March 2019

How biomaterials will support China’s ageing population

Chunying Chen remembers the first nanomedicine conference held in China, which took place in 2015. “It was small. Just 500 people,” she says. “Three years later, it had almost tripled in size.” In the past decade, the chemist has also seen her budget for research into how to use nanomaterials to diagnose and treat malignant tumours triple. Her country is investing increasing amounts of money into materials research that relates to health care. Areas such as drug delivery, bone regeneration...

Tecnologías disruptivas y ejemplos de su aplicación en el Sistema Nacional de Salud

Por Carlos Alejadro López Lima, Tulley Alonso Hernádez, Ileana Trápaga Chala, Leticia Goslyn Collymore, Odalys Valdés Pérez La Tecnologías disruptivas o innovación disruptiva se define como aquella tecnología o innovación que conduce a la aparición de productos y servicios que utilizan preferiblemente una estrategia disruptiva (de disruptivo, 'que produce ruptura brusca') frente a una estrategia sostenible a fin de competir contra una tecnología dominante. Este artículo de revisión tiene por objetivo mostrar la aplicación de las diferentes tecnologías disruptivas...

Transformación de los canales de intermediación del ahorro. El papel de las fintech. Una especial consideración a los roboadvisors

Por David Martinez El endurecimiento de las exigencias de solvencia de las entidades crediticias, en un contexto de tipos de interés en mínimos y de coste de capital en máximos, ha intensificado la transformación del sistema de intermediación del ahorro en el Área euro. Éste transita cada vez menos por las entidades crediticias, que se ven sustituidas por los mercados de capitales. En consecuencia, las necesidades de financiación se cubren cada vez de forma más frecuente mediante la emisión...

México. Más de 600,000 trabajadores tienen una afore sin registro

La Consar dio a conocer que existen más de 600,000 trabajadores con cuenta de ahorro para el retiro en una administradora de fondos para el retiro (afore) que aún no se registran en el sistema. La Comisión Nacional del Sistema de Ahorro para el Retiro (Consar) dio a conocer que existen más de 600,000 trabajadores con cuenta de ahorro para el retiro en una administradora de fondos para el retiro (afore) que aún no se registran en el sistema....

A first step towards justice for South African pensioners

Between 2007 and 2013, more than 6,000 pension funds in South Africa were cancelled in a process littered with errors and oversights. Today, Open Secrets has written to five of the country’s largest pension fund administrators to demand swift action to reinstate pension funds that have been incorrectly cancelled. This is the first of many necessary steps of ensuring accountability for a shameful decade in pension fund administration that has harmed many vulnerable pensioners. The regulatory body that is...

China. Gov’t raises basic pension of seniors

The government has increased basic aged-care pension by 5 percent for retired personnel, according to a news release by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on Wednesday. The policy, effective Jan 1, is projected to benefit 118 million employees of companies, government departments and public institutions. According to the release, increasing the basic aged-care pension will help secure retired people a happier life against the backdrop of price hike and a sustainable pension insurance fund. Read more...

US. It just became easier for employers to dump retirees’ pensions

Traditional pensions are disappearing in America, and the federal government just made it easier for employers to get rid of them. With no fanfare in early March, the Treasury Department issued a notice that allows employers to buy out current retirees from their pensions with a one-time lump sum payment. The decision reverses Obama-era guidance, issued in 2015, that had effectively banned the practice after officials determined that lump-sum payments often shortchanged seniors. Now, advocates for the elderly worry...

What Japan Can Teach Us About The Opportunities Of An Ageing Society

Prime Minister Abe’s recent visit to the UK was a chance for the two countries to talk about common issues affecting their future. Let’s hope one of the topics they discussed was how to deal with an ageing society. In the 1970s and 1980s the world looked to Japan to learn about lean manufacturing. After the 2007-8 global financial crisis it looked to Japan to see how to deal with the aftermath of a financial crisis. Japan is a...

‘No change to France retirement age’ after backlash

There will be no change to the minimum retirement age in France, the health minister has confirmed, despite having previously suggested that “a lengthening in the duration of work” may be possible. The move has been described as a “backtrack”, after health minister Agnès Buzyn had previously appeared (on Sunday March 17) to suggest that a new minimum retirement age would be proposed. When questioned by MPs on the topic this week, however, Ms Buzyn said: “No change to...

New Pension Calculation Formula in Bulgaria will not Lead to Pension Cuts

Steps will be taken to ensure that not a single person's pension is lowered by revisions to the pension calculation rules that took effect at the start of 2019, Labour and Social Policy Minister Bisser Petkov said following an extraordinary meeting with Prime Minister Boyko Borrisov on 19th of March, reports BNT. It was convened because of the accumulated public tension a day after the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) released an assessment according to which the changes...