July 2023
07Jul

U.S. corporate pension funding increases cushion in June – 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension plan funding ratios jumped further above 100% in June, driven by strong equity markets, according to three new reports. Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans vaulted 2.3 percentage points to 103.5% as of June 30. The increase was driven primarily by increases in asset values, while liability values remained relatively unchanged. "June's funded status saw the largest monthly increase since October 2022 due to asset value increases with the performance of the FT Wilshire...

July 7, 2023
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06Jul

US. Chicago’s pension crisis worsens with investment losses

It’s a good thing Mayor Brandon Johnson established his own “working group” to find long-term solutions to Chicago’s pension crisis. The mountain is getting steeper to climb. Chicago’s unfunded pension liability rose by 5.4% in 2022 — from $33.6 billion to $35.4 billion — after stock market losses suffered by the four city employee pension funds. The Firefighters Pension Fund hovers closest to bankruptcy, with assets to cover just 18.8% of liabilities. That’s followed by Municipal Employees (20.7%), Police (21.5%) and...

July 6, 2023
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04Jul

California Quietly Shelves $15 Billion Pension Divestment Bill

The California State Assembly has shelved legislation that would have forced the country’s two largest pension funds to divest an estimated $15 billion from oil and gas companies, a major blow to environmental advocates who hoped the funds could be a national model for the divestment movement. SB-252, which passed the state Senate in May, won’t be given a floor vote, according to the bill’s lead author, Senator Lena Gonzalez of Los Angeles County. The legislation has been converted to...

July 4, 2023
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03Jul

U.S. pension funds, universities face pressure over China investments

U.S. public pension plans and universities are facing pressure to divest their portfolios from China amid tensions between Washington and Beijing, with billions of dollars at stake. Proposed federal and state legislation takes aim at public money being used toward investment into China over fears about national security and whether American dollars should go to a country the U.S. has deemed its primary strategic competitor. In May, a group of U.S. Senators led by Republican Marco Rubio reintroduced legislation which would ban the...

July 3, 2023
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June 2023
30Jun

Optimal Retirement Portfolios with Fixed and Variable Longevity Annuities in Defined Contribution Plans taking Social Security into Account

By Vanya Horneff, Raimond Maurer & Olivia S. Mitchell  This paper examines how two instruments—annuities with lifelong benefits purchased using defined contribution (DC) plan assets, and social security annuities—should be considered jointly to optimize household lifetime wellbeing. Understanding how these interact is of key importance in order to generate efficient retirement portfolios. Additionally, there is likely to be substantial heterogeneity in the demand for longevity annuities across the retiree population, depending on their assets inside and outside tax-qualified retirement plans,...

June 30, 2023
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30Jun

US. DC assets concentrated in a few money managers

Vanguard Group had $1.78 trillion in U.S. defined contribution assets under management at the end of 2022, representing 21% of the $8.43 trillion in DC AUM, based on data collected by Pensions & Investments in its annual money manager survey. BlackRock followed with $1.16 trillion. The five largest managers of U.S. DC assets had 60% of the total and the top 10 accounted for 79%. The five DC managers with the most DC AUM had equity assets ranging from BlackRock's...

June 30, 2023
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29Jun

US. Pension funds would have $21 billion more without fossil fuel holdings – study

Several public pension funds under pressure to divest from fossil fuel investments would have had as much as $21 billion more over the last decade without them, according to a study by the University of Waterloo released Wednesday by advocacy group Stand.Earth. In the report, The Impact of Energy Investments on the Financial Value and the Emissions of Pension Funds, researchers at the university's School of Environment, Enterprise and Development (SEED) used Bloomberg data to analyze six large pension funds'...

June 29, 2023
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28Jun

U.S. Treasury partners with CDPQ, managers on sustainable investing

The U.S. Treasury has partnered with Canadian pension fund CDPQ, asset managers Natixis Investment Managers and Ninety One, the Rockefeller Foundation and others to accelerate pension fund and other institutional investment in emerging and developing countries over the next three years. In particular, the new partnership will focus on investing in energy transition and sustainable infrastructure, and will be led by the Investor Leadership Network, according to a statement from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. "Today, we are proud to announce...

June 28, 2023
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27Jun

México se une a los esfuerzos por localizar a boxeadores retirados a los que se les adeudan pensiones de California

California se ha asociado con México para localizar a boxeadores profesionales que se les adeuden pensiones de un plan de jubilación estatal poco conocido. En las últimas semanas dos docenas de expugilistas han sido encontrados y al parecer existe la posibilidad de ubicar a más. Los esfuerzos para localizarlos ocurren después a una investigación del Times que encontró que la mayoría de los boxeadores que a los que se les debían beneficios del Plan de Pensiones de Boxeadores Profesionales de...

June 27, 2023
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27Jun

U.S. public pension funding dips in May – Milliman

The overall estimated funding ratio of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans fell to 73.7% as of May 31 from 74.8% a month earlier, according to the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding index. During the month of May, Milliman estimated that public pension plans had an aggregate investment return of -1%, with an estimated range of -1.8% to -0.3%. "Despite the slight drop in funded status, May marks the eighth month in a row where the funded ratio has stayed...

June 27, 2023
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