April 2019

China Urgently Needs a National Pension System

The problems in China’s pension system are widely known, but very difficult to solve. The central adjustment system for the basic pension funds for enterprise employees was established on July 1 last year and the system’s annual budget was recently made public. This is a step in the right direction. However, in order to thoroughly resolve the crisis in the pension system, national coordination is imperative. It is an inevitable requirement for the rational allocation of labor resources in...

Ghana. SSNIT identifies threat to scheme’s sustainability

The Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) has identified the biggest threat to the sustainability of the scheme and has therefore adopted measures and policy interventions to deal with the emerging hiccups. “After prudent managerial auditing, we have identified among other things that in the current global technological advancement and changing phases of pension schemes good quality human resource or the lack of it, is critical to the survival of any pension scheme. “SSNIT Board and...

EIOPA identifies areas for improvement in the supervision of Prudent Person Rule compliance by institutions for occupational retirement provision

Peer review examined supervisory practices of national competent authorities in their assessment of how institutions for occupational retirement provision invest their capital in the best interest of their members and beneficiaries A risk-based approach or a risk-based approach complemented with quantitative limits is more effective than a compliance-based approach Supervisory practices are determined by legislative frameworks, types of scheme and the maturity of the pension industry The review resulted in 27 recommended actions for 19 NCAs in 16 countries...

España. Sánchez promete una reforma de la Constitución que blinde las pensiones públicas

El presidente del Gobierno y candidato a la reelección, Pedro Sánchez, se ha comprometido este sábado en Canarias a promover, si revalida el cargo, una reforma de la Constitución que blinde el carácter público de las pensiones. En un mitin ante unas 1.200 personas que prácticamente llenaban el auditorio del Centro de Congresos de Arona (sur de la isla de Tenerife), ha detallado que esa reforma que quiere impulsar tendrá por objetivo "blindar el carácter público, la dignidad y...

Chile. Constantes cambios entre los fondos de las AFP impactarían en hasta en 30% el monto de la pensión

En los últimos años han aumentado los traspasos de los afiliados entre los fondos de las AFP. De hecho, en 2018 los movimientos superaron los 2,2 millones, lo que implicó un alza de más de 100% frente al año anterior. Pese a que esto se debería principalmente a que las personas están más atentas al manejo de sus ahorros para la vejez, los constantes cambios de multifondos han tenido un efecto adverso en el patrimonio de los cotizantes. Así,...

OECD warns Japan of risks from ageing population

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on Monday warned of the risks Japan faces due to its ageing population. In 2017, there were 50 Japanese people aged 65 per hundred, while the rest were aged between 20 to 64, and this ratio is projected to rise to 79 per hundred in 2050, according to a report presented by OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria here. "Half of the children born in Japan in 2017 are expected to live...

The future of Spain: five parties, two models

On April 28, Spaniards will go to the polls in a snap national election triggered by a deadlock over the 2019 budget. Whichever government emerges from the vote will have to deal with this and other longstanding economic issues such as persistently high unemployment, ballooning debt and how to finance the pensions system with an ageing population. And on the political front, immigration and the Catalan crisis will continue to shape the national agenda. Spain in a snapshot Spain...

How the World’s Largest Pension Manager Is Trying to Make ESG Investing More Popular

The financial industry has jumped on the impact investing and environmental, social or governance—or ESG—bandwagon. But Hiromichi Mizuno, the man who oversees $1.6 trillion in the world’s largest public pension fund, says true believers on Wall Street are still hard to find, so he is taking his own steps to push ESG and impact investing off the sidelines. As chief investment officer of Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, Mizuno requires his asset managers to integrate ESG into their investment...

UK. State pension age changes ‘risk creating new inequalities’

Making people work longer before they can collect their state pensions risks exacerbating social inequalities and threatens to create new gender inequalities, a report claims. Analysis by the thinktank International Longevity Centre UK (ILC) found that women who struggled to reconcile longer working lives with caring responsibilities would be badly hit by changes to the law. Worst hit, however, would be women with lower education levels, who were projected to lose up to 25% of their monthly pension entitlements...

Achieving Investment Excellence: A Practical Guide for Trustees of Pension Funds, Endowments and Foundations

By Kees Koedijk, Alfred Slager, Jaap Van Dam Achieving Investment Excellence offers trustees and asset managers a comprehensive handbook for improving the quality of their investments. With a stated goal of substantially and sustainably improving annual returns, this book clarifies and demystifies important concepts surrounding trustee duties and responsibilities, investment strategies, analysis, evaluation and much more. Low interest rates are making the high cost of future pension payouts fraught with tension, even as the time and knowledge required to manage these funds...