October 2022
03Oct

Corporate pension plans have staying power

While many U.S. corporate defined benefit plan sponsors have frozen their plans to benefit accruals or transferred their liabilities to insurance companies, they still represent hundreds of billions of dollars of investible assets and reports of their demise are premature, experts say. It was 10 years ago in June that General Motors Co. stunned the institutional investing industry when the automaker announced a $29 billion pension buyout deal with Prudential Insurance Co. of America. The event seemingly portended seismic implications for...

October 3, 2022
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September 2022
08Sep

US. Corporate pension funding remains stable in August despite fall in assets

U.S. corporate pension plan funding ratios rose slightly in August, according to two new reports, while a third report estimates ratios fell during the month. Legal & General Investment Management America in its report estimated the average funding ratio of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan rose to 95.6% as of Aug. 31 from 95% a month earlier. LGIMA in its latest Pension Solutions Monitor said the funding ratio improved due to an decrease in liabilities offsetting a month of weak...

September 8, 2022
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08Sep

Jamaica. JMEA members to access VM pension scheme, special offerings

VM Pensions Management Limited has inked a deal which will see the business supporting member companies and employees of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) get access to an approved retirement scheme (ARS) and a suite of other specially curated offerings. Through the partnership, the association’s members will benefit from enrollment in an affordable pension scheme, with premiums starting as low as $1,000; reduced rates and special access to corporate financing solutions, as well as financial coaching for companies...

September 8, 2022
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02Sep

UK pension funds lose case to block RPI inflation change

A British court on Thursday rejected an application from major pension funds to overturn authorities' plans to reform the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation. "The application for judicial review is dismissed," London's High Court of Justice said in its judgment. The pension funds, including those of BT (BT.L), Marks and Spencer (MKS.L) and Ford (F.N), had brought the case for judicial review against the UK Statistics Authority regulator and Britain's finance minister. RPI, which dates back to the 1940s and...

September 2, 2022
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02Sep

Japan’s GPIF joins GRESB as infrastructure investor member

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund joined GRESB, the standardized benchmark and data provider for the ESG performance of real asset segments, including real estate and infrastructure, as the its first Japanese infrastructure investor member. The ¥193 trillion ($1.41 trillion), Tokyo-based retirement fund, in a news release Thursday, said it joined GRESB "in order to encourage the disclosure of ESG information and promote constructive dialogue with investment managers." GPIF said it advises managers to use GRESB assessment in their infrastructure investment and...

September 2, 2022
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01Sep

After union’s strike, Mexico’s Telmex offers better pension plan for new hires

Union workers for Telmex, the Mexican telecommunications firm controlled by the family of tycoon Carlos Slim, on Wednesday said they were weighing a new offer from employers that included improvements to retirement benefits for new staff. In a company document shared with union workers and seen by Reuters, new hires would upon retirement get a pension worth 100% of their final net pay, determined by their job category, becoming eligible after 35 years of work and once they turn 65. That...

September 1, 2022
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August 2022
26Aug

State and Local Government Employees Without Social Security Coverage: What Percentage Will Earn Pension Benefits that Fall Short of Social Security Equivalence?

By Jean-Pierre Aubry, Siyan Liu, Alicia H. Munnell, Laura Quinby & Glenn Springstead Social Security is designed to provide a base of retirement income, to be supplemented in part by employer-sponsored retirement plans. However, approximately one-quarter of state and local government employees are not covered by Social Security, which federal law allows if their employer-provided plans provide comparable benefits. Yet many public pensions are less generous for recent hires, raising questions of whether those plans will still provide Social Security–equivalent benefits....

August 26, 2022
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25Aug

Why Offering Retirement Benefits Helps Attract And Retain Top Employees

As a business owner in 2022, how many times have you heard yourself ask, “What do employees want?” After all, nearly 24% of the American workforce left their jobs in 2021, leaving small and medium-sized business owners, in particular, wondering how to not only attract top talent but how to retain them. Well, the good news is that statistics support a pretty clear answer. Not only do workers want more money, but 62% seriously consider the availability of a retirement...

August 25, 2022
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22Aug

Planets aligning for U.S. pension funds to offload their liability risk

U.S. corporate pension plans have reached a sweet spot in their derisking journeys that will enable them to pull the trigger on pension risk transfer transactions, including plan terminations. Their funding levels have risen primarily due to rising interest rates that are lowering pension liabilities even as plan assets have fallen due to the challenging return environment that has characterized the first half of 2022. "For corporate pension plans, this what they've been waiting for, for years," said Michael Moran, New...

August 22, 2022
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12Aug

The Vanguard Participant Saving Rate Index

By Jeffrey W. Clark & Jean A. Young Saving rates are fundamental to retirement wealth accumulations. In this paper, we assess whether Vanguard defined contribution plan participants are saving optimally in their current workplace retirement plan. ● We find that 7 in 10 defined contribution plan participants are saving at rates that would enable them to attain a 65% replacement rate in retirement. Saving rates include both the employee elective contributions and any employer contributions. ● We find that a modest increase...

August 12, 2022
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