April 2017

24Apr

Is retirement problem the same as a savings problem?

HOUSE Resolution 67, which Donald Trump signed last week, rolls back a rule that the Labor Department finalised late last year, which would have made it easier for cities and counties to run retirement savings plans for citizens who couldn’t get them through work. It is an odd choice for Republicans to kill plans that would encourage private, voluntary, tax-deferred saving, which they tend to approve of. But a trade group for investment funds opposes the city-run retirement plans....

April 24, 2017
News, OP Ed
Read more...
20Apr

US. Metro’s Manager Calls For More Funding, Reduced Pensions

Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld officially charged into the region’s political arena Wednesday, unveiling an ambitious plan to save the transit system’s sinking finances. Wiedefeld is calling on local lawmakers to establish a dedicated source of funding that will provide $500 million annually for WMATA’s long-term infrastructure and maintenance needs. However, he is not prescribing a specific solution, such as a regional sales tax. Wiedefeld is leaving that for elected officials to decide. The bottom line of Wiedefeld’s long-awaited report, published...

April 20, 2017
News
Read more...
19Apr

House GOP bill would give Trump greater power over Wall Street regulation

A sweeping House GOP bill would give the president new powers that could limit the independence of certain regulatory agencies. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling last week unveiled an outline of his bill aimed at dismantling the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform. At the top of Republicans' long wish list: handing the president authority to fire the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a consumer watchdog agency, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae...

April 19, 2017
News
Read more...
19Apr

As the Clock Ticks, Senate Stalls on State-Run Retirement Plans

Late last month, Congress voted to overturn an Obama-era rule that cleared the way for cities to create retirement programs for private-sector workers that didn't have one through their employer. But a similar resolution targeting the rule as it applies to states is stuck. For the past three weeks, that resolution has lingered in uncertainty as the Senate stalls on taking an up or down vote. Many believe that signals an opportunity. "Based on the conversations we've had with staff and...

April 19, 2017
News
Read more...
14Apr

Factors Aligning to Accelerate Pension Activity in the US

While combined pre‑funding and risk transfer actions have typically been economically positive, primarily due to the substantial increase in Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums and other defined benefit (DB) maintenance costs, many plan sponsors have stayed on the sidelines or managed pension risk tentatively, Mercer notes in a report. However, Mercer says, pension sponsors are growing tired of market and regulatory volatility and are contemplating bolder action. Potential tax changes that will drive accelerated pre‑funding make a tipping point...

April 14, 2017
News, OP Ed
Read more...
11Apr

US. Pension Fund Reforms in the Wake of the Great Recession

Pension plans are still recovering from the enormous losses suffered in the wake of the Great Recession. According to the Federal Reserve, state and local pension fund asset values fell from $3.2 trillion at the end of 2007 to $2.1 trillion in March 2009, increasing pension costs at a time when state and local governments faced severe losses in revenue. More recently, the California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers), the country's largest public pension fund, announced in December 2016,...

April 11, 2017
News
Read more...
10Apr

President Trump Just Cost Americans Saving For Their Retirement $3.7 Billion

Donald Trump talked a big game on the campaign trail about standing up to big corporations and putting the interests of hardworking Americans first. But as president, Trump has repeatedly broken his promises – and now, he’s dealing a blow to Americans saving for retirement. In February, he set in motion a process to kill a common-sense rule that would keep financial advisers from siphoning off money from the clients who trust them. Right now, predatory financial advice cheats investors out...

April 10, 2017
News
Read more...
07Apr

Democrats ask Trump to veto measure repealing city retirement plan rule

In a last-ditch effort, five US Senate Democrats are urging President Donald Trump to veto a resolution that would repeal a Labor Department rule designed to help cities launch retirement savings plans for low-income private-sector workers by exempting such programs from strict federal pension protection laws. In an April 5 letter that Reuters saw on Thursday, the lawmakers told Trump, a Republican, that killing the rule could harm more than 2 million Americans who would otherwise benefit from city-run retirement...

April 7, 2017
News
Read more...
07Apr

US Pension Plans Look to the Canadian Model

Given the rising Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums and persistently low interest rates, many US pension plans have been adapting some of the practices of what Cerulli Associates call The Canadian Model. The Model is centered around three attributes, according to Cerulli: cost mitigation, a well-diversified investment portfolio across several asset classes and geographies, and a large appetite for illiquid investments. While the Canadian pension market is considerably smaller than the US pension market—$1.2 trillion in assets compared to $6...

April 7, 2017
News
Read more...
06Apr

Here’s what the US could learn from Singapore’s plan for aging workers

At Chatters, a small café in the lobby of a hospital, the staff frothing cappuccinos and managing the register aren't your typical young baristas. That's because every employee must be at least 55. "It keeps my mind moving," said Sally Chung, 72, a retired accountant, who manages the café and does the books. The café's age requirement reflects a demographic trend this city-state of 5.6 million people is trying to confront: the population is getting old — fast. In 2015, one in...

April 6, 2017
News
Read more...