October 2020

09Oct

Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Micro-Estimation

By Jonathan Gruber, David A. Wise Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World represents the second stage of an ongoing research project studying the relationship between social security and labor. In the first volume, Jonathan Gruber and David A. Wise revealed enormous disincentives to continued work at older ages in developed countries. Provisions of many social security programs typically encourage retirement by reducing pay for work, inducing older employees to leave the labor force early and magnifying the...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

United Kingdom (UK) Pre-Retirement Pensions Market 2020

By Research and Markets The total UK pensions market grew 16.1% to £16.4bn annual premium equivalent (APE) in 2019. Workplace pensions drove growth as minimum pension contributions increased to 8%. Direct benefit to direct contribution transfers continue as companies de-risk and individuals take advantage of pension freedoms. COVID-19 will bring uncertainty to saving for retirement. The UK economy has officially entered into recession and disposable incomes are set to fall as unemployment rises. This will force many individuals to...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

New Finance: In Search for Analytical Framework

By Jan Monkiewicz Since the beginning of the century, modern financial systems have been experiencing a period of dynamic change. These changes have caused the uniform fabric on which the systems were based for a long time to become eroded and a multitude of alternative solutions to appear in their place. The existing systems are becoming increasingly heterogeneous and increasingly less transparent. In addition to the traditional financial system based on highly regulated financial intermediaries with a legal monopoly,...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

The Pan-European Pension Product Regulation – Europe’s Solution to the ‘Pensions Gap’

By Sebastiaan Niels Hooghiemstra In July 2012, the European Commission asked the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (‘EIOPA’), in the broader context of efforts to develop private funded pensions, to advise on a legal framework for a Single Market for PPPs. Following a Discussion Paper, a Preliminary Report, a draft advice and a Final Report published by EIOPA, Regulation (EU) 2019/1238 (‘PEPPR’) was adopted on 20 June 2019. The PEPPR establishes a 2nd regime (also known as the...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

Pensions for State and Local Government Workers Not Covered by Social Security: Do Benefits Meet Federal Standards?

By Laura Quinby, Jean-Pierre Aubry, Alicia H. Munnell Federal law allows certain state and local governments to exclude employees from Social Security coverage if the employees are provided with a sufficiently generous pension. Approximately 6.5 million such workers were not covered by Social Security in 2018. Retirement systems for non-covered workers have become less generous in recent years, and a few plans could exhaust their trust funds within the next decade, putting beneficiaries at risk. This article examines data...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

US. Can designing DC plans with deferred income annuity options help fill the pension gap?

Pensions, which provided financial security in retirement for previous generations, are all but a thing of the past today, leaving employees looking for the best strategies to ensure they have sufficient savings and income in retirement to last them for as long as they live. Saving in 401(k) and individual retirement accounts is the primary tool today’s savers are using to achieve financial stability in retirement, but guaranteed income is also appealing. Social Security provides one guaranteed income stream...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

Japan. An Unconventional Pension Fund Bets on Volatility’s Return

A small Japanese pension fund known for its aggressive bets on alternative investments is changing tack. The West Japan Machinery Pension Fund has an unconventional strategy with 90% of assets invested in the likes of loans and private equity. While still committed to alternatives and disavowing sovereign bonds, it has been pivoting away from low-liquidity assets such as PE and infrastructure debt, said chief investment officer Yoshisuke Kiguchi. “Instead, we have recently increased convertible bond arbitrage quite a lot...

October 9, 2020
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09Oct

Latin America’s new poor

When the pandemic struck Piura, a city in northern Peru, Daniel Zapata had a part-time job with a market-research firm. The 250 soles ($70) he earned each month paid his fees for a three-year course in business administration. The covid-19 recession put paid to all that. The firm closed, and Mr Zapata, who is 20 and lives with his parents and a sister, has dropped out of his course. The family received 760 soles in emergency aid from Peru’s...

October 9, 2020
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08Oct

EU seeks to boost eurozone with green bond program

The European Union wants to lift the GDP of the eurozone economy by 3% by 2027 through borrowing under a new green and social bond program agreed to in September, attendees heard Tuesday during a webinar. Read also Latin America’s new poor The recovery program, which will launch with a €100 billion ($117.2 billion) SURE bond program, is a "game changer" for investors from United States and Asia because it will help to establish a euro-denominated green and social...

October 8, 2020
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08Oct

Ireland. State’s pension scheme for public servants ‘more sustainable’

Over 40% of the government's 345,000 employees now belong to the less generous pension scheme introduced for new entrants in 2013, according to an expenditure review issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform today. The review describes the introduction of the state's Single Scheme for public servants' pensions as "arguably the most fundamental reform to date" which is set to put the state pension bill on a sustainable footing. Before its introduction, there were fears...

October 8, 2020
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