July 2021
23Jul

UK. Can CDCs solve the pension funding problem?

Defined-benefit (DB) pension schemes have been in decline for years and in most professions younger employees are offered defined-contribution (DC) schemes, which lack many of the former's benefits. But a new option aims to deliver the best of both types of pensions. This week, the government has issued a consultation on draft legislation for Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) Schemes, spurred on by Royal Mail (RMG) which had been lobbying for new legislation to accommodate CDCs since 2018. CDC pensions work by...

July 23, 2021
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23Jul

US. Illinois pensions among worst-funded in nation, report confirms

A new report confirms Illinois is among the worst in the country when it comes to funding its public pensions. The report was distributed by the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy nonprofit. It indicates the state is only 39% funded for future pension obligations, the second-worst ratio in the country. “Illinois has had this problem for decades,” said Katherine Loughead, senior policy analyst with the Tax Foundation. “It's not getting any better. It is the major driver of Illinois’ chronic...

July 23, 2021
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16Jul

Further Proof that Auto-Enrollment is Key to Saving Earlier for Retirement

If you automatically enroll them, they will save… sooner. A new survey has found the vast majority (84%) of workers that were automatically enrolled in their workplace retirement plan say they started to save for retirement sooner than if they had to take action to make the enrollment decision on their own. Read also US. Biden’s Pension Rescue Seen as Bigger Help for Corporate Bonds However, only one-third of employers currently offer automatic enrollment, and among those that do, just 21% have...

July 16, 2021
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15Jul

U.K. corporate pension fund surplus gains again in June

The total surplus of U.K. defined benefit funds covered by the Pension Protection Fund’s 7800 index increased 4.7% in June to £99 billion ($137 billion). The surplus was £94.6 billion at the end of May. A year earlier, U.K. corporate DB funds recorded a total deficit of £132.2 billion, the London-based PPF said Tuesday in an update. The PPF is the lifeboat fund for defined benefit plans of insolvent U.K. companies. The funding ratio increased to 105.8% as of June 30, up...

July 15, 2021
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14Jul

He runs the worst-funded public pension in the country. Here’s his ‘good news’ story

It’s a safe bet that many people, seeing their work described in print as “among the worst in the country,” might cringe and try to avoid the media. But David Eager has spent the past five years running the Kentucky Public Pension Authority, with an eye to turning the system around. A big part of his work has been increasing transparency and educating people about the nitty-gritty of public pensions, how Kentucky got into the mess it’s in, and how...

July 14, 2021
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02Jul

Pension Funding Index June 2021

By Zorast Wadia and Charles J. Clark The Milliman 100 PFI funded ratio increases to 98.8% as investment gains counter the effects of discount rate decreases The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans increased by $8 billion during May as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). As of May 31, the deficit improved to $21 billion from $29 billion at the end of April due to strong investment performance. The funded status improvement...

July 2, 2021
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June 2021
24Jun

These public pension systems used to have too much money. Now they’re in crisis. What happened?

In 2001, some of the country’s biggest public pension systems were flush. The plan serving Kentucky state workers, for example, was 125.8% funded, meaning it had 25.8% more money on hand to pay all of what it owed current retirees and workers expected to retire for the next 30 years. But not even two decades later, Kentucky’s pensions, and some other previously over-funded plans, were in crisis. What happened? In Kentucky, lawmakers approved extra benefits for plan participants — even making them...

June 24, 2021
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16Jun

US. Pension Worries Ease for States, Localities on Stimulus, Stocks

Public pensions performed better than anticipated during the pandemic, easing the financial strain on state and local governments sponsoring the plans, thanks in part to U.S. aid and stock market gains. The massive federal stimulus has helped head off the dire revenue picture that many governments were facing early in the pandemic. At the same time, record stock market gains and past changes to public pension operations helped drive funded levels higher and push pension management down the list of...

June 16, 2021
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09Jun

US. Pensions Are Almost Fully Funded and Coming for Your Bonds

A “massive rotation” into corporate bonds from equities may be on the horizon for U.S. pension funds as they become fully funded, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. Investment gains boosted the funded ratio of the 100 largest corporate plans to 98.8% in May, according to Milliman. That measure of defined benefit pension assets to liabilities has surged from 82% since July 2020, data from the risk management firm show. If interest rates continue to rise, BofA expects the...

June 9, 2021
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04Jun

Central Falls’ Bankruptcy and the Principle of Shared Pain

By James Tatum The small city of Central Falls, Rhode Island filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2011, with five other cities. The case could have easily been overshadowed by the insolvency of other sizable jurisdictions. Instead, Central Falls’ case is particular in both the treatment of bondholders and pensioners – one class of creditors was completely protected, while the other suffered deep cuts. The purpose of this article is to examine the method used to distribute losses in Central...

June 4, 2021
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