Notes from Europe
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Opinion PiecesGerman pension reforms in limbo after coalition government collapse
The collapse of Germany’s three-way ‘traffic light’ coalition in November opens questions about the fate of the pension reforms it had drafted over the past couple of years. The government, led by Olaf Scholz, started in 2021 with a mission to reinforce the capital-funded component of the pension system.
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Opinion PiecesBig Swedish providers raise pension switch worries
Pension transfers are big business in Sweden, and the market could be described as booming right now.
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Opinion PiecesSwiss pension funds reform second-pillar pensions from the bottom up
September’s referendum on the reform of second-pillar pensions demonstrates that comprehensive proposals engineered from the top down don’t always bring the expected results. The latest proposal was roundly defeated by two thirds of the electorate.
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Opinion PiecesDisagreements over pension reform persist in the Netherlands
When King Willem-Alexander read out his speech at the opening of the Dutch parliament, the topic of pensions was missing.
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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 PiecesDanish politics focuses on the good life
Pensions and the labour market were the focus of end-of-summer political pronouncements in Denmark this year. If brought into action, some of the ideas could lead to forward-thinking changes to pensions.
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Opinion PiecesSwitzerland’s refreshing bottom-up approach to regulation contrasts favourably with the EU
Switzerland’s bottom-up approach to sustainable investing and ESG reporting rules seems to be travelling in the opposite direction to the path chosen by the EU.
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Opinion PiecesItaly needs a serious debate about pensions
Italian policymakers are bent on indulging the relatively small but influential minority of Italians that is nearing retirement, but lament that the statutory retirement age of 67 is too high. The reform efforts of past years have been towards reducing the retirement age or increasing flexibility in retirement. The resources employed towards supporting second-pillar pensions have been next to none.
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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 PiecesWhy Norway's rebuff to oil fund over private equity is all about pay and equality
It would be hard to argue that Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is not diversified, but its range of permitted asset classes is narrower than that of peers.
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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 PiecesCould Dutch pension reforms still be reversed?
1 January 2025: that’s the day the first Dutch pension funds will move to a defined contribution (DC) system according to the new Pension Act. So the clock is ticking for politicians who still hope to reverse the pension changes, or give members a say on the mandatory conversion of defined benefit (DB) accruals to DC capital, the most controversial part of the pension reform.
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Opinion PiecesATP at 60: no plans to retire the guaranteed pensions model
Now approaching retirement age itself, Danish statutory pension fund ATP is using its 60th birthday as an opportunity to reinforce the validity of its guarantee-based investment model.
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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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NewsNBIM’s divestment decisions yield NOK10bn returns
‘There is still a way to go before we reach our goal of net zero targets and transition plans for all the companies in the portfolio,’ says Carine Smith Ihenacho
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Opinion PiecesOpponents of Dutch pension reform can’t agree
The Dutch parliamentary elections of 22 November not only resulted in a historic victory for Geert Wilders. The record loss of the governing coalition also meant the new Pension Act no longer has majority support in parliament.
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AnalysisHigh stakes as pension funds take on Tesla
A group of Nordic pension funds is tentatively standing up to Elon Musk’s electric car giant, in reaction to a labour dispute at Tesla in Sweden. The strike at the end of October by 130 Tesla workers affiliated with IF Metall led to a wave of sympathy strikes which spread to Norway, Denmark and Finland.
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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 PiecesElection result is bad news for the pension sector
NSC, the new political party that made headlines in this publication with its controversial plan to block pension funds from converting DB pensions to DC without explicit consent from members, did not win the landslide victory that many pension executives feared. But they probably did not get a good night’s sleep anyway.
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Opinion PiecesSweden’s Alecta seems immune from criticism but beware the watchdog
Right now, Alecta cuts a strange figure – one of Europe’s biggest pensions institutions wounded after gaping investment losses, and sustaining still worse injuries from the monopolistic hubris it leaves in its wake.
