June 2021

US. The Death Of Public Pension Transparency

Forensic investigations reveal that public pensions in states such as Pennsylvania, California, Tennessee, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and, most recently, Ohio, have long abandoned transparency, choosing instead to collaborate with Wall Street firms to eviscerate state public records laws and avoid accountability to stakeholders. Read also US. Pension Worries Ease for States, Localities on Stimulus, Stocks Predictably, billions that could have been used to pay government workers retirement benefits have been squandered. Read also US. Despite Market Rebound, Rising Unemployment Hurt Public...

US. Despite Market Rebound, Rising Unemployment Hurt Public Pensions

Although cuts to state and local employment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic had only a minor impact on public pensions’ funded ratios, they did cause a rise in the required contribution rates, according to a recent report from the Center for Retirement Research (CRR) at Boston College. The report said that despite better-than-expected revenue for state and local governments during fiscal year 2020, a “dramatic reduction” in the size of the state and local workforce has negatively impacted public...

US. Pension Worries Ease for States, Localities on Stimulus, Stocks

Public pensions performed better than anticipated during the pandemic, easing the financial strain on state and local governments sponsoring the plans, thanks in part to U.S. aid and stock market gains. The massive federal stimulus has helped head off the dire revenue picture that many governments were facing early in the pandemic. At the same time, record stock market gains and past changes to public pension operations helped drive funded levels higher and push pension management down the list of...

US. Maine forces pension funds to dump fossil fuels

Last week, Maine passed bill LD99; an act to require the state to divest itself of assets invested in the fossil fuel industry. Needing 17 votes to pass, it succeeded with 18 in favour while 15 voted against the bill and two were excused. Under the law, the Maine Public Employees Retirement System "may not invest the assets of any state pension or annuity fund in any stocks or other securities of any corporation or company within the fossil fuel...

US. Lost 401(k) accounts and pensions: How lawmakers want to fix the problem

For workers who lose track of their 401(k) savings accounts, help may be on the way. Proposed retirement legislation that’s pending in Congress would create an online “lost and found” database to help locate those accounts, among a variety of other provisions. While lawmakers are in the early stages of considering changes, retirement advocates say the initiative — which also would help people access lost pension benefits — can’t come soon enough. “We have serious problems with retirees not being able...

US. Pensions under fire after PE underperforms

For decades, state pension funds have relied on the private equity industry to invest retirement savings for teachers, firefighters and other public-sector employees. But in recent years, critics of alternative assets have argued that pension managers, who oversee some $4.5 trillion across the US, would be better served investing in low-cost index funds that track the S&P 500 and avoiding PE's high fees. This past week, public pension fund managers threw PE detractors more red meat, raising larger questions about...

US. Public pensions lose on hedge funds — again

By Brett Arends One of these days I’m going to write about a bunch of retirees and future retirees who have just made a ton of extra money thanks to the financial brilliance of elite, exclusive, high-fee hedge funds. Today, however, is not that day. Instead, here comes more news about a public pension fund allegedly missing out on billions of dollars because of hedge funds and other high-fee funds. And the news that retirement systems and other institutional investors continue to pour...

How Does Social Security Reform Indecision Affect Younger Cohorts?

By John B. Shoven, Sita Slavov, John G. Watson The Social Security trust fund will be exhausted in the early 2030s. The U.S. government will need to make a choice about how to address the impending trust fund exhaustion, but it is unclear what it will choose to do. This indecision leaves young and middle-aged workers not knowing whether they will face Social Security benefit cuts, payroll tax increases, or an increase in the full retirement age. This uncertainty about...

US. Pensions Are Almost Fully Funded and Coming for Your Bonds

A “massive rotation” into corporate bonds from equities may be on the horizon for U.S. pension funds as they become fully funded, according to strategists at Bank of America Corp. Investment gains boosted the funded ratio of the 100 largest corporate plans to 98.8% in May, according to Milliman. That measure of defined benefit pension assets to liabilities has surged from 82% since July 2020, data from the risk management firm show. If interest rates continue to rise, BofA expects the...

ForUsAll Debuts the ‘Alt 401(k)’ to Provide In-Plan Cryptocurrency Access

Another cryptocurrency foray into 401ks was announced today. ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, introduced the Alt 401(k), its turnkey retirement investment platform that allows employers to provide alternative investment options within 401k plans—what the company is calling a “first of its kind.” Read also US. Pensions Are Almost Fully Funded and Coming for Your Bonds The San Francisco-based fintech company is enabling employers to offer cryptocurrency as the plan’s first alternative investment by selecting Coinbase Institutional, a leading cryptocurrency...