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Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Retiring Retirement: Rethinking Growth In The Age Of Longevity
Preparing For The Marathon Of Longer Lives At UniCredit's 2025 Longevity Economic Forum in Milan, the central question wasn't whether people will live longer—they already are. It was how we build lives, markets, and meaning around that fact. The number of conferences on longevity is fast multiplying, but this was one of the first hosted by a leading financial institution and focusing on the economic implications of our new demographic era. In a world where people increasingly live into their 90s and beyond, traditional assumptions about retirement, careers, and consumer behaviour are no longer viable. Yet few institutions—whether governmental, financial, or social—have adapted. And we lack the metrics to evaluate where countries are on the journey to longevity readiness. For the moment, says NICA's Nic Palmarini, they are all over the map. From Nic Palmarini of the UK National Innovation Center for Ageing (NICA) The three organisations hosting the conference (Unicredit, Fidelity and the UK National Innovation Center on Ageing, or NICA) announced the launch of two new tools to start measuring progress. One looks at systems, the other at lives. Together, they reveal the conditions needed to foster healthy, empowered ageing. I'll cover the results of each in subsequent articles. The Wakeup Call From the OECD The OECD's Stefano Scarpetto gave the wake up call on the demographic context. Populations are living longer while fertility rates are plummeting. Economies will begin to shrink drastically as populations age out of work. There are three unavoidable levers to address the shortfall, he said: Two Nobel Laureates helped frame the conversation. Economist Robert Merton, known for his work on retirement finance, argued that the goal isn't accumulated wealth, but an inflation-protected income that preserves one's standard of living. He proposed a six-part framework for funding retirement that includes innovative tools like Retirement Security Bonds. Now being rolled out in Brazil. Robert Merton's 6 Pillars Of Retirement Financing Fellow laureate Michael Spence, at 81 competing with his 80-year-old colleague on both age and wisdom, emphasised that inclusive growth and productivity will hinge on how societies tap into the capacities of older adults. If we fail to reinvent retirement, and address the dramatic inequality and diversity among ageing populations, we risk expanding lifespan without improving life quality – or productivity. Three panels looked at how these ideas are being put into action - and where. The first focused on new forms of investment and flexing rhythms of accumulation and decumulation. The second on how lifestyles are evolving and the companies serving these new and emerging needs, and the last debated how to insure and protect people across multiplying life stages. The first panel explored how financial institutions and investors can recalibrate for century-long lifespans. Experts from Fidelity, PGGM, and Unicredit discussed the need for longer investment horizons, more adaptive pension systems, and better design around intergenerational wealth transfers. A standout theme was the reframing of longevity as a market opportunity. Healthtech, housing, and digital wellness emerged as growth sectors. Technogym's Erica Alessandri underscored the value of fitness as a preventive corporate competitiveness asset, dramatically improving the health of employees. Real estate company Hines' Mario Abbadessa said that senior living was no longer a niche market, but has become his company's core business. Fiona Melrose of UniCredit argued that longevity-conscious banking—offering tools for wellness, planning, and resilience—should be a part of every ESG strategy. Katie Hart, a neuromarketer, said we can now physiologically measure how older consumers think, feel, and choose differently through brain scans. It's not, she suggests 'about decline but about understanding difference.' Older brains exhibit slower decision speed, higher emotional processing, and a greater aversion to risk. They may be more attracted to 'wisdom than innovation.' And by 2030, the 60+ will control 70% of financial assets. Designing for them is also fast becoming central to good business. The final panel focused on resilience—across health, wealth, and care. Allianz's Arne Holzhausen outlined next-generation insurance products that combine financial protection with health data and digital tools. Humanitas presented their vision of healthcare moving from crisis to prevention, with clinics acting as local anchors for proactive, digitally supported care. But it was Annie Coleman's intervention that brought the human side of the longevity revolution into focus. Her call to move from retirement to 're-inspirement'—a reinvention of purpose, vitality, and contribution in later life—resonated with many. Her framework—productivity, vitality, transformation—offers a roadmap based on the Stanford Longevity Centre's new roadmap of life, designed to live our bonus decades with agency and joy. Longevity is no longer a niche topic. It's the defining growth opportunity of our age. But it requires a full-system rethink—from investment portfolios to health systems, from workplace design to social contracts. Claudia Parzani, Conference Host, Chair of the Italian Stock Exchange The UniCredit Longevity Economic Forum made one thing clear: the future isn't about debating dry demographic trends—it's about unlocking the full potential and productivity of our second halves. Everywhere.
South China Morning Post
09-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Philippines to probe claims of sand dredging for Beijing's South China Sea expansion
The Philippines is investigating claims that sand dredged from its coastal waters has been used in China's artificial island construction in disputed parts of the South China Sea , raising concerns over domestic complicity, ecological damage and national security. Advertisement President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has ordered a full inquiry into the allegations following testimony in a Senate hearing on Wednesday, where a top intelligence official said sand from Manila Bay and other areas might have ended up as landfill for Chinese military outposts. Ashley Acedillo, deputy director general of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), told senators that Chinese-linked reclamation and dredging activities had happened in several parts of the country, including the Cagayan province. 'There were earlier reports that sand taken directly from our coastal areas was being used as landfill, reportedly even in some of our disputed territories,' Acedillo said during a hearing of a Senate special committee on Philippine maritime and admiralty zones. While no conclusive evidence has been presented, the intelligence agency is examining whether sand from Philippine sources was exported to support Beijing's reclamation efforts, which have transformed the maritime landscape of the South China Sea over the past decade. Advertisement Press Secretary Claire Castro confirmed the president's directive, saying the investigation would examine any wrongdoing by local officials.
South China Morning Post
06-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
How did Alice Guo flee the Philippines? Officials' contradictions fuel cover-up suspicions
Philippine officials are struggling to explain how former mayor Alice Guo , who is under investigation for her alleged ties to crime-linked offshore gaming operations, was able to flee the country last year, with new theories about her exit route contradicting verified records, sparking accusations of a cover-up. Advertisement Guo was found to have escaped the Philippines in July after a warrant for her arrest was issued, travelling first to Malaysia and then to Indonesia, where local authorities caught her before extraditing her to Manila, where she remains in detention. Since then, many have questioned how Guo, who was already under intense scrutiny by authorities and the media due to accusations that she was a Chinese spy faking her Filipino identity , was able to leave the country undetected. Ferlu Silvio, director of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) theorised at a Senate justice and human rights subcommittee hearing on Tuesday that Guo and her companions may have taken a 'back door' route out of the country – a boat from Tawi-Tawi, the Philippines' southernmost province, to Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Malaysia's Sabah, about 430km away. A trip from Tawi-Tawi to Sabah can take three hours by high-speed ferry. 02:17 Philippine officials in hot water over selfies with fugitive mayor Alice Guo Philippine officials in hot water over selfies with fugitive mayor Alice Guo The agency said that Guo and her companions may have made their way from the Sabah capital to Kuala Lumpur, flying to Singapore and travelling to the island of Batam in Indonesia.
