May 2024
28May

US. Wall Street braces for faster trade settlement

U.S. trading moves to a shorter settlement on Tuesday, which regulators hope will reduce risk and improve efficiency in the world's largest financial market but may temporarily lead to a rise in transaction failure for investors. To comply with a rule change the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted last February, opens new tab, investors in U.S. equities, corporate and municipal bonds and other securities, opens new tab must settle their transactions one business day after the trade, instead...

May 28, 2024
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24May

US. Pension Risk Transfer Market Sets Q1 Record

The first quarter of this year marked was the largest first quarter on record, as estimated $15 billion in pension risk transfers closed in the period. According to Legal & General Retirement America, the activity significantly outperformed the previous record of $6.3 billion in 2023 and nearly triple the 2022 amount of $5.3 billion. LGRA found that jumbo transactions continue to be the driving force behind the market’s strong performance, as two transactions that closed in Q1 totaled $11 billion....

May 24, 2024
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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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