Delivering retirement outcomes in the age of AI and protectionism
How can pensions navigate the new market environment?
Growing protectionism and increasing geopolitical fragmentation are causing increased uncertainty, as the adoption of artificial intelligence transforms our everyday lives and the demographic divides between developed and emerging economics grow ever wider.
For pension funds in particular, this demographic transition puts pressure on retirement systems around the globe. Warnings over a looming pension crisis occur with increasing regularity. Global populations are not only ageing, but they are also shrinking. The number of workers is declining in Europe and parts of Asia, living costs are rising, and wages are stagnating.
Set against a backdrop of extraordinary global uncertainty, Amundi explores the game changers that are shaping its investment decisions, its goals and its return expectations and how they impact pension funds and retirement savings.
Overcoming barriers to retirement savings: behavioural factors and existing schemes
The move away from defined benefit pensions systems shifts the burden of risk and decision-making away from employers to employees. Making these decisions is a complex process, compounded by behavioural tendencies, and preferences.
Amundi reviews the effects of various reforms implemented in different countries to promote private retirement savings.
Where will returns come from? Pensions in a new economic regime
The Great Moderation of the past 25 years was marked by stable economic growth, low interest rates, and low inflation. Pivotal changes ended this period, leading investors to look for new sources of returns. The latest Amundi-CREATE pension survey looks at two asset classes that have been gaining traction: private assets and Asian emerging markets.
Amundi explores at what has been driving and constraining pension allocations to these asset classes.
Key findings: Optimal decumulation strategies
The importance of decumulation strategies in retirement has gained traction in recent years. The move away from defined benefit schemes to defined contribution plans that offer no income guarantee means retirees must develop a long-term plan to spend down their assets.
Amundi explains how a new way of optimising retirement portfolios could help manage the distribution phase in the context of different investment goals and longer life expectancy.
Capital Market Assumptions 2025: Seeking potential in a pivoting world
Given the current macroeconomic and technological shifts, along with more frequent extreme climate events, and a slow transition, the next few years will likely be challenging for economic projections. This uncertainty affects financial markets, increases volatility, and influences long-term economic patterns such as inflation, with contrasting effects.
Amundi’s 2025 Capital Market Assumptions looks at significant structural upheaval that is remodelling the global landscape.
