However, the pace then accelerated in the next six months and Aon expects that there will be close to £30 billion of bulk annuity deals...

January 6, 2022
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06Jan

Commentary: China and ESG — a delicate balance

China and sustainable investing are two of the most important growth drivers for the asset management industry. So far, fund managers have pursued these two efforts in splendid isolation, without worrying about how activism at home might affect business in China. We expect this partition of affairs won't be sustainable for much longer. China represents the single most attractive new growth region for asset managers. It is already the second-largest market (after the U.S.) for asset management services: By year-end...

January 6, 2022
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December 2021
31Dec

Pension And Sovereign Wealth Funds Eye Crypto As Regulators Focus On A Global Crypto Framework

Nothing indicates the ascendance of an asset in the financial system more than a pension fund investing in it. It is the ultimate signal of arrival. The Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund (HFRRF) announced in 2021 that it was investing $25 million in bitcoin, the first time a U.S. pension fund invested in cryptocurrencies. The HFRRF investment is in collaboration with NYDIG through a customized private fund managed by NYDIG, the cryptoasset manager that just completed a $1 billion...

December 31, 2021
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29Dec

US. Rising Inflation Viewed as Biggest Threat to Retirement in 2022

While Americans worried most about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, they now see rising inflation as the biggest risk to their retirement plans. According to Allianz Life’s annual New Year’s Resolutions Study, nearly half (48%) of respondents identified the pandemic as the most worrisome threat of 2021. However, in looking ahead to 2022, a full one-quarter of Americans now view rising inflation as the single greatest risk to their retirement plans—more than doubling from 2020, when only...

December 29, 2021
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October 2021
04Oct

Nigeria. Will the pension industry attain full potential?

Yes, when necessary measures are put in place and the right steps taken, argues Paddy Ezeala The inflation rate is still in double digits; way above 17%. Combined with the continued nosedive of the naira, investors are their wits’ end as to how to navigate the situation. This is not the best of times globally. Most economic indices are pointing downwards in the face of a protracted global Covid-19 pandemic. Great economies are usually those that, among other things, have...

October 4, 2021
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July 2021
01Jul

UK. Half of millennials want cryptocurrencies in pensions

Almost half of millennials would like to invest their pension in cryptocurrencies, study finds. The research on UK pensions explores the appeal of new investment opportunities across different groups of savers. It finds that the appetite for cryptocurrencies is high among millennials at 40%. But digital currencies hold far less appeal for older generations. It was 10% among Gen X (age 41 to 56), 7% for baby boomers (aged 57 to 75) and 10% for the silent generation (aged 76 and older). The...

July 1, 2021
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May 2021
31May

China introduces three-child policy to alleviate problem of ageing population

China's government has announced it is scrapping a policy limiting couples to two children and will now allow them to have three. The change was approved during a Politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping, according to official news agency Xinhua. The government said the problem of an ageing populace was deepening and the change would help to improve the structure of China's population and maintain its advantage in human resources. The policy change will come with "supportive measures, which will be...

May 31, 2021
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14May

Can green fintechs solve the polluting pension problem?

Fintechs have seen green, launching apps that help us track the carbon emissions of our shopping habits, play the stock market in a planet-friendly way and even fight plastic pollution with our debit cards. These offerings are nudging consumers towards better behaviours, but there is one far bigger and far less sexy financial problem this crop of startups now wants to tackle. Pensions. A new survey from YouGov and Money Matter found that 44% of people would switch over to a...

May 14, 2021
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05May

UK. FCA proposes Pension Wise nudge for DC savers

In a consultation today, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today proposed that providers will need to go further than the current signposting in a bid to improve take-up of the free guidance service. Consumers would see appointments made for them, if requested, although they will not be mandatory after MPs on several occasions voted against the idea, believing it could be seen as a tick-box exercise, as opposed to a beneficial part of the process. Upon deciding, in principle, how to...

May 5, 2021
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April 2021
15Apr

Are Dutch pensions hesitant to absorb direct real estate write-offs?

Dutch pension funds reported substantially higher returns on their direct real estate returns in 2020 than on their investments in listed real estate equities during the same period. Despite the heavy losses in segments of the real estate market as a result of the coronavirus lockdowns, the value of Dutch pension funds’ direct real estate investments as reported to pensions regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) increased by 1% to €83.5bn compared with a reported decrease of 7% to €56.7bn for listed real estate. The...

April 15, 2021
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