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March 2025

2024 financial services monitor know better do better

By Old Mutual The key objective of the Old Mutual Financial Services Monitor is to provide a deep understanding of the working Ghanaian market, uncovering financial attitudes, perceptions, and behaviour in the informal and formal sectors. What makes Old Mutual’s Financial Services Monitor unique, is that its core objective is to support Old Mutual’s drive to champion the financial well-being of Ghanaians. This is aligned to Old Mutual’s overall purpose of becoming our customers’ first choice to sustain, grow and protect...

Pension Reform and Stock Market Development

By Shujaat Khan, Bo Li & Yunhui Zhao We highlight the strong connection between developing fully-funded, individually-owned, collectively-managed, mandatory/incentivized (FICMI) pension schemes and the development of domestic stock markets. We do so by building a stylized model and complementing the analysis with cross-country empirical analysis and case studies. We also highlight the challenges of individual impatience, network externalities, and coordination failure in long-term equity investments, which are crucial for stock market development and technological innovation. We find that FICMI pension...

ETFs set to be high on the menu for Hong Kong pension funds

Asset managers in Hong Kong could have a greater incentive to launch lower-cost passive solutions following the rollout of the digital platform for the local pensions sector, industry experts tell Ignites Asia. The eMPF, a digital version of the territory’s Mandatory Provident Fund retirement scheme launched in June 2024 after years of development, with all of Hong Kong’s 24 retirement saving schemes scheduled to join the platform by the end of 2025. The new platform looks to address long-standing criticisms of...

US. A group of Democratic New York senators are asking the state pension to divest from Tesla, citing ‘increasingly perilous’ risk with Elon Musk as CEO

As the price of Tesla shares plummet, a group of Democratic New York state senators are urging the state’s comptroller to divest the state pension fund’s position in the Elon Musk–run automaker. The senators—a group of 23 Democratic representatives led by Senator Patricia Fahy (D—Albany)—sent a letter to the New York State Comptroller, Thomas Napoli, on Tuesday afternoon, asserting that Tesla’s volatile stock performance may pose an “increasingly perilous and financially unsustainable risk” to the pension fund, particularly if Elon Musk remains...

UK Officials Urge Pension Funds to Invest 10% of Assets at Home

UK government officials are piling pressure on pension fund managers to commit 10% of their assets to listed and unlisted British equities as part of a rebooted Mansion House compact in the summer. Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, has suggested a voluntary 10% allocation to the UK during conversations with the industry, according to five investment managers who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. One of the people said the request carried an implicit threat that...

South Korea’s NPS pivots to sustainability, dials up risks in the portfolio

South Korea state pension fund National Pension Service (NPS) has delivered a new return record in 2024 driven by US tech stocks’ relentless rally, while its investments in global fixed income and alternatives also posted double-digit returns. This year, the world’s third-largest pension fund is gearing up to reduce coal investments to promote sustainability in the portfolio, and target riskier assets to ensure sustainability in funding. NPS announced a 15 per cent return on a money-weighted basis in 2024, which was...

Stocks are down. What does this mean for older, younger Americans with 401(k)s?

Stocks tumbled this week amid growing concerns over the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The benchmark S&P 500 avoided correction territory ‒ defined as at least a 10% decline from a recent high ‒ and ended the day down 0.76% at 5,572.07 points, up from a daily low of 5,528.41. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 1.14%, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.18%. Investment strategists told USA TODAY that the recent dip is no reason for Americans with retirement accounts such as 401(k)s...

South Africa . Ramaphosa assures MPs pension funds used to invest in infrastructure will be protected

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured MPs that the funds of pensioners that will be used to invest in infrastructure will be protected and safeguarded. He said that amendments to pension fund legislation and regulations had created room for these investments to be made into the country’s infrastructure. Ramaphosa was responding to oral questions in the National Assembly on issues around growing the economy. "They are not state resources. To facilitate in infrastructure investment, government needs to provide those savers with a reasonable...

UK. How US stock market falls could affect your pension – and what to do about it

Stock markets in the US fell sharply on Monday, with worries about the economic impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs thought to be behind the dip. The S&P 500, a stock market index tracking the stock performance of 500 of the largest companies listed on stock exchanges in the United States, was down over 8 per cent at close on Monday compared to its all-time high in February. The Nasdaq, which focuses more on technology stocks, also dipped, as did Asian markets at...

Pension funds should take climate risk more seriously, say experts

Pressure is mounting on pension funds to take more account of climate change risks, with campaigners calling on trustees to make sustainable investment decisions and use their voting power to push companies they invest in to go green. They also want  governments to consider tighter regulation to force transparency. The push comes as some big pension funds are already taking more action on climate despite US president Donald Trump’s hostility to ESG, and some companies are backtracking on climate commitments...