February 2024

US. Diversity kept in mind, but not a priority, among pension plans in manager hires

When hiring money managers, U.S. pension funds say they have one thing to make clear: It is their fiduciary duty to prioritize firms that can generate strong returns and mitigate risks. But there are ways that funds make their selection while promoting diversity, regardless of whether they have formal policies for hiring minority- and women-owned programs. Aside from encouraging inclusiveness within the asset management industry, considering the identity of a firm's ownership in hiring practices can help allocators create a broad...

US. Shell Closes $4.9B Pension Risk Transfer With Prudential

Prudential Financial Inc. announced on Wednesday it had closed a $4.9 billion pension risk transfer deal with Shell USA Inc. The transaction would be the first major pension risk transfer in the U.S. this year, following record years for the pension risk transfer market in 2022 and 2023.  “Prudential is honored to help continue meeting the retirement security needs of Shell’s retirees,” said Alexandra Hyten, head of institutional retirement strategies at Prudential, in a statement. “We are confident that our commitment...

U.K. pension funds may consider climate change – Financial Markets Law Committee

The U.K. committee advising the markets on financial law said pension trustees may consider climate change when making investment decisions, allaying long-standing concerns that incorporating key ESG factors could be a breach of fiduciary duty. The Financial Markets Law Committee said U.K. trustees are required to make "careful" decisions, and that includes considering factors such as climate change that market prices may not yet reflect, in a Feb. 6 paper. While targeted at pension funds, the committee said its conclusions are...

Kenya. Pension returns trail inflation rate for the second year

Pension contributors are staring at a major erosion of their savings after annual returns on investments in 2023 by pension funds shrunk below the rate of inflation. A periodic pension industry survey done by fund administrator Zamara shows that pension schemes made a weighted average return of 1.4 percent in 2023, which was lower than the 1.7 percent return recorded in 2022. At the same time, Kenya’s average inflation stood at 7.7 percent in 2023, meaning that the average saver lost...

Japanese Pension Giant Rebounds in Fiscal Q3

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund rebounded in the third quarter of fiscal 2023, returning 2.62%, after reporting a slight loss the previous quarter, to raise its total asset value to 224.7 trillion yen ($1.51 trillion). For the first three quarters of the fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024, the pension giant’s investment portfolio has returned 12%. The investment portfolio returned a total of 5.73 trillion yen for the quarter and 10.45 trillion yen during...

US. Public Pensions Are Mixing Risky Investments with Unrealistic Predictions

More than 20 million Americans are covered by state and local government pensions. Unlike the 401(k) plans found in the private sector, these “defined benefit” plans promise to pay retirees a set amount of money every month for the rest of their lives. For most public workers, these generous programs are a cornerstone of their financial security; for many, they’re one of the main attractions of government jobs. Yet the plans, by their own reckoning, are underfunded to the tune...

Will AI revolutionize the retirement industry?

A recent survey from Professional Pensions showed 17% of pension experts think Artificial Intelligence (AI) will revolutionize the industry a great deal, while 60% agreed it will to some extent. Only 7% argued AI will not change the way things in the industry are done. With that backdrop, the EBRI-Milken Institute 2024 Retirement Symposium’s panel, Innovations and FinTech: Developments that Can Enhance Financial Security, Retirement Planning and Spending Down Assets, discussed the nature of AI within the retirement planning process. Yon...

Milliman analysis: Competitive pension risk transfer costs decrease from 101.8% to 100.5% in December

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced the latest results of its Milliman Pension Buyout Index (MPBI). As the pension risk transfer (PRT) market continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to monitor the annuity market for plan sponsors that are considering transferring retiree pension obligations to an insurer. “Retiree buyout costs open 2024 at their lowest level in almost six months--despite another sizable drop in accounting discount rates” During December, the estimated cost to transfer...

Analysis: 2024 to be the biggest year for UK pension de-risking

UK pensions consultants expect 2024 to be another record-breaking year for the pensions risk transfer market with transactions surpassing 2023 levels. The final figures for 2023 are yet to be published. However, it is widely expected that there were circa £50bn in deals, which would brand 2023 as a record year for pension risk transfers, compared with the previous high of £43.8bn in 2019. UK pensions consultants expect this trend to continue. WTW expects pension risk transfer volumes to reach £80bn, with...

January 2024

Pension insurers charter commits to sustainable pension risk transfers

Accounting for Sustainability (A4S), the Church of England Pensions Board and Railpen have developed a charter for pension insurers that sets out guiding principles for the bulk annuity process focusing on transparency, decision making, reporting and engagement, and collaboration. The pension funds that have joined the charter as founding signatories include Cancer Research Pension Scheme, Church of England Pensions Board, HSBC Bank Pensions Scheme, Railpen, and Railways Pension Scheme. For insurers, founding signatories include Aviva, Just Group, Legal & General, Pensions...