April 2024
19Apr

Strength in Diversity: What We Can Learn from BC’s Target-benefit Plans

By Barry Gros With the significant decline in single-employer defined-benefit (DB) pension plans in the private sector, it’s important to understand other alternatives. One such alternative is the target-benefit plan. The regulation of target-benefit plans (TBPs) in all provinces across Canada can be made more straightforward and effective using lessons learned from real-life experiences. With target-benefit plans currently being more prominent in the province of British Columbia than any other province, it is useful to take a closer look at these...

April 19, 2024
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15Apr

US. CWA Union Fights Back Against So-Called Pension De-Risking

Before its bankruptcy in 1991, Executive Life Insurance Company accepted transfer contracts from companies to pay their retirees’ pensions instead of the companies defined benefit pension plan. Employers saved money in the transfer because Executive Life offered high interest rates — which were discovered later to be backed by junk bonds – and because their retirees lost Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) protection when the companies stopped paying PBGC premiums. Retirees from RJ Reynolds, Pacific Lumber suffered significant cuts in pensions...

April 15, 2024
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10Apr

US. People want pensions to make a comeback. Will they?

It’s financially challenging to comfortably retire in the U.S. and many Americans work, without necessarily “wanting” to, well into their golden years. Though not being able to save enough for a secure retirement isn’t a particularly new crisis, the struggle has become more widespread in recent decades. One of the factors fueling the problem is the mass decline of the traditional pension plan. Americans want pension plans to make a comeback. According to a recent report from the National Institute for Retirement Security, 83%...

April 10, 2024
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05Apr

2023 Corporate Pension Funding Study

By Zorast Wadia, Alan H. Perry & Richard J. Botelli Jr The 2023 edition of the Milliman Corporate Pension Funding Study (PFS) is our 23rd annual analysis of the financial disclosures of the 100 U.S. public companies sponsoring the largest defined benefit (DB) pension plans. These 100 companies are ranked highest to lowest by the value of their pension assets as of the end of fiscal year (FY) 2022. These values have been reported to the public, to shareholders, and to...

April 5, 2024
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05Apr

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses climb higher in March — 3 reports

U.S. corporate pension fund surpluses continued to climb in March, according to three new reports. Wilshire Advisors estimated the aggregate funding ratio of U.S. corporate plans reached 110.1% as of March 31, an increase of a full percentage point above the 109.1% funding ratio estimated as of Feb. 29. "March's increase in funded status was driven by the continued increase in asset value with most asset classes posting positive monthly performances, highlighted by the FT Wilshire 5000 index, which has now...

April 5, 2024
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02Apr

UK. Pensions dashboard deadline confirmed

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published its pension dashboard guidance, revealing that the new deadline for pension firms to provide a connected service is due to fall on 31 October 2026. First mooted in 2016, the pensions dashboard scheme seeks to provide a single touchpoint for people to find and interact with their state, employer and private pensions. The new guidance, published in late March 2024, sets out a staged timetable for pension schemes to connect to the...

April 2, 2024
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02Apr

US. Unisys Announces $200M Pension Risk Transfer

IT technology company Unisys Corp. announced Monday it has closed an agreement with F&G Annuities & Life Inc. to purchase group annuity contracts. The agreement, which closed on March 28, will see Unisys transfer $200 million in pension liabilities from its U.S. defined benefit plan to the insurer. F&G will assume responsibility for paying out pension benefits to 3,800 Unisys retirees and beneficiaries. Notably, this is the sixth Unisys pension risk transfer transaction since January 2021, and it has contracted...

April 2, 2024
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02Apr

Amex freezes pension payouts for thousands of Brits for tenth year

American Express has sparked criticism for freezing pension payments for thousands of former British employees for the tenth year in a row. The US payment cards giant said in a letter to UK pension fund members on 22 March that it had considered the case for a discretionary increase in payouts and decided against it. Campaigners have said they have suffered a 30 per cent drop in the value of their pensions over the past decade when adjusted for inflation. During this period Amex has...

April 2, 2024
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March 2024
19Mar

Pension savers warned of ‘national crisis’ as ‘eye-watering’ £50billion at risk of being lost in UK

Over £50 billion of hard-earned pension cash is at risk of being lost in the UK as the number of pensions rises, new research shows. An estimated 4.8 million pension pots are already missing in the UK with nearly one in 10 workers believing they could have lost a pension pot worth more than £10,000. The number of lost pensions are set to rise by 130 per cent by 2050 as more people change jobs, and are automatically enrolled into their...

March 19, 2024
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13Mar

US. Corporate Pension Funding Levels Skyrocket in February

The funded status of U.S.-based corporate pension plans increased significantly in February, primarily due to a rally in technology stocks, driven by excitement over AI and semiconductors, according to industry reports. Funded status also continues to be boosted by heightened interest rates. The surplus in pension funding could have some plan sponsors considering what to do with their excess pension assets. Earlier this month, Eastman Kodak announced it would shut its investment office, shifting the management of its assets to...

March 13, 2024
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