Germany comment
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Opinion PiecesGerman politicians pronounce on pensions policy ahead of next year's election
With federal elections likely to be held on 28 September next year, German politicians have started to reveal ideas on pensions.
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Opinion PiecesWhy the green transition throws up workforce and pension challenges
Pensions are a hot topic in corporate Germany, where skills shortages and an ageing workforce have led to a war for talent, as well as a renaissance in occupational retirement provision in the fight for workforce skills.
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Opinion PiecesDisagreements between Germany's coalition partners cloud occupational pensions reform
Pension reforms have taken centre stage in the latest row among the coalition partners in the German government.
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Opinion PiecesTime is running out for Germany's planned pension reforms
The German government is in the final stretches of an ambitious but tortuous journey to reform the three pillars of the pension system.
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Opinion PiecesCan pensions help with German skills crisis?
German companies consider the shortage of skilled workers as one of the biggest risks for the future of their business. According to market data portal Statista, 58% of firms see the lack of qualified workers putting operations at risk in the next few months, second only to the risks posed by energy and commodity prices (61%).
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Opinion PiecesInvestors could do more to boost German start-ups
The German constitutional court’s ruling that the government’s reallocation of €60bn worth of debt to the country’s Climate and Transformation Fund is unlawful was a blow. But there was also also some welcome news last month.
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Opinion PiecesResistance to Germany’s new buffer fund proposal
Last year, the manager of Germany’s pay-as-you-go first-pillar scheme, Deutsche Rentenversicherung, recorded income of €363bn, the largest share coming from contributions (€275.6bn), and €87.4bn in public subsidies.
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Opinion PiecesGerman pensions sector backs cost rethink
Applause, which started mildly but ended robustly, suddenly reverberated in a packed Berlin conference room a few weeks ago. An audience of industry experts, pension managers, associations and trade unions clapped at the suggestion that Germany’s BaFin regulator should avoid repeating its exercise on cost reporting for IORPs, initiated by the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and implemented in turn by BaFin. The exercise was a disappointment, and an excessive, unnecessary effort for the German pension industry.
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Opinion PiecesGermany's first-pillar pension reform plans: tough to meet expectations
How would you design your asset allocation if you were building a portfolio from scratch? This is the question facing the governors of Germany’s new state pension buffer fund, the grandly titled ‘Generationenkapital’ (Generational Capital) fund. The expectations are high.
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Opinion PiecesGermany’s equity pension plan raises questions
The current legislative period could bring substantial changes to Germany’s pension system. The government is pursuing reforms to fund first-pillar pensions through a buffer fund invested in equities, although there is little consensus on its feasibility.
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Opinion PiecesViewpoint: Ageing demographics challenge Germany’s PAYG state pension system
Germany has a well-established occupational pension system, but participation among employees is only about 50% overall, and in the significant SME segment only 30%
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Opinion PiecesLetter from Berlin: The German way to supervise the EU Taxonomy
The German financial supervisory authority, BaFin, has chosen its own path to deal with the EU taxonomy – in particular when it comes to nuclear and gas.
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Opinion PiecesInstitutional capital for energy resilience
Ukraine’s independence day on 24 August also marked six months since the start of Russia’s invasion and with it a profound shift in the global geopolitical and economic balance.
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Opinion PiecesGermany's debate on pension reform edges forward
The war in Ukraine, an unspeakable human tragedy, is forcing governments around Europe to reset international relations and find new partners to secure energy sources. The invasion has strongly tested the intent of the new German government to break with the previous administrations of Angela Merkel.
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Opinion PiecesNotes from Germany: Parties mull pensions
It all started with a selfie posted on social media. The leaders of the Green party Annalena Baerbock, candidate to be chancellor, and Robert Habeck posed with the Free Democrats’ Christian Lindner and Volker Wissing to show how serious they were to bridge the divide to form a new government coalition, prior to meeting with the winner of the election, the SDP’s Olaf Scholz.
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Opinion Pieces
Viewpoint: Heribert Karch - German occupational pensions association
Heribert Karch addresses whether the German goverment will be able to introduce the pure defined contribution schemes outlined in its recent pension reform proposals
