August 2019

27Aug

Senators Demand U.S. Pension Fund Reject China Investment

Two senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are calling on administrators of the federal government’s main retirement savings fund to reverse a decision that they say would shift billions in investments into Chinese companies supporting that nation’s military and espionage efforts. Read also US. Blame The Fed For The Coming Pension Fund Crisis Senators Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, sent a letter Monday to Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Chairman Michael...

August 27, 2019
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27Aug

New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern firm on keeping Superannuation age at 65

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says if the National Party hadn't stopped contributions to the Superannuation Fund, there'd be no need to discuss raising the Superannuation eligibility age to 67. National announced yesterday it was sticking to its previous promise to raising the Superannuation eligibility age to 67 from 2037 if it were elected to government next year. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report: "Our argument of course has always been that if we continue to make contributions to...

August 27, 2019
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23Aug

Bridging Public Pension Funds and Infrastructure Investing

By Clive Lipshitz, Ingo Walter Underfunding of U.S. public pensions is a chronic policy issue that has become more severe over time. Public pension obligations were estimated at $5.96 trillion at the end of 2017 supported by assets of $4.33 trillion — a shortfall of $1.63 trillion and a ‘funded-ratio’ of 72.6%. We consider the sustainability of public pension systems in the face of changing demographics and frequently inadequate funding and investment returns, and make the connection to the...

August 23, 2019
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23Aug

US. Pension fund joins action against Facebook

The California State Teachers' Retirement System has joined a derivatives case against Facebook in regards to Cambridge Analytica. The litigation at hand is a pending derivative lawsuit against Facebook's leadership, including the social media company's chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg. CalSTRS said intervening in the existing derivative suit will give it the opportunity to pursue corporate governance reform. Its aim is to "protect Facebook's profitability, strengthen the resiliency of its business model and enhance the long-term value of Facebook as...

August 23, 2019
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22Aug

US Corporate DB Pension Funding Falls $11 Billion in July

The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans fell $11 billion in July as the funded ratio dropped to 87.9% from 88.4% at the end of June, according to consulting firm Milliman. The Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI) showed that the funded status deficit grew to $216 billion from $205 billion at the end of June due to a drop in the benchmark corporate bond interest rates used to value pension liabilities. However, the...

August 22, 2019
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20Aug

US. The looming crisis in long-term care

Taking care of the aging population is a crisis in the making, and no one — not families, not government programs and not the health care workforce — is prepared for it. The big picture: Providing health care to aging Baby Boomers will strain Medicare’s finances, but the problem is even bigger than that. Long-term care — the kind of services typically performed in a nursing home or by a home health aide — largely falls through the cracks...

August 20, 2019
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16Aug

Delaying Retirement: Progress and Challenges of Active Ageing in Europe, the United States and Japan

Dirk Hofacker, Moritz Hess, Stefanie Konig To a backdrop of ageing societies, pension crises and labour market reforms, this book investigates how the policy shift from early retirement to active ageing has affected individual retirement behaviour. Focusing on eleven European countries, the United States and Japan, it brings together leading international experts to analyze recent changes in pension systems. Their findings demonstrate that there has been a fundamental transition in pension policies and a steep increase in...

August 16, 2019
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16Aug

U.S. Elderly Bankruptcy Is On The Rise — Here’s Why

This week, the U.K.’s Financial Times covered an important and overlooked aspect of how the U.S. treats its elders: bankruptcy. Stories of seniors filing for bankruptcy are heartbreaking and uncomfortable, so I am not surprised that it took a correspondent paid by a foreign newspaper (Patti Waldmeir) to tell this American story from the lobbies of our bankruptcy courts. Like every good story, there are complicated victims and more than one perpetrator. Everyone has a role in the “crime.” Victims In Elder Bankruptcies Bankruptcy in...

August 16, 2019
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15Aug

US. MIT Accused Of Costing Workers Millions In Cozy Deal With Financial Giant Fidelity

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the nation's most prestigious universities, stands accused of hurting workers in the company's retirement plan by engaging in an improper relationship with the financial firm Fidelity. A lawsuit headed to trial in September alleges that MIT ignored the advice of its own consultants and allowed Fidelity to pack the university's retirement plan with high-fee investment funds that ended up costing employees tens of millions of dollars. In return, the lawsuit said, MIT...

August 15, 2019
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14Aug

US. The SECURE Act could mean big changes for advisers

While it's not surprising that the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act is tangled in a political decision-making web, it's reassuring that the conversation about helping Americans save for retirement is still on the docket. After all, this would be the most significant retirement legislation since the Pension Protection Act of 2006, which among other reasons, is why financial advisers must consider the potential challenges and opportunities once the law is passed. (Fingers crossed for this...

August 14, 2019
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