July 2022

Three-fifths of European employees want additional pensions advice from employers

Almost three-fifths (58%) of employees across Europe showed high or very high interest in accessing professional advice on managing their pensions via their employer, according to research from Alight Solutions. The Retirement perception index, undertaken in partnership with the University of Granada, was carried out among 2,400 employees in businesses across multiple sectors in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, exploring employees’ awareness, confidence and interest in their national pension system, and their interest in additional support...

March 2022

New European pensions saving regime takes effect this week

New European pensions saving regime takes effect this week

EU legislation which gives effect to a new European pensions savings regime is being introduced this week The Pan-European Personal Pension (PEPP) is a voluntary retirement savings option for EU citizens that complements existing pension schemes. It allows people to pay into the same scheme throughout the EU, even if they move countries. Read also China: National Pension Insurance Co receives green light to start operations Rachel McGovern, director of financial services at Brokers Ireland, which represents 1,225 brokers, says pension providers...

October 2021

Sustainable investment ‘rebooting’ Europe’s private markets, research finds

The rise in demand for sustainable investments is driving a “structural reboot” of private market investing in Europe, with environmental, social and governance funds on track to account for up to two-fifths of the industry’s assets in just a few years. According to research from PwC, ESG private market assets could hit between €775.7bn and €1.2tn by 2025, up from €253bn in 2020, as regulation and client demand force an overhaul of private equity, real estate, infrastructure and private debt...

Sustainability agreements and antitrust – three criteria to distinguish beneficial cooperation from greenwashing

By Maurits Dolmans This paper discusses European competition law as it applies to agreements between market players to reduce, eliminate, or compensate for greenhouse gas emissions. It places these in an economic context, discusses the relevant provisions of the European treaties and applicable case law of the European Court of Justice. It identifies three broad criteria for the non-application of the prohibition of restrictive agreements, or exemption, to sustainability agreements. Source: SSRN 235 views

Post-covid pension reforms in Europe should focus on sustainability – leading macroeconomic influencers

The reforms introduced in European pension systems have placed unnecessary burden on younger population. Experts opine that post-Covid reforms should focus on sustainability and equity. Linda Yueh Linda Yueh, economist at the University of Oxford, shared an article on the equity of pension systems in Europe in the post-Covid era. The ageing population in Europe resulted in the implementation of several reforms to ensure the sustainability of the pension system. Major reforms, however, were implemented following the 2007-2008 global financial crisis and...

September 2021

The Government Debt Iceberg

By Jagadeesh Gokhale Europe and the United States will soon begin to encounter fiscal constraints the like of which we have never seen before. Federal debt as a percentage of GDP more than doubled between 2000 and 2012. According to the US Congressional Budget Office, total national debt is expected to remain close to 100 per cent of GDP during the next decade and begin to increase thereafter as the baby-boomers fully enter retirement. · Debt levels in European Union countries...

August 2021

Europe’s Pension Funds Still Don’t Know How to Treat a Key Risk

The main organization representing European pension funds says it’s still not clear how the industry should balance financial returns against a desire to do more environmental and social investing. The lack of clarity means pension investors representing about $5 trillion may be putting less cash than they otherwise might into sustainable assets. That’s as the need for a decisive reallocation of capital toward planet-saving goals grows more urgent as global warming becomes increasingly deadly. How asset managers treat ESG risk will...

July 2021

From welfare to farewell: the European social-ecological state beyond economic growth

By European Trade Union Institute RPS Submitter, Eloi Laurent This working paper is intended to shed light on a pressing issue: the apparent growth-dependency of European welfare states at a time of weak growth prospects and strong criticisms of growth. Indeed, while the notion of going beyond GDP growth is gaining momentum in the European Union, as elsewhere, and seems rational and desirable to a growing number of citizens and policymakers, it might not be feasible. Highlighting a new ‘welfare-growth-transition...

June 2021

Euro area pension fund statistics: first quarter of 2021

Total assets of euro area pension funds amounted to €3,105 billion in first quarter of 2021, €39 billion lower than in fourth quarter of 2020 Total pension entitlements of euro area pension funds dropped to €2,672 billion in first quarter of 2021, down €109 billion from fourth quarter of 2020 Total assets of euro area pension funds decreased to €3,105 billion in the first quarter of 2021, from €3,144 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020. Investment fund shares accounted for 48.2%...

May 2021

Differences and Similarities in Patterns of Society Ageing in the European Union

By Denisa Kočanová, Viliam Kováč, Jan Buleca Population ageing is a demographic problem, which emphasises the need to be interested in the lives of the most vulnerable group–the elderly. The paper investigates the ageing process and similarity of selected countries in the European Union. The EU Member States were assessed and assigned to appropriate clusters according to several indicators related to the areas that affect the lives of the elderlies, namely health status, labour market conditions, and financial security. We...