May 2024
23May

There’s a bold fix to America’s broken retirement system

By Teresa Ghilarducci     In March, Blackrock CEO Larry Fink made headlines with a shareholder letter warning about our broken retirement system, noting that "nearly half of Americans aged 55 to 65 reported not having a single dollar saved in personal retirement accounts. Nothing in a pension. Zero in an IRA or 401(k).” The American worker knows the retirement system is broken and they don’t like it. In a recent national survey, 79% of those who responded said that America is facing a...

May 23, 2024
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22May

US. NYC Pension to Invest $60 Million to Preserve Cheap Housing

New York City’s $86 billion pension fund for civil employees is investing in a nonprofit-led partnership that took on property loans tied to rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartment buildings from the failed Signature Bank. New York City Employees’ Retirement System, or NYCERS, will invest as much as $60 million in a partnership, led by the Community Preservation Corp., that will preserve nearly 35,000 rent-stabilized units affected by the Signature Bank’s sudden collapse last March, city Comptroller Brad Lander said Tuesday. The...

May 22, 2024
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20May

US. New York City Retirement Funds Sue Fox For “Disregarding Defamation Risk” In Election Coverage

A group of New York City pension funds, along with others from the state of Oregon, have sued Fox Corp. and its officers and directors for “consciously disregarding defamation risk.” Fox News 2020 election coverage promoted “political narratives without regard for whether the underlying factual assertions were true or based on sources worthy of credit,” opening the company to litigation. “The board of directors of a Delaware-incorporated media company cannot be indifferent to the existential threat of broadcasting or publishing...

May 20, 2024
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17May

How Hidden Costs Undermine Public Pensions in the US

 By Richard Ennis Public pension plans in the US incur exorbitant asset management costs. Most spend a lot and get nothing for it. High cost has hindered efforts to realize their actuarial return requirement. It has resulted in poor performance pretty much across the board. And yet, very few plans provide a full accounting of the costs they incur. Some still fail to net all their investment expenses from the returns they report. High cost is the Achilles heel of...

May 17, 2024
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17May

US. Wisconsin pension fund now includes bitcoin

BY RICH KREMER   Wisconsin’s pension fund has added bitcoin to its balance sheets, buying more than $160 million worth of shares in two newly approved funds earlier this year. U.S. Securities and Exchange filings from the State of Wisconsin Investment Board show that between Jan. 1 and March 31, it bought just more than $99 million worth of shares in a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, from investment juggernaut Blackrock. The Investment Board, known as SWIB, also bought about $64 million worth of another...

May 17, 2024
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15May

US Corporate Pension Funding Mixed on Stock Declines

Changes to the average funded status of the largest U.S. corporate defined benefit plans were mixed in April as lower stock returns weighed on the positive effect of higher interest rates, according to monthly pension trackers from some of the country’s largest pension consultancies. The mixed results come off all-time highs booked in March. Meanwhile, pension fund investors are on interest rate watch, with the Federal Reserve still expected to cut rates later this year depending on how inflation, employment and...

May 15, 2024
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14May

US. Pending DOL Report to Consider Pension Risk Transfer Changes

Report to Congress in clearance process, EBSA chief says DOL weighing in may have chilling effect on risk transfers Large employer pensions looking to offload their funding liabilities through pension risk transfers are anticipating tougher future regulatory scrutiny as the US Labor Department prepares a report for Congress on the $45 billion de-risking market. The Employee Benefits Security Administration’s report appears likely to propose changes to a 1995 interpretive bulletin on pension risk transfers that laid out standards for employers...

May 14, 2024
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13May

US. The Myth That Public Workers Don’t Care About Pensions

Although some may argue that pensions are no longer a relevant tool for recruiting and retaining public workers, the historical data and broader research show otherwise. However, with financial literacy being a significant challenge in the United States, it is critical that employers provide the necessary education around these benefits to maximize their potential in the battle to attract and keep talent. As pensions have become less common in the private sector, they have increasingly become a highly coveted benefit for current...

May 13, 2024
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10May

Policy Ideas for Boosting Defined Benefit Pensions In The Private Sector

By Dan Doonan, John Lowell, Jonathan Price, Michael Kreps, Tyler Bond & Zorast Wadia In response to a request for information issued by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, the National Institute on Retirement Security has submitted a research issue brief with policy ideas to help expand defined benefit (DB) pension coverage for private-sector employees. The research brief, Policy Ideas for Boosting Defined Benefit Pensions In The Private Sector, details six options  for Congress to consider to...

May 10, 2024
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10May

US. Congress Should Incentivize Pension Plan Creation, NIRS Report Says

The National Institute on Retirement Security has published a report providing recommendations to Congress about how to increase defined benefit plan creation in the private sector. The report was commissioned by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. The report makes six core policy recommendations: reduce Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation insurance premium rates; formally recognize risk-sharing plans; provide more flexibility for overfunded plans; allow pre-tax employee contributions; and permit transfers between defined contribution and DB plans. Lower Insurance Premiums The PBGC charges...

May 10, 2024
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