December 2017

Comparison of Psychosocial Factors Affecting the Demands for Pension Plans Between American and Chinese Residents

By Ruiqi Tian (Southwest Jiao Tong University - Psychological Research and Counseling Center) & Ruilin Tian (North Dakota State University - Department of Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems) Pension becomes more and more important as people are living longer and pursuing higher living quality after retirement. This paper is to analyze the psychosocial factors that affect people’s pension demands in the US as well as in China. As two representative countries that have different pension systems, cultures, value systems, family...

China’s pension funds struggling to cope with ageing population-state media

Thirteen pension funds in regions and administrative units around China only have enough money to pay less than one year’s worth of pensions, media reported on Monday, as the country struggles with an ageing population and shortfalls in the nation’s pension schemes. Guangxi, Jiangxi, Hainan, Inner Mongolia, Hubei, Shaanxi, Tianjin, Hebei, Liaoning, Jilin, Qinghai, Heilongjiang and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps can all pay less than one year’s worth of pensions to workers covered under the respective funds, the...

November 2017

China. Fintech energizes real economy

Chinese financial technology or fintech firms are expected to lead industry innovation and facilitate growth of small and medium-sized enterprises or SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region, said an executive of a leading Chinese fintech company. Tang Ning, founder and CEO of Beijing-based CreditEase, said tremendous development opportunities await fintech firms as well as peer-to-peer or P2P lenders in the next decade despite a stricter regulatory environment. After more than 10 years of development, China's fintech has entered the world's top league....

China taps state firms to buttress pensions as society ages

China on Saturday (Nov 18) announced a pilot programme to help pension schemes meet growing pressure from an ageing society by transferring shares of state-owned firms to social security funds. A document released by the country's State Council, or cabinet, said the programme would begin this year with shares of up to seven SOEs to be transferred. The plan is intended to help make up for shortfalls in the nation's pension schemes and will be expanded in 2018 to involve more...

China’s pensioners to get customised mutual-fund products for stock investment

China’s pensioners will have a new channel to invest in the nation’s US$7.7 trillion stock market, as the securities regulator outlines requirements for asset allocations and holding periods for a new type of mutual fund serving retirees. Such funds should adopt a strategy of “stable asset allocations” and pursue a “long-term increase in asset values”, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a guideline published on its website, inviting public feedback. The new, customised funds can invest in fund-of-funds...

October 2017

China. Nation to reduce disparity in pensions, expand jobs

China will continue its policies to boost employment and make further efforts to coordinate pensions across provincial regions to help cover more people, a top human resources regulator said on Sunday. "We will continue the strategy to prioritize employment, especially to integrate with macroeconomic, industrial and financial policies, to create more jobs," Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, said at a news conference hosted by the press center of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party...

China. Revised rules to benefit pensions

China released revised regulation on securities insurance and underwriting on Tuesday that gives insurance funds priority to subscribe to new shares offline, a move to benefit the public and improve market-oriented stock pricing. The revised regulation said at least 40 percent of new shares placed offline should first seek public offering funds, social security funds, and basic pension funds, according to the official website of Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council. It added that a certain proportion of new shares...

September 2017

Hong Kong needs to reform pension fund system: PwC report

Hong Kong's pension fund, Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF), a system which covers 73 percent of the employed population in Hong Kong, needs to address problems to manage risks, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report said on Tuesday. The problems include high fees, unattractive returns, a reliance on paper-based processing, and a blanket approach that offers few incentives for members to pay more into their MPF portfolios, said PwC's Review of Hong Kong's MPF System: Recommendations for Key Reforms. Hong Kong is not immune...

APG and E Fund Management will launch the world’s first China Sustainable and Responsible Focus Investment Strategy

APG, the largest European pension asset manager and administrator, together with E Fund, the third largest fund manager in China, announced today that it will launch the first concentrated equities strategy that invests in ChinaA-shares and adheres to sustainable & responsible investing frameworks and criteria. "APG is a firm believer and promoter of responsible investing. We are happy to partner with E Fund to establish this milestone to embrace our role and duty as responsible long term asset manager, for the benefit of our clients....

August 2017

Here’s how China’s Ageing will Narrow Income Gaps in West

In recent years politicians and thinkers in the developed world have found themselves struggling to explain three trends that have gripped advanced economies: the long-term fall in real interest rates adjusted for inflation, the fall in workers’ real wages, and the sharp rise in inequality between rich and poor. In truth, these three trends are easy enough to understand if you take a global, rather than a national or regional view. They can all be explained by the economic rise of...