November 2021

Asset Allocation: Glide Path Design for Target Date Retirement Funds

By Thomas Present, Sharon Persyn In this thesis, we discuss and compare target date retirement fund strategies that have been used in recent literature. These strategies include the 100% equity, glide path, maximum drawdown, risk budget and target return strategy. We conduct sensitivity analyses in order to obtain optimal parameters for the different strategies. We first compare the strategies with rebalancing between two asset classes: equity (Russell 1000) as the risky asset and bonds (10Y US government bonds) as the...

Bangladesh. Guardian Life launches “Ajibon Pension Plan” – A Complete Retirement Solution

Believing in "Insurance for All", Guardian Life has been at the forefront of innovation in terms of products, services and business models to minimize financial risks of customers. As Guardian Life believes in customer-first policy, the company has always been committed in meeting the diverse needs of the customers. To cover more people under the shade of Guardian Life, a new product- "Ajibon Pension" plan has been launched which is a first of its kind in Bangladesh, states a press...

With more than 450 delegates, MENA’s biggest pensions conference goes live in Bahrain

The Annual Arab Pensions Conference 2021 will be inaugurated tomorrow under the patronage of His Excellency Lieutenant Dr. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Health, Chairman of Al-Hekma Retired Society. This year’s conference is held with the grand theme of: “What should MENA Pension Systems look like for the next 50 years?”. The annual conference has become a regional platform for discussing topics and issues related to pension and social security systems in MENA...

Experts say the 4% rule, a popular retirement income strategy, is outdated

Market conditions are pressuring the 4% rule, a popular rule of thumb for retirees to determine how much money they can live on each year without fear of running out later. Withdrawing money from one’s nest egg is among the most complex financial exercises for households. There are many unknowns — the length of retirement, one’s spending needs (health costs, for example) and investment returns, to name a few. The 4% rule is meant to yield a consistent stream of annual...

Ireland. ESRI says cheaper childcare and flexible work arrangements will keep women working longer

Cheaper childcare and flexible working is needed to bridge the gender pension gap and keep women in employment for longer, according to a leading think-tank. The Economic Social and Research Institute (ESRI) will tell TDs and Senators today that there is a gender gap of 35pc for retired women compared to retired men. Appearing before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Social Protection, Dr Claire Keane will tell politicians that cheaper childcare, flexible work arrangements and long-term care services are crucial to...

India:Govt looks into inclusive system for retirement income

The central government is considering launching a drive to provide retirement benefit cover to nearly 380m people in the uncovered workforce in the country, so as to narrow the gap between higher life expectancy and lack of retirement income support. Inter-ministerial consultations are taking place on how to achieve this goal. “The idea is everyone should be in one of the schemes,” an official told The Financial Express. Currently, around 120m workers, the bulk of whom in the organised sector, enjoy...

We’re not convinced about the genuineness of the scheme’s implementation — Cocoa farmers to stage demo against cocoa pension scheme

Members of the Ghana National Cocoa Farmers Association have threatened to embark on a massive demonstration against COCOBOD should government go ahead with its plans to implement the cocoa farmers pension scheme under the newly inaugurated board of trustees. According to the Association, they are not convinced of the genuineness and fair implementation of the scheme even though COCOBOD has inaugurated the Board of Trustees of the Cocoa Farmers Pension Scheme. They said their association, together with other cocoa farmer-based associations...

Waiting to save: The cost of delaying your retirement funding

Putting enough money away for a comfortable retirement is a daunting task and, while we all know that starting early is critical, the numbers are alarming. Statistics from the 2021 10X South African Retirement Reality Report which has just been released are frightening. Around half the people surveyed indicated that they are making no provision for retirement at all, while the other half indicated they have some form of savings plan in place. 74% of survey respondents accept that...

Ghana. Government explores use of pensions funds for mortgage

The government is exploring the possibility of prospective home buyers using their Tier Two and Tier Three pension funds as initial deposit to support their mortgage plans. The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Francis Asenso-Boakye, who made this known, observed that the quest to provide access to housing for Ghanaians, especially low-to-middle income earners, required sustainable policies and programmes aimed at ensuring that the issue of affordable housing no longer became a myth but a possibility. At the maiden Business24...

October 2021

The Long Shadow The Long Shadow of Informality Edited by Challenges and Policies

By Franziska Ohnsorge and Shu Yu In emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), far too many people and small enterprises operate outside the line of sight of governments—in a zone where little help is available to them in an emergency such as the COVID-19 crisis. This “informal” sector constitutes more than 70 percent of total employment in these countries and roughly one-third of output. Policy makers have long had good reasons to worry about this sector: Its participants are vulnerable even...