Defined Benefit Archives - Page 6 of 10 - Pension Policy International

22JunJune 22, 2023

Jamaica. Increases in NIS pensions

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is reporting that the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) pensioners started receiving their increases in June. Addressing Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, Portfolio Minister, Pearnel Charles Jr, said the pension rate increases range from 23 to 76 per cent under the National Insurance Scheme. “We are very pleased to report that our NIS pensioners began receiving their increases on June 15. It is very important for us to make sure that our pensioners...

June 22, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Income, Jamaica

31MayMay 31, 2023

UK. Derisking well funded DB schemes may be an opportunity missed

Funding is reaching record levels and DB schemes are now in a position of strength. Current regulations compel schemes to target ultra low investment returns, but taking risk and therefore return out of DB pension investments may be going too far, representing a ‘missed opportunity’ to better invest £1.5 trillion of UK DB pension scheme assets. Steve Hodder, partner at LCP, said: “For 20-plus years, regulatory focus has been on ‘slowing down’ DB schemes through reducing investment risk. This was...

May 31, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Funding, Pension Management, Risk, UK

26MayMay 26, 2023

Pension Reform: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges

By Seamus Duffy & Oliver Giesecke Underfunded pension are the largest liability for state and local governments across the United States. As a result of increasing recognition of the associated risks, recent statutory funding mandates led to a sharp increases in required contributions, threatening city services and employee bases. As funding pressure mounts, pension reforms offer a viable tool for prudent economic policy. We propose five general principles that guide pension reform considerations and discuss how these principle stand in...

May 26, 2023

Articles, System Sustainability2023, Defined Benefit, Funding, Pension Reform, US

05MayMay 5, 2023

Pension Reform: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges

By Seamus H. Duffy & Oliver Giesecke Underfunded pension are the largest liability for state and local governments across the United States. As a result of increasing recognition of the associated risks, recent statutory funding mandates led to a sharp increases in required contributions, threatening city services and employee bases. As funding pressure mounts, pension reforms offer a viable tool for prudent economic policy. We propose five general principles that guide pension reform considerations and discuss how these principle stand...

May 5, 2023

Articles, Pension design, Regulation2023, Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, Pension Reform, US

19AprApril 19, 2023

UK. ‘The current pensions system is not fit for purpose’

By Stephanie Hawthorne The death knell for defined benefit pension provision has been tolled many times, even if the final 'coffin nail’ has not quite yet been hammered into its lid. Millions of ordinary workers, from journalists, railway workers to shop assistants in WH Smith, enjoyed DB pensions without appreciating just how good a perk they were, until it was almost too late. What a failure in communications. Sadly, we have almost reached a tipping point when there will be no return...

April 19, 2023

News, OP Ed, Op-EdDefined Benefit, System sustainability, UK

03AprApril 3, 2023

UK. DB pensions show resilience despite market turbulence

The PwC Buyout Index recorded a surplus of £120bn in March, with the drop in gilt yields driving a reduction of £40bn on the previous month. Meanwhile, the Low Reliance Index also continues to show a sizable surplus of £290bn. This index assumes schemes invest in low-risk, income-generating assets like bonds, meaning they are unlikely to call on the sponsor for further funding. The resilience of pension schemes to short term market shocks is something the Pensions Regulator (TPR) highlighted...

April 3, 2023

NewsDefined Benefit, Returns, UK

31MarMarch 31, 2023

Does Common Ownership Affect Employee Welfare? Evidence from Corporate Pension Funding

By Charles Hsu, Zhiming Ma & Kaitang Zhou This study examines the effect of common institutional ownership on corporate pension funding. We posit that a common owner’s incentive to maximize shareholder value may come at the cost of employee welfare. Consistent with this prediction, we find robust evidence that firms with common ownership demonstrate greater pension underfunding than firms without common ownership. This effect increases with firms’ value-added activities, common owners’ shareholding, duration of ownership, and portfolio size. It decreases...

March 31, 2023

Articles, Pension Management2023, Defined Benefit, Funding

17FebFebruary 17, 2023

Putting Labor’s Capital to Work for Labor: Restoring a Worker-Centric Vision of Fiduciary Duty

By David H. Webber This report has two goals: first, to illustrate how the legal concept of fiduciary duty, designed to protect worker retirement funds, has been captured and distorted in ways that harm workers. Second, to propose means of restoring fiduciary duty to its proper purpose. The state-level fiduciary duties addressed in this report govern the investment of up to $10 trillion in assets and directly shape the retirements of 26 million working-class Americans. They are also just about...

February 17, 2023

Articles, Labor Market2023, Defined Benefit, Pension Management, Public Pensions

26JanJanuary 26, 2023

Should Labor Abandon Its Capital? A Reply to Critics

By: David H. Webber Several recent works have sharply criticized public pension funds and labor union funds (“labor’s capital”). These critiques come from both the left and right. Leftists criticize labor’s capital for undermining worker interests by funding financialization and the growth of Wall Street. Laissez-faire conservatives argue that pension underfunding threatens taxpayers. The left calls for pensions to be replaced by a larger social security system. The libertarian right calls for them to be smashed and scattered into individually-managed...

January 26, 2023

Articles, Labor Market, Pension Management2023, Defined Benefit, Public Pensions, Regulation, US

20DecDecember 20, 2022

Conversion from DB to DC: The EU Pension Custodian

By: Hans van Meerten Worldwide we see a move to DC schemes. Most – if not all countries – choose the operate DB next to DC. However, in The Netherlands, the legislator choose for so-called conversion: transforming 'old' DB- to 'new' DC. In 2011, the Dutch legislator introduced the so called 'Pension Custodian'. It could only be used for the Dutch 2nd pillar DC IORP, the PPI. This Pension Custodion should *not* be confused with the IORP II Custodian. However, with the implementation of...

December 20, 2022

Articles, Pension design2022, Defined Benefit, Defined Contribution, EU, Netherlands

June 2023

Jamaica. Increases in NIS pensions

May 2023

UK. Derisking well funded DB schemes may be an opportunity missed

Pension Reform: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges

Pension Reform: Conceptual Foundations and Practical Challenges

April 2023

UK. ‘The current pensions system is not fit for purpose’

UK. DB pensions show resilience despite market turbulence

March 2023

Does Common Ownership Affect Employee Welfare? Evidence from Corporate Pension Funding

February 2023

Putting Labor’s Capital to Work for Labor: Restoring a Worker-Centric Vision of Fiduciary Duty

January 2023

Should Labor Abandon Its Capital? A Reply to Critics

December 2022

Conversion from DB to DC: The EU Pension Custodian