August 2022

CFA Society Germany proposes merger of occupational with private pension systems

CFA Society Germany, the association of investment professionals, has proposed the merger between the country’s occupational and private pension systems under a format based on models in place in Sweden and Canada to cut administrative and sales costs that would lead to an increase in the level of pensions. The models would cater for two different market segments, one including savers opting for a standardised, state-run pension product, and another for savers who demand control over investments, the association said...

June 2022

China: Securities regulator proposes rules for inclusion of mutual funds in private pension scheme

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has said that mutual funds with at least CNY50m ($7.48m) of assets over the past four quarters are eligible to participate in the country's pilot private pension scheme. The securities regulator has proposed rules to regulate mutual funds, setting the criteria for qualified products and sales agents under a private pension scheme that will channel fresh savings into the country's capital markets, reported Reuters. The draft rules, published on 24 June, follow the launch by...

China: National pension insurer’s first annuity product approved

Beijing-headquartered national pension insurer, Guomin Pension & Insurance Co, has got off on a flying start with approval from CBIRC for a product named "Guomin Good Life Pension Annuity Insurance". This is the first annuity insurance of plan of the start-up company that was established only in March 2022. The product was included in the catalogue of filed life insurance products on the official website of the CBIRC in mid-May. This product, which pays benefits for the rest of the policyholder's...

May 2022

China’s private pension scheme to draw US$17.8 billion a year from savings accounts into asset management

China’s newly expanded private pension scheme will inject at least 120 billion yuan (US$17.8 billion) a year into the country’s asset-management market, according to analysts, as China Citic Bank becomes the first Chinese lender to apply for a licence to offer pension accounts in the scheme’s pilot programme. Read Also China: Big Four banks to pilot private pension scheme Under the scheme, unveiled in April, workers will be able to deposit up to 12,000 yuan per year into personal accounts that...

China: Big Four banks to pilot private pension scheme

China's Big Four state-owned banks will launch a pilot programme for retirement savings products in several regions soon, the CBIRC has announced. The banks are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank. The retirement savings products, under development by the CBIRC and the People's Bank of China, are long-term investment plans with stable yields, fit for risk-averse residents, reported Xinhua News Agency citing the CBIRC. Banks to handle pension funds of up...

Effect of Pensions on the Capital Market

By Sang Wook NAM This study analyzes the impact of public and private pensions on the capital market to examine the empirical arguments for the need for pension development. To this end, we conduct an empirical analysis of the effect of pension assets on the capital markets in 17 OECD member countries. The methods comprise static and dynamic panel analyses, which are conducted in parallel based on panel data on the stock and bond markets and the asset sizes of...

April 2022

China to implement private pension system with a contribution cap of about $1,800 a year: report

China will soon start a new era of "private pensions" with the imminent implementation of a relevant mechanism, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities News published on Wednesday. The new mechanism, which is characterized by policy support from the government, voluntary participation and market-oriented operations, will be an important transformation of the current pension system that has a basic pension insurance and a corporate pension. According to the report, those who contribute to the basic pension insurance for workers...

The economy-wide effects of mandating private retirement incomes

By George Kudrna This paper investigates the economy-wide effects of mandating private (employment-related) pensions. It draws on the Australian experience with its Superannuation Guarantee legislation which mandates contributions to private retirement (superannuation) accounts. Our key objective is to quantify the long-run implications of alternative mandatory superannuation contribution rates for household economic decisions over the life cycle, household welfare, and macroeconomic and fiscal aggregates. To that end, we develop a stochastic, overlapping generations (OLG) model with labor choice and endogenous retirement,...

March 2022

Valmex steps up efforts to grow in Mexico’s stagnant private-pension segment

After 14 years at Principal, Luis Lozano, a champion of open architecture, joined Valmex in February 2021. Since then, the institutional-investments head has been working to enhance the pension segment of Valmex’s business, as he told Fund Pro Latin America in an exclusive interview. “It is necessary to develop the voluntary pension market, especially for those with higher income who are not fully covered under the traditional and obligatory pension market (via the Afores). In this segment, replacement rates are...

February 2022

Assessing Chile’s Pension System: Challenges and Reform Options

By Christopher Evans & Samuel Pienknagura Chile’s pension system came under close scrutiny in recent years. This paper takes stock of the adequacy of the system and highlights its challenges. Chile’s defined contribution system was quite influential when introduced, and was taken as an example by other countries. However, it is now delivering low replacement rates relative to OECD peers, as its parameters did not adapt over time to changing demographics and global returns, while informality persists in the labor...