News Archives - Page 268 of 966 - Pension Policy International

08DecDecember 8, 2023

Japan’s SMBC pension fund explores boosting exposures to alternatives

Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) Pension Fund, managing assets worth 1 trillion yen ($6.6 billion), is poised to increase investments in illiquid alternatives, including infrastructure private equity and debt aimed at maximizing returns. Anticipating a shift in domestic interest rates with the expected exit of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) from its ultra-easy monetary policy, the pension fund is considering reassessing its longstanding strategy of investing Japanese government bonds (JGBs), which has comprised only about 1 per cent of...

December 8, 2023

NewsInvestment, Japan, Pension Management

07DecDecember 7, 2023

Could the retirement pension be making a comeback?

Why news from IBM and talk of 'lifetime income' may lead to alternatives to traditional 401(k)s Remember the "three-legged stool?" That phrase was used for decades to describe Americans' chief sources of retirement income: Social Security, private pensions and personal savings. But in the 1990s and early 2000s, employers started freezing or eliminating defined-benefit pensions they funded and replacing them with 401(k) retirement plans requiring employee contributions. As a result, the stool got wobbly. Today, just 15% of private employers offer...

December 7, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Pension design, US

07DecDecember 7, 2023

PPF Purple Book shows improved U.K. funding levels

U.K. defined benefit plans covered by the Pension Protection Fund saw "significant improvement" in funding levels that could bring more buyouts, according to the lifeboat fund's 2023 report published Dec. 6. The PPF's annual Pensions Universe Risk Profile, known as the Purple Book, showed a surplus of £358.9 billion ($443.3 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 31, with 80% of pension funds in surplus. That was up from surpluses of £193 billion in 2022 and £47 billion in 2021, according...

December 7, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Funding, UK

07DecDecember 7, 2023

Danish pension fund to sell its Tesla shares over union dispute

PensionDanmark, one of Denmark's largest pension funds, said on Wednesday it had decided to sell its holdings in Tesla (TSLA.O) over the U.S. auto company's refusal to enter into agreements with labour unions. The decision is part of a growing Nordic movement to force Tesla to sign collective bargaining agreements with Swedish mechanics, who have been on strike since October. Labour unions in Norway and Denmark this week said they would start blocking transit shipments of Tesla cars meant for the Swedish market. Tesla has a policy of not...

December 7, 2023

NewsCorporate Governance, Denmark, ESG, Investment

07DecDecember 7, 2023

Powerful Leaders are crying (literally) for women to have more babies

By Jessie Tu North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is the latest male leader to address his country’s declining birth rate. Last Sunday, he spoke at the country’s first National Mothers Meeting in eleven years, encouraging North Korea’s women to have more babies. “Stopping the decline in birth rates and providing good childcare and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers,” the 39-year old leader said in Pyongyang. He went on to say that women...

December 7, 2023

NewsAging, Labor Market

06DecDecember 6, 2023

U.S. corporate funding ratios rise in November – 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension funds saw funding ratios rise slightly in November, thanks to very strong market returns offsetting a significant rise in liability values, three new reports say. Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 105.4% as of Nov. 30, up from 105.1% a month earlier. The change was driven by a 7.8 percentage-point increase in asset values offsetting a 7.4 percentage-point increase in liability values. The two increases rounded to a funding hike of 0.3...

December 6, 2023

NewsFunding, Occupational Pensions, US

06DecDecember 6, 2023

UK. Decumulation-only CDC could provide ‘new possibilities’ for retirees – PPI

Decumulation-only collective defined contribution (CDC) pensions could offer new opportunities in the retirement income market and to retirees, but faces challenges in being successful, according to a new report from the Pensions Policy Institute (PPI). It noted that decumulation-only CDC schemes should be able to fulfil their objectives while operating under the current design constraints. CDC schemes were introduced in the Pension Schemes Act 2021 and the PPI believed the legislation was flexible enough to support other applications for CDC schemes. However,...

December 6, 2023

NewsDecumulation, Pension design, UK

06DecDecember 6, 2023

We Have to Strengthen the Gig Economy and Its Workers in 2024. Here’s How |

It's past time in 2024 to strengthen the income, benefits, and safety net for workers in America's gig economy. More than 57 million workers participate in some way in the gig economy today—the economy of independent contractors, freelancers, and contingent and online platform workers. They are in all sectors and occupations: as home repair persons, temp workers, hair stylists, as well as drivers for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and the other delivery services. Their numbers rose by an estimated 15 percent...

December 6, 2023

NewsInformal Sector, Labor Market

06DecDecember 6, 2023

Pension scheme consolidation expected to continue into 2024

The UK’s 5,000 corporate defined benefit (DB) pension schemes recorded a near record surplus of £245bn in November, according to PwC’s Buyout Index, showing that schemes continue to have sufficient assets on average to ‘buyout’ their pension promises. Meanwhile, PwC’s Low Reliance Index has had a record month with a surplus of £380bn. This index assumes schemes invest in low-risk, income-generating assets like bonds, which should mean the pension scheme is unlikely to call on the sponsor for further funding. As...

December 6, 2023

NewsInvestment, Pension Management

06DecDecember 6, 2023

China’s Population Problem Worsens

If population issues were like steel production, China would be making all the right moves. A rise of 10% in steel production can be generated simply by a government decree. Unfortunately for China, the same top-down, party-directed steps that would generate that increase in steel is not likely to be the right approach to reversing the population decline, and might make the problem worse. The problem itself is not unique to China. Many other countries face the challenge of a...

December 6, 2023

NewsAging, China, Labor Market

December 2023