November 2025
28Nov

Largest US Pension Fund CalPERS Faces Heavy Losses As Strategy Investment Drops To $80M

California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has been caught on the wrong side of the recent sell-off in Strategy, with its first bet on the Bitcoin proxy stock sliding from more than $144m to about $80m in a matter of months. According to a recent SEC filing, CalPERS acquired 448,157 Strategy (MSTR) shares in the third quarter, paying over $144m for the position. The stake, which gave the fund direct equity exposure to one of the most volatile Bitcoin plays...

November 28, 2025
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28Nov

UK Budget 2025: limitations on pensions salary sacrifice will lead to ‘cut-backs’

Plans by the UK government to charge employer and employee national insurance contributions (NICs) on salary sacrificed in exchange for employer pension contributions above £2,000 from 2029 will leave future pensioners facing lower funds, according to an expert. Pensions salary sacrifice describes an arrangement where, instead of paying contributions directly to their pension, an employee contractually agrees with their employer to give up part of their salary or bonus in return for the employer paying an equivalent amount into their...

November 28, 2025
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27Nov

US. NYC comptroller urges city pensions to drop BlackRock, other managers over climate concerns

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander recommended that the city’s three pension funds drop a trio of asset managers for failing to meet the climate expectation of the city’s net-zero implementation plan, Lander’s office said in a Wednesday release. Lander recommended the city’s pensions move on from BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora in an update to the trustees of the city’s Teachers’ Retirement System, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and Board of Education Retirement System. The recommendation for the city’s...

November 27, 2025
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26Nov

A ‘tale of two retirements’ shows only the rich are saving more — while most Americans are putting away much less

There’s a stark divide among Americans when it comes to retirement savings. Most U.S. workers struggle to save and invest for their older years, putting themselves at risk of running out of money before they die. Only a small minority with high salaries is able to increase their retirement savings and see their investments grow. Since 2022, retirement-plan participation rates, total contributions and overall savings rates have decreased for those making less than $150,000 a year, according to a new...

November 26, 2025
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26Nov

Three in five pension funds threaten to replace asset managers: study

Despite managing US$139bn in global assets set to climb to US$200bn by 2030, asset managers are watching profits disappear. According to PwC's 2025 Global Asset and Wealth Management research, profit as a share of assets under management has already dropped roughly 19 percent since 2018, with projections showing another 9 percent decline by 2030. The crisis is structural, not temporary. According to PwC's analysis of 300 asset managers, institutional investors, and distributors, 89 percent of asset managers report profitability pressure over the...

November 26, 2025
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25Nov

US. Milliman analysis: Public pension funding rises in October to highest level in study history

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today released the latest results of its Public Pension Funding Index (PPFI), which analyzes data from the nation’s 100 largest public defined benefit plans. For the seventh straight month, the PPFI funded ratio improved in October, rising from 85.4% as of September 30 to 86.3% as of October 31, surpassing the previous high-water mark of 85.5% set at the end of 2021. Another month of strong investment returns—estimated at 1.0% in...

November 25, 2025
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21Nov

The Aftermath of the Pandemic Retirement Boom

 By Lei Fang, Paul Mohnen & David Lee The labor force participation rate experienced a sharp drop during the pandemic, from which it has yet to fully recover. This shortfall can be attributed to a persistent decline in labor force participation among people aged 55 and older. In this blog post, we show that excess retirements relative to prepandemic and higher population shares of retirement-age individuals have both contributed to the decline in the labor force participation rate of older...

November 21, 2025
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21Nov

CalPERS becomes first US pension to adopt total portfolio approach

The board of California Public Employees’ Retirement System – with a few trepidations – officially approved the transition to its long-anticipated total portfolio approach at a meeting this week, providing staff more discretion in investment decisions. For the past year, CalPERS staff have pitched the TPA model as offering added flexibility and an opportunity to focus on investments that can best contribute to performance, instead of those that best fit pre-set allocation targets for asset classes. Stephen Gilmore, the system’s CIO,...

November 21, 2025
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19Nov

IRS Releases Updated Retirement Plan Annual Limits and Includes Unexpected Increase

The IRS released the cost-of-living adjustments for qualified defined contribution plans for the 2026 tax year (IRS Notice 2025-67). The following chart summarizes the key increases applicable to defined contribution plans for 2026: 2026 2025 Defined contribution plan limit $72,000 $70,000 Elective deferral limit (401(k), 403(b), and 457(b)) $24,500 $23,500 Catch-up contributions (Age 50+) $8,000 $7,500 Super catch contributions (age 60-63) $11,250 $11,250 Roth catch-up wage threshold for 2025 $150,000 Annual compensation limit $360,000 $350,000 Unexpected by many employers, the IRS changed the Roth catch-up contribution FICA wage threshold for 2025 (used to determine the limited status for 2026) from...

November 19, 2025
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18Nov

The Offshoring of America’s Retirement Savings

Private equity firms and other alternative asset managers — including Ares Management Corp., Blackstone Inc., Brookfield Corp. and KKR & Co. — are reshaping the once-staid world of life insurance. Over the past decade, they’ve bought, built or partnered with insurers that sell policies and annuities, collectively commanding hundreds of billions of dollars. In a previous era, life insurers parked their money in the safest corners of the market — mostly high-grade bonds and big-name stocks. But as Wall Street...

November 18, 2025
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