August 2024
28Aug

Finland pension funds consider divesting from logging firm after environmental violations

Finnish pension funds including Varma and Elo, both based in Helsinki, are considering divesting from forestry firm Stora Enso with the company being accused of sexism and environmental crimes in the country’s northern region of Suomussalmi, according to an emailed comment to Pensions & Investments. On Aug. 15, logging machinery belonging to Stora Enso was repeatedly driven over a shallow river within a forest in Suomussalmi, and in doing so killed thousands of endangered freshwater pearl mussels, as reported by Finnish public broadcasting...

August 28, 2024
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April 2024
15Apr

Finland intends on cutting pensions

Finance Minister Riikka Purra of Finland has emphasized the necessity of implementing pension cuts as part of the government's efforts to bolster public finances, according to an interview with Helsingin Sanomat, a local newspaper. With the aim of slashing EUR3 billion from the 2025 state budget, discussions surrounding pension reforms have taken center stage in the current political discourse. Purra acknowledged the inevitability of reducing occupational pensions as a component of the government's austerity measures. She highlighted potential strategies such...

April 15, 2024
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June 2023
21Jun

Finnish pension giant invests €500m in newly launched Europe climate-action ETF

Finnish pension giant Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance has invested more than €500m in Amundi’s new MSCI Europe Climate Action Ucits ETF. The fund tracks an index designed to identify European companies assessed as the top 50% sector leaders in terms of their positioning and actions relative to the climate transition. Notably, the ETF gives investors an alternative to ESG and Climate ETFs linked to the Paris-aligned benchmark (PAB) and EU Climate Transition benchmark. The index methodology tracks metrics including carbon intensity, science-based...

June 21, 2023
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December 2022
23Dec

Finnish pension fund manager Varma to monitor human rights impact

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co., Helsinki, said Thursday that it will incorporate human rights as sustainability risks in its investments, operations and supply chain. Varma, which managed €56.4 billion ($54.9 billion) at the end of September, said in a news release that after assessing the human rights risks and impacts of its operations, it established principles for human rights and a commitment to address violations that could impact investments. "Human rights have become increasingly important in the past few years. Russia's...

December 23, 2022
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July 2022
11Jul

Finns consider immigration best way to consolidate pension system – Survey

Raising the pension contributions of employees and employers was the second most popular means to consolidate the funding of pensions, with 34 per cent of respondents regarding it as a good or fairly good idea and 35 per cent as a bad or fairly bad idea. A little over a quarter (26%) of respondents voiced their support for and 37 per cent their reservations about taking on greater risks when investing pension funds. “Finns are somewhat surprisingly not supportive of...

July 11, 2022
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March 2022

Finland’s ageing population increasing at record speed
31Mar

Finland’s ageing population increasing at record speed

Finland’s elderly, one of the world’s largest cohorts compared to the country’s remaining population, is growing rapidly, a new survey has found. Finland ranks third among OECD countries in terms of the largest share of people over 65, the report compiled by the UK-based organisation, Ageing in Place reveals. With 22.49%, Finland trails behind Italy with 23.37% and Japan with 28.79%. This figure also saw a rapid increase in Finland as only 17.26% fitted in that bracket in 2010. The trend can...

March 31, 2022
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January 2021
08Jan

Technology, Labour Market Institutions and Early Retirement: Evidence from Finland

By Naomitsu Yashiro, Tomi Kyyrä, Hyunjeong Hwang, Juha Tuomala There are two major barriers to increasing employment of older workers. First, older workers engaged in codifiable, routine tasks are particularly prone to the risk of being displaced by computers and robots. Second, several countries have in place various labour market institutions that encourage early retirement, such as exceptional entitlements or looser criteria for unemployment and disability benefits applied to older individuals. We present evidence that these two factors reinforce...

January 8, 2021
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December 2020

18Dec

400 000 Finnish pensioners to receive extra pension in December by mistake

In Finland, the government agency responsible for public sector pensions has made a mistake and sent for payment January pensions in December, amounting to over 400 million euros, Finnish public broadcaster YLE reports. Keva, the agency responsible for managing municipal pensions in Finland, has noticed on Wednesday, December 16, that it has accidentally made payments to about 400,000 people a month too early. «It was noticed this morning that the municipal pensions were paid out ahead of schedule due...

December 18, 2020
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March 2020

19Mar

Finnish unions, employers agree crisis proposals over coronavirus

Finnish trade unions and employers on Wednesday agreed measures to support the labour market and promote temporary changes in legislation to shore up the weakening economy, they said in a joint statement. “The troubles of companies are here and now. Businesses need ways to cope with the corona crisis,” said Jyri Hakamies, the head of industry federation EK. The package - which needs to be approved by the centre-left government - includes measures such as shortening the duration of...

March 19, 2020
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February 2020

24Feb

‘Massive Risk’ Drives ESG Bets at $108 Billion Finnish Funds

Two of Finland’s biggest pension funds, with combined assets of $108 billion, are determined to make their portfolios carbon neutral over the next decade and a half, in a race to dodge the fallout of global warming before it’s too late. “Climate change is such a massive risk factor for companies in the future,” Anna Hyrske, head of responsible investments at Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co., said in an interview. Climate change has been on the agenda for years,...

February 24, 2020
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