Millions of documents chronicling generations of trauma saved from Gaza and East Jerusalem in 10-month Unrwa operation East Jerusalem to Amman should have been an easy trip: a short drive down to the Dead Sea, across the border checkpoint and swiftly on to the Jordanian capital. But in the early summer of 2024, the distance appeared an almost insurmountable obstacle to humanitarian workers from Un...
Millions of documents chronicling generations of trauma saved from Gaza and East Jerusalem in 10-month Unrwa operation East Jerusalem to Amman should have been an easy trip: a short drive down to the Dead Sea, across the border checkpoint and swiftly on to the Jordanian capital. But in the early summer of 2024, the distance appeared an almost insurmountable obstacle to humanitarian workers from Unrwa (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), as they sought to safeguard huge quantities of archival documents vitally important to decades of recent Palestinian history. Continue reading...
Japan and Taiwan have enviable care systems because they had the courage to plan – some solutions are radical, most are hiding in plain sight It’s mid-afternoon in Fujisawa. Schoolchildren, rucksacks on their backs, bound into a room where a group of pensioners welcome them boisterously, before sitting them down to help with their homework. This group of older people is looked after by some of the...
Japan and Taiwan have enviable care systems because they had the courage to plan – some solutions are radical, most are hiding in plain sight It’s mid-afternoon in Fujisawa. Schoolchildren, rucksacks on their backs, bound into a room where a group of pensioners welcome them boisterously, before sitting them down to help with their homework. This group of older people is looked after by some of the pupils’ parents. Up the road, a cluster of university students live above some over-75s. They get half-price rent in return for checking in on them on their way to and from studies. This multigenerational community I visited in a small town not far from the port of Yokohama is one of 5,000 in Japan. Continue reading...
Mitul Magudia was in his mid-20s when the actuary got an offer to join a London startup built for one main purpose: taking pension funds off companies’ balance sheets. Back in the 2000s, the market for pension risk transfers was an eat-what-you-kill industry, and pickings were slim. Magudia worked days, nights and weekends convincing fund trustees that his fledgling firm, Pension Insurance Corp. ,...
Mitul Magudia was in his mid-20s when the actuary got an offer to join a London startup built for one main purpose: taking pension funds off companies’ balance sheets. Back in the 2000s, the market for pension risk transfers was an eat-what-you-kill industry, and pickings were slim. Magudia worked days, nights and weekends convincing fund trustees that his fledgling firm, Pension Insurance Corp. , could unshackle their companies from promises to pay guaranteed pensions to retired staff. Nearly two decades on, PRTs are a much easier sell. Firms weary of those liabilities are seeking out transactions to protect their retirement funds and focus squarely on their core businesses. “For the first 10 years, sales meant picking up the phone and trying to convince schemes to engage with insurance,” says Magudia. “Now, we answer the phone and respond to demand built over 15–20 years.” PIC now runs a portfolio of £54.8 billion ($74 billion) backing the assets of 438,000 savers, winning mandates from the likes of Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc and Dr. Martens Plc , and beating centuries-old City staple Legal & General Group Plc to some of the biggest deals. There are £1.3 trillion of assets left to fight for, spread over roughly 4,800 corporate pension funds. And in recent weeks, competition has stepped up a gear . Athora , a European insurer backed by private capital giant Apollo Global Management Inc. , has unveiled plans to move from Bermuda to the UK following its £5.7 billion swoop on PIC last July. An affiliate of Brookfield Corp. last month also completed its £2.4 billion takeover of Just Group Plc , a deal that turned the alternatives firm-turned-insurer into a sizable player overnight. Get the Going Private newsletter for coverage of private markets and the forces moving capital away from the public eye. Delivered Wednesdays and Fridays. “All of the insurers are very ambitious in terms of the volumes they want to write,” says Ruth Ward, a partner at consulting firm LCP . “La...
Li Hongzhi, an award-winning former head of GenAI at Microsoft Asia, has joined Tongji University, one of China’s leading universities. Li started his first job at technology giant Microsoft immediately after obtaining his PhD from Columbia University. For more than 10 years, he worked at Microsoft Research – the company’s subsidiary responsible for basic and applied research in computer science, ...
Li Hongzhi, an award-winning former head of GenAI at Microsoft Asia, has joined Tongji University, one of China’s leading universities. Li started his first job at technology giant Microsoft immediately after obtaining his PhD from Columbia University. For more than 10 years, he worked at Microsoft Research – the company’s subsidiary responsible for basic and applied research in computer science, software engineering and hardware design. Li was the head of Microsoft AI Asia’s GenAI Group before...
This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what the...
This is the forum for daily political discussion on Seeking Alpha. A new version is published every market day. Please don't leave political comments on other articles or posts on the site. The comments below are not regulated with the same rigor as the rest of the site, and this is an 'enter at your own risk' area as discussion can get very heated. If you can't stand the heat... you know what they say... More on Today's Markets: Moderation Guidelines: We remove comments under the following categories: Personal attacks on another user account Anti-Vaxxer or covid related misinformation Stereotyping, prejudiced or racist language about individuals or the topic under discussion. Inciting violence messages, encouraging hate groups and political violence. Regardless of which side of the political divide you find yourself, please be courteous and don't direct abuse at other users. For any issue with regards to comments please email us at : moderation@seekingalpha.com. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun closed-door talks with his American counterpart Donald Trump following an elaborate welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Here are some highlights from Thursday morning. High-level reception Beijing pulled out all the stops for Trump. The welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People featured a military display, a 21-gun salute, and ...
Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun closed-door talks with his American counterpart Donald Trump following an elaborate welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Here are some highlights from Thursday morning. High-level reception Beijing pulled out all the stops for Trump. The welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People featured a military display, a 21-gun salute, and both national anthems played by a Chinese military band. Dozens of Chinese schoolchildren jumped and...