May 2023

The Effects of Non-Contributory Pensions on Material and Subjective Well Being

By Rosangela Bando, Sebastian Galiani & Paul Gertler Public expenditures on non-contributory pensions are equivalent to at least 1 percent of GDP in several countries in Latin America and is expected to increase. We explore the effect of non-contributory pensions on the well-being of the beneficiary population by studying the Pension 65 program in Peru, which uses a poverty eligibility threshold. We find that the program reduced the average score of beneficiaries on the Geriatric Depression Scale by nine percent...

April 2023

Incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Factors into fixed income investment

By The World Bank Group  A growing body of research shows that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors are material credit risk for fixed income investors. The evidence suggests that incorporating ESG into fixed income investing should be part of the overall credit risk analysis and should contribute to more stable financial returns. Its also dispels the myth that incorporating ESG means having to sacrifice financial returns. ESG investing is increasingly becoming part of the mainstream investment process for fixed income investors, as opposed...

Reforming against the demographic clock

By Allianz Research  The Covid-19 pandemic erased life-expectancy gains of almost a decade, pushing population aging and pension reform into the background. In fact, to alleviate the financial burden on private households and companies, governments not only put together aid packages worth billions of euros that drove up national debt, but also postponed already agreed upon reform measures, lowered contribution rates and allowed early withdrawals from retirement plans. As a result, the build-up of future pension entitlements and retirement savings slowed,...

Priorities for social security Trends, challenges and solutions

By Raúl Ruggia-Frick The International Social Security Association (ISSA) draws its value, strength and dynamism from its global membership, which consists of national institutions that administer the main social security programmes in their countries. This gives the Association a unique and privileged vantage point from which to identify and analyse priority administration and policy challenges in social security, and the many innovative responses and creative solutions to these. The ISSA was looking to the future when it set the priorities of...

March 2023

Pay-as-They-Get-In: Attitudes Towards Migrants and Pension Systems

By Tito Boeri, Matteo Gamalerio, Massimo Morelli & Margherita Negri We study whether a better knowledge of the functioning of pay-as-you-go pension systems and recent demographic trends in the hosting country affects natives' attitudes towards immigration. In two online experiments in Italy and Spain, we randomly treated participants with a video explaining how, in pay-as-you-go pension systems, the payment of current pensions depends on the contributions paid by current workers. The video also explains that the ratio between the number of...

February 2023

Financial literacy, longevity literacy, and retirement readiness

By Paul Yakoboski, Annamaria Lusardi & Andrea Hasler Six years of data from the TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) clearly demonstrate that U.S. adults with greater financial literacy tend to have better financial well-being. This report shows that retirement readiness, a specific realm of financial well-being, likewise tends to be better among those with greater financial literacy. In addition, it shows that retirement readiness is also related to longevity literacy. While typically an overlooked factor, the importance of...

December 2022

Can Investors Save the Planet? – NZAMI and Fiduciary Duty

By Tom Gosling & Iain MacNeil Asset manager signatories of the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative, part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, have committed to investing in line with the Race to Zero goal of limiting global warming to 1.5oC with limited or no overshoot. Given that a recent report from United Nations Environment Programme says that there is “no credible pathway” in place to 1.5oC, we explore the implications for asset managers, as fiduciaries, of investing...

OECD Pensions Outlook 2022

The OECD Pensions Outlook discusses how to introduce, develop and strengthen asset-backed pension arrangements, the role that employers can play in their provision, and the implication of different fee structures on individuals saving for retirement and on providers. The 2022 edition focuses on describing best practices for developing mortality tables and providing policy guidance on how to design, implement and continue the operation of non-guaranteed lifetime retirement income arrangements. Get the report here

November 2022

State and Local Pensions: What Now?

By Alicia H. Munnell In the wake of the financial crisis and Great Recession, the health of state and local pension plans has emerged as a front burner policy issue. Elected officials, academic experts, and the media alike have pointed to funding shortfalls with alarm, expressing concern that pension promises are unsustainable or will squeeze out other pressing government priorities. A few local governments have even filed for bankruptcy, with pensions cited as a major cause. Alicia H. Munnell draws on...

September 2022

The National Landscape of State Retirement Benefits

By Jonathan Moody, Anthony Randazzo Retirement security is ultimately about retirement income. Families and individuals want to know that during their retirement years they will have enough weekly, monthly, or annual income to live comfortably and meet their basic needs. Of course, many people aspire to more than just the basics. Ask even a handful of individuals about how they want to live in retirement, and you’ll hear a wide range of preferences. Expenses can vary from family-to-family, too, depending on housing, health...