October 2020

15Oct

Workforce Aging, Pension Reforms, and Firm Outcomes

By Francesca Carta, Francesco D’Amuri, Till Von Wachter Raising statutory retirement ages has been a popular policy to increase the labor supply of older workers in the face of population aging. In this paper, we quantify the effect of a sharp and unexpected increase in retirement ages on firms’ input mix and economic outcomes using Italian administrative and survey data on employment, wages, value added and capital. Exploiting information on lifetime pension contributions for the universe of employees, we...

October 15, 2020
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14Oct

U.K. corporate deficits worsen in September

Deficits also worsened for the year ended Sept. 30, from £117.6 billion, said an update Tuesday by the London-based PPF. The PPF is the lifeboat fund for the defined benefit plans of insolvent U.K. companies. The funding ratio of the corporate pension plans worsened to 91.4% as of Sept. 30, down from 92.6% as of Aug. 31. The funding ratio was 93.6% as of Sept. 30, 2019, the update said. Assets were up 0.94% during the month...

October 14, 2020
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13Oct

Portuguese schemes now required to report ESG investment

A new law has been introduced for Portuguese occupational pension funds requiring them to prepare a statement of investment policy principles detailing their approach to risk and to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. The law, which took effect last August, said the statement must include the methodology for assessing investment risk; risk management processes applied; and the asset allocation strategy followed, taking into consideration the type and duration of pension liabilities, as well as ESG factors. The statement...

October 13, 2020
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12Oct

E.U. Strengthening minimum income protection in the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond: Council adopts conclusions

The Council adopted conclusions on strengthening minimum income protection in the EU with the aim to combat poverty and social exclusion during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Read also Portuguese schemes now required to report ESG investment The Council recognises that minimum income schemes contribute to the social protection of the most disadvantaged groups in society, including people hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis. They also have a stabilising effect for the economy as a whole. The Council also acknowledges that...

October 12, 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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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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01Oct

EIOPA sets up its key priorities in the light of the pandemic

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has set out its priorities for 2021-2023 taking into account the current market situation in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the political priorities defined by the European Commission. COVID-19 crisis management, risk mitigation and active support to the recovery of the European economy will be the main focus for the future. Consumer protection will remain a key strategic priority in light of increasing risks emerging from the...

October 1, 2020
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September 2020

28Sep

US. Indiana increased public pension assets despite pandemic

Indiana’s public pension funds for state and local government employees, including teachers, has apparently weathered the financial markets’ volatility during the coronavirus pandemic, new data from the state show. The General Assembly’s Pension Management Oversight Committee heard Wednesday that the Indiana Public Retirement System increased its pension assets by 2.56% to $30.6 billion during the 2020 budget year, which ran from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. Read More @SFChronicle

September 28, 2020
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28Sep

The Covid-19 wake-up call to buttress social investment

The temptation to cut welfare expenditures to reduce deficits inflated by the pandemic must be resisted. Barely having had time to absorb the economic and social aftershocks of the Great Recession, the world is confronted with an even more disruptive exogenous shock—the coronavirus pandemic, costing above all human lives but also causing massive dislocation. As employment opportunities for Millennials are undermined, low-wage stagnation for essential workers is reinforced and work-life balance stresses for women are intensified, the resilience of the European...

September 28, 2020
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23Sep

EU financial regulators asses risks to the financial sector after the outbreak of COVID-19 and call for enhanced cooperation

The impact of the crisis on EU banks’ asset quality is a key concern as significant uncertainty about the timing and size of a recovery persists. The ESAs see a risk of decoupling of financial market performance from the underlying economic activity, and , a prolonged lower for longer interest rate environment which is expected to weigh on the profitability and solvency of financial institutions, as well as contributing to the build-up of valuation risks. Directly following the COVID-19...

September 23, 2020
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