July 2019
05Jul

Reforming Pensions While Retaining Shareholder Voice

By David H. Webber Public pension and labor union funds have been the driving force in diversified shareholder activism. They have also fended off attacks on jobs and proactively created jobs for fund contributors. These funds currently represent almost $4 trillion in assets over which workers have substantial control. That worker control - and the collective nature of defined benefit pension plans - is the necessary precondition for their shareholder activism. Both worker control and collective investment are directly...

July 5, 2019
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June 2019

28Jun

Fintech pension provider eyes US market

Workplace pension provider Smart Pension is looking to move into the US market in response to overseas interest in its retirement services. Company officials are currently taking part in a UK fintech delegation to Chicago, led by Peter Estlin, Lord Mayor of the City of London, which includes financial services companies such as Revolut and Worldpay. FTAdviser reported in April that the provider was chosen by the government to participate in a fintech bridge pilot programme in Australia. The...

June 28, 2019
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26Jun

US. The Gender Gap We Need to Worry About: Retirement-Savings Shortfalls

Most Americans aren't saving enough for retirement, leading to big retirement-savings shortfalls. In fact, according to Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), more than four in 10 families where the head of household is between the ages of 35 and 64 will run short of money during their retirement. Not all households are equally short on cash for the future, though. In fact, EBRI found a shocking discrepancy between the projected retirement-savings shortfalls of older single women and those of...

June 26, 2019
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21Jun

Annuity Pricing in Public Pension Plans: Importance of Interest Rates

By Nino Abashidze, Robert L. Clark, Beth Ritter, David Vanderweide There is little systematic information on the distribution options in public sector retirement plans and how annuity options are priced relative to the standard single life annuity. This study examines the distribution options of 85 large public retirement plans covering general state employees, teachers, and local government employees. An important component of the analysis is the construction of a data set presenting the annuity options offered by each of...

June 21, 2019
Adequacy, Aging, Articles, Savings, ,
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19Jun

NYC Pensions to Expand Prison Investment Ban With Platinum Equity

New York City pension funds and Platinum Equity LLC are hammering out the details of a provision to let the funds opt out of future investments in the prison services industry, according to people familiar with the matter. The New York City Comptroller’s office is working to expand existing restrictions barring investment in private prison operators to now include companies providing services to correctional facilities, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private....

June 19, 2019
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17Jun

How to take advantage of all the uncertainty with the stock market

As the stock market swings amid tariff and trade war threats, you might get nervous about the effects on your 401(k) or other investments. But a shaky market is no reason to stray from your financial plan. Behavior at the end of 2018 is a striking example. As the market soured in the final months of the year, investors pulled funds to mitigate losses, according to DALBAR's 2018 Investor Behavior Study, but not nearly enough to avoid the full...

June 17, 2019
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14Jun

The Future of Public Employee Retirement Systems (Pensions Research Council) (English Edition)

By Gary Anderson, Olivia S. Mitchell People covered by public pensions are often the subject of 'pension envy:' that is, their benefits might seem more generous and their contributions lower than those offered by the private sector. Yet this book points out that such judgments are often inaccurate, since civil servants hold jobs with few counterparts in private industry, such as firefighters, police, judges, and teachers. Often these are riskier, dirtier, and demand more loyalty and discretion than would...

June 14, 2019
Books, System Sustainability, , , ,
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13Jun

US retirement accounts are growing, but not fast enough

Vanguard has released its annual How America Saves 2019 report. It’s a snapshot of the state of retirement in America that focuses on defined benefit accounts, which are mostly in the form of 401(k)s. 1. Despite the market downturn in 2018 (the S&P 500 was down about 6%), the average defined contribution plan last year increased 4%, largely because participants were saving more. The increase counted only those who also had accounts in 2017, not new accounts. 2. More...

June 13, 2019
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11Jun

New York Comptroller Aims to Double Pension Plan’s ESG Funding

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli pledges to double the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s sustainable investments. That will bring the pension program’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG)investments to $20 billion over the next decade. To aid in that effort, he will next create a multi-asset climate solutions program, which will operate similarly to its emerging manager program. It will work with managers, consultants, and index providers on creating alignment with the fund’s sustainability goals. The fund intends to better assess its...

June 11, 2019
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11Jun

Bank fraud in San Miguel de Allende: expats fight to regain US $40 million stolen through Ponzi scheme

In San Miguel de Allende, it is said foreigners live here either because they want to be forgotten, or because there’s no one left to remember them. This small-town alchemy of anonymity and forgettability laid the groundwork for an alleged decade-long Ponzi scheme estimated to have stolen US $40 million from more than 150 Banco Monex accounts belonging to United States, Canadian, British, European and Australian expatriates. While several local Mexicans were also embroiled in the bank fraud, the vast majority...

June 11, 2019
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