April 2022
29Apr

Europe dominates green finance index, but U.S. cities catching up

Western European cities, led by London, continue to dominate when it comes to green finance, but U.S. cities are starting to catch up, according to the Global Green Finance index published Thursday by London consultancy Z/Yen Group. Compared with the first one published in March 2018, the ninth edition of the semiannual index found more correlation between U.S. cities' standing as financial centers and their green credentials, said Mike Wardle, a director and head of indexes for Z/Yen, in an...

April 29, 2022
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29Apr

US. Companies Look to Diversify Their Pension Investments as Funding Levels Soar

Companies are looking for alternative investment options for their pension plan funds—for example, high-quality private credit—as they look to diversify their holdings amid high funding levels. Businesses in recent years have invested a greater proportion of their plans in fixed-income securities, which are considered safer bets than assets such as equities, commodities, private equity and real estate. S&P 1500 companies invested 51% of their plan funds in fixed income in 2021, up from 50% a year earlier and 42% a...

April 29, 2022
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28Apr

Retirement Savings Policy: Past, Present, and Future (The Alexandra Lajoux Corporate Governance)

By Michael P. P. Barry Retirement Savings Policy reviews the basic policies that govern retirement savings plans, and their real world application, focusing on the key issues of finance, taxation, fiduciary conduct, and employee choice. The discussion is framed around the three fundamental challenges confronting employers and employees today – the pension legacy, the 401(k) revolution, and the pressure, from policymakers, regulators, opinion leaders, and individuals, for changes that will put retirement security within reach of all Americans. With more...

April 28, 2022
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28Apr

US. Senators float bill to give participants more lump-sum buyout info

A bill requiring pension plan sponsors to provide participants and retirees with key information when offering lump-sum buyouts was reintroduced Wednesday in the Senate. The legislation, the Information Needed for Financial Options Risk Mitigation Act, referred to as the INFORM Act, would require plan sponsors offering buyouts to provide participants and beneficiaries a paper notice 90 days before the period in which they must make an election; a comparison of benefits, explanation of how the lump sum was calculated, ramifications...

April 28, 2022
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27Apr

US. New York City Wants to Amp Up Risk in Workers’ Pensions

New York City’s comptroller is the latest public official trying to change laws aimed at limiting risk in pension investments, as U.S. state and local pension funds try to plug shortfalls in a low-return environment. Comptroller Brad Lander, who oversees about $260 billion in retirement money for city police, firefighters, teachers and other public workers, is asking New York lawmakers for more flexibility to invest in private markets, high-yield debt and foreign stocks. The state comptroller’s office, which supervises another...

April 27, 2022
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Empleados de EE. UU. podrán tener bitcoins en cuenta de retiro
27Apr

Empleados de EE. UU. podrán tener bitcoins en cuenta de retiro

Es posible que pronto más trabajadores estadounidenses puedan usar bitcoins para depositar parte de sus ahorros para la jubilación, a medida que las criptomonedas se abren paso en la sociedad. La administradora de activos y fondos de pensiones Fidelity Investments informó el martes que creó una manera para que los trabajadores destinen parte de sus contribuciones y ahorros a sus cuentas para la jubilación, conocidas como 401(k). Fidelity precisó que esa parte podría ser potencialmente hasta del 20%. Fidelity dijo ser...

April 27, 2022
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26Apr

US. Fidelity Pension Plan Will Allow Employees to Invest in Bitcoin

Fidelity Investments, the United States’ biggest provider of 401(k) pension plans, will let participants choose to keep money in bitcoin (BTC), but only if their employers let them. 401(k) plans are employer-sponsored defined-contribution pension accounts, and Fidelity, per 2020 figures compiled by the researcher Cerulli Associates, has USD 2.4 trillion locked into 401(k) accounts. That figure, the New York Times pointed out, represents over a third of the domestic market. On its website, Fidelity explained that its “new proprietary offering” was...

April 26, 2022
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22Apr

US. Amazon faces new activism from pension funds in New York over worker safety

A group of New York city and state pension funds that collectively own more than $5 billion of Amazon.com Inc. stock are urging fellow shareholders to vote against re-election of two board members for what the institutions say are failures to adequately protect worker safety. New York City’s pension fund, which represents the teachers, police department, fire department and other unions, has paired up with New York state’s pension fund and the office of the Illinois state treasurer to vote...

April 22, 2022
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21Apr

US. Inflation is taking a big bite from retirees’ pension income

Most pensions, unlike Social Security payments, don’t offer a cost-of-living adjustment that keeps pace with the current inflation rate. State and local government pensions typically offer up to a 2% or 3% adjustment a year. Private-sector employers that still provide pensions, however, typically don’t offer a COLA at all. There may be a tension between enhancing a pension’s adjustment and maintaining the plan’s longer-term financial health. Inflation is taking a substantial bite from the income retirees get from pensions. Many...

April 21, 2022
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20Apr

US. 2022 HSA Conference: HSA Education and Communication

Without significant education, many employees do not understand their HSA benefits. They often get them confused with flexible spending accounts, for example, or they fail to see how HSAs could affect their own circumstances with regard to financial wellness and retirement savings. This was the conclusion of a panel of industry experts at the 2022 PLANSPONSOR-PLANADVISER HSA Conference, which discussed the “what,” “how” and “when” for HSA education and communication. The goal of the discussion was to help plan advisers,...

April 20, 2022
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