November 2022
22Nov

US. How many retire with one million dollars?

Saving $1 million (or more) for retirement is a great goal to have. Putting that much aside could make it easier to live your preferred lifestyle when you retire, without having to worry about running short of money. However, not a huge percentage of retirees end up having that much money. In fact, statistically, around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings. The majority of retirees, however, have far less saved. If you’re looking to be...

November 22, 2022
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22Nov

P&I launches report on U.S. public pension plan benchmarks.

This report intends to provide insights into the overall and asset class benchmarks selected by the 50 largest U.S. public defined benefit plans. The top 50 plans are selected based on their reported U.S. DB asset totals in Pensions & Investments’ 2021 survey. Eleven out of 50 plans did not disclose enough detailed information, and 10 plans had a fiscal year ended other than June 30. Due to the complexity of public plan reporting and different approaches to subasset classes,...

November 22, 2022
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21Nov

US. As Biden turns 80, people ask ‘What’s too old?

Joe Biden turns 80 on Sunday, making him the first octogenarian president in U.S. history. He is set to celebrate his birthday with a brunch hosted by his wife, Jill, a celebration that got an extra lift this weekend with his granddaughter's wedding at the White House on Saturday. With Biden already the oldest person to serve as president, the 2024 race for the White House is shaping up to be uncharted territory for the United States. The nearly 250-year old...

November 21, 2022
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15Nov

U.S. Pension Funding Ratios Continue to Increase

Better equity performance and higher interest rates in October contribute to pensions nearing full funding. Aon’s Pension Risk Tracker in October reached its highest funded status level since its’ inception in 2011, as the aggregate pension funded status of S&P 500 companies increased to 97.2%. from 93.8% in September. Aon reports that pension asset returned 0.8% in October. The Aon report was one of several, released since the end of October, that showed improvements. The month-end 10-yr Treasury rate increased 27 basis...

November 15, 2022
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11Nov

Preparing for Retirement Reforms

By Karen E. Smith, Eugene Steurele, Damir Cosic Each of the three pillars of the US retirement system—Social Security, employer pensions, and private savings—suffers from serious problems that could threaten the financial security of future retirees. Social Security is at risk of becoming insolvent. If policymakers fail to act, Social Security benefits will be cut by about 25 percent starting in 2035, and even with reform, some combination of a slowdown in benefit growth for retirees and higher taxes on...

November 11, 2022
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11Nov

Regulators researching all-to-all trading in U.S. Treasury market

In an effort to boost resiliency in the U.S. Treasury market, federal regulators are studying the pros and cons of widespread all-to-all trading, which would allow any market participant to trade directly with any other market participant, according to a report released Thursday. The report from the Inter-Agency Working Group on Treasury Market Surveillance, or IWAG, which is composed of staff from the Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Reserve Bank...

November 11, 2022
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10Nov

US. Here’s why you should be worried about state and local pensions

Public pensions may be facing a massive fiscal shortfall, according to two economics professors Right now, across America, about 26 million people are relying on state and local pension plans to take care of them in their retirement years. That figure includes 15 million retired teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public sector workers, and another 11 million who are still working. On the other side of the leger all the taxpayers— 330 million of us, give or take —who are...

November 10, 2022
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09Nov

US. Rising Interest Rates Change the Math on Pensions for Some Would-Be Retirees

Higher interest rates are good for our cash and checking accounts but are not always good for pension holders. Rising interest rates have an inverse relationship to a pension’s lump-sum value. As interest rates increase, the value of a pension holder’s lump sum could decrease. Because of this, I am seeing more pension holders who want to take a lump sum do so now vs. waiting. I am also seeing annuity rates improve with rising interest rates, pushing annuity income...

November 9, 2022
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08Nov

US. Climate investors eye midterms with caution

After an active year of federal policy in favor of climate technology, investors are preparing to go it alone should the midterm results change the tone in Washington. Why it matters: Private investors may have to step up and fund potentially risky, capital-intensive projects like battery-manufacturing plants or grid-resilience projects should federal funds and incentives be pulled back or stopped altogether. Context: Several Republican candidates in state and federal races have indicated that ESG initiatives, particularly from large asset managers running...

November 8, 2022
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08Nov

Japan’s GPIF reports 0.88% decline for latest quarter

Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund, Tokyo, said its portfolio ended the latest quarter with ¥192.1 trillion ($1.33 trillion) in assets, down 0.88%, or $11.6 billion, from the prior quarter. In a statement posted on GPIF's website Friday, Masataka Miyazono, the pension fund's president, said rate hikes in the U.S. and Europe to contain inflationary pressures stoked concerns of recession, depressing stock prices at home and abroad. But the dollar's continued gains vs. the yen during the quarter ended Sept. 30, to...

November 8, 2022
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