November 2023
07Nov

China pension fund posts 0.33% gain in 2022

The basic pension fund managed by China’s social security fund gained RMB 5.1 billion, or 0.33% in 2022, down from a 4.9% gain in 2021, the National Council for Social Security Fund said on Saturday, reports Reuters. The shrink in yield was mainly impacted by deep changes in global economic and political situations and increasing fluctuations in the financial markets, the state investor said in a statement. China’s stock benchmark CSI 300 lost 21.6% in 2022 and so far this year...

November 7, 2023
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03Nov

ESG in China: A review of practice and research, and future research avenues

By Hongtao Shen, Honghui Lin, Wengi Han & Huiying Wu   This paper reviews the practice and research on environmental, social and governance (ESG) in China. It finds that (1) under China’s top-down framework, ESG practices have grown substantially in ESG disclosure, ESG rating and ESG investing; and (2) ESG research has focused on corporate ESG disclosure and performance as well as ESG investing. Although the topics of the ESG studies reviewed in this paper are similar to those of ESG...

November 3, 2023
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October 2023
24Oct

China, India face daunting challenge to grow retirement security amid demographic, cultural shifts

Retirement systems in China and India, home to the world's largest populations with around 1.4 billion people in each country, are still in nascent stages but are expected to grow as their economies expand and their demographics shift. In both countries, the first pension pillar — a state-sponsored pension system — has been seen as inadequate, and the second pillar — employer-sponsored retirement plans — is often insufficient in meeting people's rising post-retirement needs. A third pillar focused on building...

October 24, 2023
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02Oct

Chinese stocks pose reputational risk to US, Canadian pension funds amid geopolitical tensions, says Alpine Macro strategist

Chinese stocks are becoming a reputational hazard for US and Canadian pension funds because of geopolitical risks, a strategist said. Money managers are having a hard time convincing their boards to invest in Chinese assets even if they see long-term potential, as they worry about being seen to be aligning with a hostile government, according to Alpine Macro, a Montreal-based research firm. As a result, they are reducing their exposure to the country and use any market rallies as an opportunity to sell, it...

October 2, 2023
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September 2023
13Sep

China can’t just rely on boosting births to address aging population issues, Renmin University professor says

China can't just rely on increasing childbirths to address its aging population issues, said Du Peng, vice principal of Renmin University of China. Regardless of how many children are born in China, the number of people who are aged 60 and above will roughly double to more than 500 million in the year 2050, he told reporters during a talk on Wednesday. To minimize the economic impact of such population changes, he said policymakers can take action today: by raising the...

September 13, 2023
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01Sep

Family Planning Confronts Delayed Retirement in China: The Retirement Intention of Only-Child Parents

By Xiao Yu, Yingdong Xu, Yue Sun & Luyao Jiao By establishing a labor-retirement model within China’s unique intergenerational support culture and one-child policy, this study provides evidence of the one-child policy’s early effect on individuals’ retirement decisions. This finding highlights a contradiction between the retirement intentions of the 1960s and 1970s generations, who are most affected by the one-child policy, and the delayed retirement policy of Chinese government. Utilizing data from the CHARLS 2011-2018 and employing OLS, IV, and...

September 1, 2023
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01Sep

Canada’s largest pension fund trims staff as it puts China deals on hold

CPP Investments, Canada's biggest pension fund, has laid off at least five investment professionals at its Hong Kong office as it steps back from deals in China, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Most were on the fund's private equity team and were informed early last month, according to two of the people. The departures have not been previously reported. They added that a managing director who was in charge of the firm's Greater China real estate portfolio had...

September 1, 2023
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August 2023
31Aug

China: Manulife-Sinochem Life launches its first private pension insurance plan

Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance, China's first foreign joint venture life insurer, has introduced its No. 1 private pension insurance product to cater to the aging population. The Chinese JV of the Canadian financial giant launched the Worry-Free Retirement Pension Annuity which grows at an average compound annual rate of 3% if chosen to be received yearly, Yicai Global reported, citing a media statement from the Shanghai-based joint venture. Eligible participants can furthermore enjoy concierge services, as well as home-based or community-based care. "The introduction...

August 31, 2023
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23Aug

US. CalPERS CIO Nicole Musicco says pension fund taking cautious approach to China

The California Public Employees' Retirement System is being cautious in its approach to China because of the political blowback it could face for betting on a geopolitical rival of the U.S., according to Chief Investment Officer Nicole Musicco. "We're being mindful about our exposure in China right now," Ms. Musicco said during an episode of "Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein" — and she added that the pension fund giant is taking pains to "avoid having any big losses if we...

August 23, 2023
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03Aug

Bill Blocks Pensions, Endowments from Investing in ‘Techno-Totalitarian’ China

For instance, they say divestment from fossil fuels blunts performance and hurt investors, and investment managers should only focus on “pecuniary” factors in their evaluation of a potential position. The GOP has gone so far as to sue to prevent ESG from being implemented in several state pension funds, and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proclaimed that ESG allows investment managers for many workplace retirement plans to “push a political agenda at the expense of retirement savers.” Yet the politicization of the...

August 3, 2023
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