February 2021

EEUU. Gana fuerza en el Congreso una propuesta para que el Gobierno abra una cuenta con $1,000 a todos los recién nacidos y la vaya enriqueciendo

Un proyecto de ley impulsado por el demócrata Cory Brooker en el Senado y la demócrata Ayanna Pressley en la Cámara de Representantes propone que el Gobierno federal cree una cuenta de ahorros con 1,000 dólares para toda persona que nazca en Estados Unidos. Los llamados baby bonds buscan disminuir la desigualdad económica y racial, y están ganando apoyo entre la mayoría demócrata en ambas cámaras del Congreso. Dependiendo de los ingresos de la familia, el Gobierno añadiría 2,000 dólares...

Counter-Hegemonic Finance: The Gamestop Short Squeeze

By Usman W. Chohan The events that surrounded the short squeeze of various downtrodden stocks such as Gamestop (GME) allude to a counter-hegemonic financial effort, with small-scale investors pooling in to sabotage the short-positions of large Wall Street players such as hedge funds. This paper frames these events in terms of public reprisal for the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and public contempt for insular financial private interest. The discussion suggests that such people-power initiatives, abetted by powerful elite...

US. GameStop frenzy has hedge fund managers rethinking next moves

Retail investors' frenzied attack on short sellers during the week of Jan. 25, which saw U.S. equity trading by volume hit a record high, is forcing some hedge funds to rethink their strategies and approaches to investing. Sources fear that generating alpha from short positions — and the wider hedge fund industry — may be damaged by the episode. Hedge funds may have to invest more in large-cap stocks rather than small cap, keep their positions better hidden from...

US. AIG to pay New York $12M for unlicensed pension risk transfer business

American International Group (AIG), the multinational finance and insurance corporation, owes the state of New York $12 million in penalties for insurance law violations stemming from its pension risk transfer (PRT) business. Linda A. Lacewell, Superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS), announced the penalty on Monday. She said an investigation from her department revealed that a subsidiary of AIG solicited and did insurance business in New York without a license. “A DFS license offers consumers peace...

January 2021

US. Pandemic Widens Retirement Planning Gender Gap

The pandemic has widened the gender gap for retirement planning, and women investors are less optimistic, more concerned and less prepared to protect assets than their male counterparts, according to a new survey. “Women are concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their finances and the resulting uncertainty can make planning for the future — and their retirement — more difficult,” Ann Bair, senior vice president of marketing for Nationwide Financial, said in a statement about the...

CalPERS 2019-20 Annual Performance Report

By CalPERS The 2019-20 CalPERS Annual Performance Report provides a snapshot of our performance during the fiscal year and how we monitor our progress towards achieving our strategic goals and operational outcomes.* This report demonstrates our pledge to operate in an open and transparent manner. Our employees, members and stakeholders can see where we’re successful and where additional support may be needed. The pandemic hit the global economy very hard, but we’ve been preparing for...

US. Biden May Have to Move Quickly to Reverse Anti-ESG Rule

The clock is ticking for the Biden administration to nullify Donald Trump’s restrictions on retirement plan fiduciaries, rules by which the Republican sought to limit their ability to direct money into environmental, social and governance funds. Trump’s Department of Labor moved earlier this month to adjust the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to require those overseeing pension and 401(k) plans to always put economic interests ahead of so-called non-pecuniary goals. It was seen as a direct...

US. Investment Earnings Drive 71% of Public Pension Revenue

Earnings on investments accounted for 71 percent of public retirement system revenues, while employer and employee contributions provided 20 percent and 9 percent respectively, according to an annual study by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. Hank H. Kim, Esq., executive director and counsel of the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems The share of revenues that comes from investment earnings edged up from 69 percent a year earlier, while the employer contribution dipped from...

Analysis: Sovereign wealth, public pension giants caught up in U.S.-China tech fight

Some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds are getting caught in the escalating tensions over technology between the United States and China, a Reuters analysis of their filings data and public disclosures show. Read also US. Biden May Have to Move Quickly to Reverse Anti-ESG Rule They range from Norway and Singapore’s giant sovereign wealth funds to Switzerland’s central bank and the $1.1 trillion U.S. TIAA, founded over a century ago by Andrew Carnegie as...

US. NYC pension funds vote to divest $4 bln from fossil fuels

Two New York City pension funds voted to divest their portfolios of some $4 billion worth of fossil fuel company securities, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Comptroller Scott Stringer, and fund trustees said https://on.nyc.gov/39ejxHM. "Fossil fuels are not only bad for our planet and our frontline communities, they are a bad investment,” said de Blasio in a statement on Monday. New York was among a dozen big cities worldwide that pledged to shift their money out of the fossil fuel...