February 2025
07Feb

U.S. corporate funding surpluses rise in January — Wilshire and LGIMA

U.S. corporate pension funding surpluses vaulted higher in January, thanks to a strong month of returns across global equities, according to estimates from Wilshire Advisors and Legal & General Investment Management America. First, Wilshire estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 105.4% as of Jan. 31, an increase of 1.8 percentage points from the firm's updated 103.6% funding ratio as of Dec. 31. Ned McGuire, managing director at Wilshire, said in a news release Feb. 5 that the...

February 7, 2025
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07Feb

UK. Pensions industry could save members ‘millions’ in private market fees, report finds

The UK workplace pension industry could have the opportunity to save "hundreds of millions of pounds" for savers when it comes to investing in private markets, a report from The People’s Pension has suggested. The paper found that while there are nearly £1bn in potential fee savings available, no master trust currently has the scale to fully take advantage, which aligns with the government's own recent calculations, which suggested that investing in private markets delivers little additional value at current...

February 7, 2025
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06Feb

US. DOL’s New Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database Goes Live

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has officially launched its Retirement Savings Lost and Found database. Although the database is not complete, DOL will continue to make improvements over the next several months. DOL needs ongoing assistance and participation from plan administrators to get information on plan participants who have left their places of employment. While submission of this information by plan administrators is voluntary, DOL hopes to receive sufficient information to create the most effective database possible. Plan administrators...

February 6, 2025
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December 2024
19Dec

UK Government denies compensation to Waspi women

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended the decision to reject compensation for women hit by changes to the state pension age, arguing that the taxpayer "simply can't afford the tens of billions of pounds" in payments. He added that "90% of those impacted knew about the changes that were taking place". However, during Prime Minister's Questions, Sir Keir was repeatedly pressed on the government's decision, with one MP calling for a vote. The Women Against State Pension Inequality (Waspi) campaign group say that...

December 19, 2024
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12Dec

November Sees Another Gain in Corporate Pension Funded Status

The funded ratios of defined benefit corporate pension plans in the U.S. rose in November, with strong market returns offsetting a drop in discount rates, according to tracking by some of the country’s largest pension consultancies. Milliman Inc., which tracks 100 of the largest corporate pension plans through its monthly index, reported that funded ratios rose to 103.5% as of November 30, outdoing the end of October’s 103.2%. The average market gains of 1.88% lifted the value of the plan assets Milliman tracks...

December 12, 2024
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05Dec

U.S. corporate pension funding surpluses rise in November — 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension funding ratios jumped in November thanks to positive market returns, according to three new reports. First, Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 103.5% as of Nov. 30, an increase of 1.4 percentage points above the 102.1% funding ratio estimated by the firm as of Oct. 31. “November’s increase in funded status was primarily driven by positive asset returns across most asset classes, with the FT Wilshire 5000 Index reaching an all-time high...

December 5, 2024
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03Dec

Thousands of Volkswagen workers strike at factories across Germany

Thousands of Volkswagen workers in Germany went on strike on Monday after the company announced plans to close three plants and slash pensions. Tens of thousands of employees with the IG Metall union stopped work at 9:30 a.m. The strike is set to last two hours, a process which will be repeated by the late shift. Nine of Volkswagen’s car and component factories in Germany were affected by the so-called warning strikes, with work either being halted temporarily for demonstrations or shifts...

December 3, 2024
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November 2024
25Nov

UK. Aviva completes a £1.7 billion buy-in with the National Grid Electricity Group of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme

Aviva has today announced the completion of a £1.7 billion pensioner buy-in with the National Grid Electricity Group (“the Group”) of the Electricity Supply Pension Scheme (“the Scheme”). The transaction, which completed in October 2024, included transitioning the Group’s existing longevity swap with Zurich Assurance Ltd to Aviva, and insures the benefits for 5,800 pensioner members of the Group. Aon acted as the sole transaction adviser, covering actuarial, investment and broking aspects. Legal advice to the Group Trustee was provided by...

November 25, 2024
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21Nov

US. Soaring Corporate Pensions Boost Retirement Security

Corporate pensions in the United States have been experiencing their strongest performance in over a decade. According to data from Aon, pension plan funding has consistently improved since the Great Recession. As of September 21, the pension-funded ratios of public companies on the stock index averaged 102%, signifying that pension funding had reached its highest point since late 2011, when the ratio was approximately 78%. A funded ratio is used to assess the health of a pension plan by...

November 21, 2024
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15Nov

US. October Sees Gain in Corporate Pension Funded Status

An increase in discount rates helped corporate pensions by offsetting both a decline in asset values and weak investment returns. The funded ratios of corporate pension plans in the U.S. mostly improved in October, according to numerous trackers, continuing a near-perfect streak of month-over-month funded status improvement for more than a year. Despite weaker investment returns, most trackers found that declines in asset values were offset by increases in the discount rates used to value pension liabilities. According to Mercer,...

November 15, 2024
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