Public Pensions Archives - Page 11 of 34 - Pension Policy International

03FebFebruary 3, 2023

US pension funds are on the brink of implosion – and Wall Street is ignoring it

By David Sirota As public officials across America prepare to funnel even more of government workers’ savings to private equity moguls, an alarm just sounded for anyone bothering to listen. It is a warning that Wall Street executives, busy skimming fees off retirement nest eggs, want you to ignore. The longer the warning goes unheeded, however, the bigger the financial time bomb may be for workers, retirees and the governments that pay them. Earlier this month, PitchBook – the go-to news...

February 3, 2023

News, OP EdPension Management, Public Pensions, Risk, US

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

23JanJanuary 23, 2023

Switzerland. Thousands of retired seniors falling into poverty

In Switzerland a huge wealth gap exists among retirees. While most senior citizens can comfortably make ends meet, one in five is living either below or close to the poverty line. Some 50,000 pensioners have no financial cushion to offset their low income. Bernard and Pierrette Apothéloz are both in their early 70s. With their meagre pensions and no savings or additional benefits, the couple often struggle to pay their bills. Because of their financial situation, they are unable to...

January 23, 2023

NewsChina, Coverage, Public Pensions

23JanJanuary 23, 2023

China: Unified pension management system ensures more equity

More Chinese people have access to coverage provided by the country's government-run basic old-age insurance, since the adoption of unified management of insurance funds, according to the authorities. China's basic old-age insurance covered 1.05bn people as of the end of 2022, 24.3m more than a year earlier, reported the Xinhua News Agency quoting data from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The country formally implemented the national unified management of basic old-age insurance funds for enterprise employees in January...

January 23, 2023

NewsChina, Coverage, Public Pensions

18JanJanuary 18, 2023

U.S. State, Local Public Pensions Saw Funding Statuses Fall in 2022

The national average funded ratio for U.S. state and local public pension plans is estimated to have declined from 83.9% in 2021 to 77.3% in 2022, once all public pensions release their 2022 data, according to a recently released end-of-year report on public pensions from the Equable Institute. Equable used figures from 76.4% of the 225 retirement systems with available data that reported preliminary investment returns for their full fiscal 2022 to inform the prediction. The remaining plans with available...

January 18, 2023

NewsFunding, Public Pensions, US

18JanJanuary 18, 2023

Key Actuarial Changes for Public Pension Plans in 2023

Funding valuation reports for public pension plans will have to include additional information following several actuarial changes approved by the Actuarial Standard Board, part of the American Academy of Actuaries, in the finalized Actuarial Standards of Practice No. 4., Measuring Pension Obligations and Determining Pension Plan Costs or Contributions. “In some cases, these are things that some [public pension plan] reports already include. So for any given public pension plan, they may see all of these as changes or some...

January 18, 2023

NewsPublic Pensions, Regulation, US

16JanJanuary 16, 2023

South Africa. Struggle war vets demand R10.5bn payout

The 2 500-strong group of Liberation Struggle War Veterans are resolute in their demand for a one-off payment of R10.5 billion in reparations, amounting to R4.2 million per individual veteran, as part of their submissions on Monday on the proposed military pension legislation. Aside from this, the former soldiers, who fought during apartheid for the freedom of black people in South Africa, are also demanding the government pay a pension of R36 million per annum, which translates into R15 000...

January 16, 2023

NewsPublic Pensions, South Africa

20DecDecember 20, 2022

Declining US Natural Interest Rate: Quantifying and Qualifying the Role of Pensions

By: Jacopo Bonchi & Giacomo Caracciolo We develop a life-cycle model and calibrate it to the US economy to quantify and qualify the role of the public pension system for the past and future trend of the natural interest rate, the so-called r∗. Between 1970 and 2015, past pension reforms mitigated the secular decline in r∗, raising it by around 1%, mainly through the positive effect of a higher replacement rate. As regards the future, we simulate the demographic trends, expected...

December 20, 2022

Articles, System Characterization2022, Pension Management, Public Pensions, US

16DecDecember 16, 2022

U.S. public pension funding improves in November – Milliman

The overall estimated funding ratio of the 100 largest U.S. public pension plans rose to 74.7% at the end of November thanks to positive market returns, according to the Milliman 100 Public Pension Funding index. During the month of November, Milliman estimated that public pension plans had an aggregate investment return of 4.7%, with an estimated range of 2.5% to 7.2%. It was the second month in a row that estimated funding ratios rose because of market returns. Milliman estimated that...

December 16, 2022

NewsFunding, Public Pensions, US

12DecDecember 12, 2022

Lagos approves N707m pension bailout for parastatals

The Commissioner for Establishments, Training And Pensions, Mrs Ajibola Ponnle, has said Lagos State government approved a bailout of N707.62m for some parastatals to pay the pensions of their retirees. She disclosed the bailout of the parastatals that could not raise the funds at the 98th batch retirement bond certificate presentation ceremony in Lagos on Friday. “In line with his administration’s vision to cater to its employees even in retirement, Mr Governor also recently approved the appeal for a bailout by...

December 12, 2022

NewsNigeria, Public Pensions

February 2023

US pension funds are on the brink of implosion – and Wall Street is ignoring it

January 2023

Should Labor Abandon Its Capital? A Reply to Critics

Switzerland. Thousands of retired seniors falling into poverty

China: Unified pension management system ensures more equity

U.S. State, Local Public Pensions Saw Funding Statuses Fall in 2022

Key Actuarial Changes for Public Pension Plans in 2023

South Africa. Struggle war vets demand R10.5bn payout

December 2022

Declining US Natural Interest Rate: Quantifying and Qualifying the Role of Pensions

U.S. public pension funding improves in November – Milliman

Lagos approves N707m pension bailout for parastatals