October 2019

11Oct

GE’s Not Alone: 25 Companies That Owe $1 Trillion In Pensions

General Electric is getting out of the pension business — and is just the latest company to do so. But such efforts by S&P 500 companies only go so far. They're still on the hook for hundreds of billions in pension obligations. Twenty-five S&P 500 companies, including International Business Machines (IBM), GE (GE) and General Motors (GM), collectively face $1 trillion in pension benefit obligations, according to an Investor's Business Daily analysis of projections from S&P Global Market Intelligence....

October 11, 2019
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07Oct

China’s Ministry of Finance transfers more assets to boost pension system

China’s Ministry of Finance is continuing its efforts to boost the country’s creaking pension system by transferring its stakes in financial state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to the social security fund, reported Caixin. Hong Kong- and Shanghai-listed Bank of Communications Co. Ltd., one of China’s five largest state-owned banks by assets, announced that the finance ministry will transfer 10% of its shares in the bank to the government-backed National Council for Social Security Fund. The shares were worth RMB 10.7 billion...

October 7, 2019
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September 2019

27Sep

Pensions and Early Retirement: The Case of The Public Servants in Uganda

By Kibs Boaz Muhanguzi Retirement, if influenced by pensions, can be a good manifestation of how the government can use the pension system as a fiscal instrument to achieve some socioeconomic targets. Borrowing intuition from the postulations of disengagement theory of aging that when the elderly retire, they free up positions in paid work for the entry of young individuals, this study investigates the role of incentives on early retirement. The high levels of unemployment in Uganda amidst the...

September 27, 2019
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10Sep

US. Corporate Pension Funding Moves Closer to Worrisome 80% Level

U.S. corporate pensions felt the pain of low bond yields in August. The retirement funds for U.S. corporations had just 82% of the money they expect to need over time for pensioners as of August, down four percentage points from July, according to a statement from consulting firm Mercer on Monday. The steep drop stemmed from long-term bond yields plunging to record lows, which effectively increases the current value of companies’ future obligations. Declines in U.S. equities didn’t help...

September 10, 2019
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05Sep

The road to bankruptcy: Romania’s fiscal deficit to reach 8 pct of GDP by 2022 if the new pension law is implemented, IMF says

The new pension law could double Romania’s already sizable fiscal deficit, which could reach 8 percent of GDP by 2022, and raise external financing needs to excessive levels if it will be implemented as is without offsetting policy measures, International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts warn. For 2019, IMF estimates a fiscal deficit of 3.7 percent of GDP in Romania. The government has enacted a new law that will double the pillar I pension benefits by 2022, without yet spelling...

September 5, 2019
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04Sep

Ecuadorian Retirees demand Payment of their Pensions

Dozens of retirees from the National Electricity Corporation (CNEL) today demanded that President Lenin Moreno's government pay their pensions through the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS). New demonstrators joined the pensioner's hunger strike in Rocafuerte Square, in the center of Guayaquil, about 267 kilometers from the capital, who are claiming that they have received incomplete pension payments for the past decade. In the opinion of several strikers, the IESS calculated the retirement pension based on the unified basic salary...

September 4, 2019
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03Sep

Top 20 pension funds’ AUM declines for first time in seven years

Assets under management (AUM) at the world's 300 largest pension funds fell in value by 0.4% to a total of US$18 trillion in 2018, in sharp contrast to an increase of 15.1% in 2017, according to the latest World 300 research from the Thinking Ahead Institute. The research, conducted in conjunction with Pensions & Investments, a leading U.S. investment newspaper, shows that the value of the top 20 pension funds' AUM fell by 1.6% in 2018, equating to 40.7%...

September 3, 2019
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03Sep

South Korea. Stalled reform

After 10 months of discussion, a committee on national pension reform last week suggested three options, all of which fall short of ensuring the long-term sustainability of the pension scheme, now under increasing strain. Differences in views between labor and business representatives barred the panel formed in October under the Economic, Social and Labor Council from working out a single proposal. The first option calls for freezing the income replacement rate, which is set to be lowered to 40...

September 3, 2019
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August 2019
30Aug

The Palgrave Handbook of Unconventional Risk Transfer

By Maurizio Pompella, Nicos A Scordis This handbook examines the latest techniques and strategies that are used to unlock the risk transfer capacity of global financial and capital markets. Taking the financial crisis and global recession into account, it frames and contextualises non-traditional risk transfer tools created over the last 20 years. Featuring contributions from distinguished academics and professionals from around the world, this book covers in detail issues in securitization, financial risk management and innovation, structured finance...

August 30, 2019
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23Aug

Bridging Public Pension Funds and Infrastructure Investing

By Clive Lipshitz, Ingo Walter Underfunding of U.S. public pensions is a chronic policy issue that has become more severe over time. Public pension obligations were estimated at $5.96 trillion at the end of 2017 supported by assets of $4.33 trillion — a shortfall of $1.63 trillion and a ‘funded-ratio’ of 72.6%. We consider the sustainability of public pension systems in the face of changing demographics and frequently inadequate funding and investment returns, and make the connection to the...

August 23, 2019
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