February 2022
14Feb

UK. Lecturers strike again over USS benefit cuts

On the go: Staff at 44 institutions are to walk out once again over planned benefit cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme. The strike is the latest episode in a long dispute between the USS trustee, employer group Universities UK, and the University and College Union over the resolution of the scheme’s controversial 2020 valuation. The trustee has until the end of the month to submit a schedule of contributions to regulators. Absent a deal, the conclusions reached by the 2020...

February 14, 2022
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14Feb

French Prime Minister Castex: pensions to be adjusted to factor in inflation

French Prime Minister Jean Castex told France 2 TV on Friday that pensions would be adjusted to factor in inflation. French inflation fell less than expected in January as it eased back from a 13-year high on lower prices for manufactured goods due to winter sales. The INSEE statistics agency said consumer prices rose 0.1% in January, giving a 12-month inflation rate of 3.3%, down from 3.4% in December.   Read more @Financial Post 237 views

February 14, 2022
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04Feb

US. Public pension plans stay on cost-efficient course – NCPERS

Public retirement systems continued to manage expenses in fiscal 2021, with many also reducing their assumed rates of return, according to an annual study released Wednesday by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. In fiscal 2021, the pension systems averaged 54 basis points in administrative costs and investment manager fees, down from 60 basis points the year before. Read also U.S. corporate pension plan funding rises slightly in January – 2 reports Systems lowered their assumed rates of returns to...

February 4, 2022
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Pension Markets in Focus 2021
03Feb

Pension Markets in Focus 2021

By OECD Pension Markets in Focus provides detailed and comparable statistics on retirement savings around the world. This annual statistical report contributes to the effort of making data on retirement savings available, as the OECD Core Principles of Private Pension Regulation advocates for, to enable regulators and stakeholders to evaluate the design and operation of the pension system relative to its goals. These statistics can support policy discussions through international comparisons and peer learning, and are the basis of policy...

February 3, 2022
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03Feb

Do pensions have real teeth? Evidence from the state government borrowing costs

By Sumit Agarwal, Chunlin Liu, Qiyuan Peng, Qun Wu & Ting Zhang Yes, they do. State governments with risky defined benefit pension plans have higher borrowing costs, as measured by larger bond offering yield spreads. To control for the potential endogenous issue, we utilize the instruments of actuarial firms’ reputation, and direct flight between the state capital and actuarial firm headquarter. We further identify the relation between pension plan investment risks and borrowing costs using two quasi-experimental shocks: the introduction...

February 3, 2022
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02Feb

Iranian Teachers Demand Fair Pay, Pension Adjustment

Hundreds of teachers are protesting across Iran to demand a fair pay, adjustment of pensions, and the release of their detained colleagues. The protests in dozens of cities follow two days of sit-ins in schools where teachers had reportedly gone on strike. On January 31, teachers staged a protest outside the parliament building in Tehran and in front of Education Ministry offices in other cities, including Shiraz, Isfahan, and Ahvaz, to present their demands. Last month, Iran's parliament passed legislation to raise...

February 2, 2022
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01Feb

U.S. public pension funds may turn to more ‘aggressive’ investment, report says

U.S. public pension funds will likely have to switch to more aggressive investment strategies in the coming years to fill funding gaps despite assets held by sovereign investors having grown to record levels amid the 2021 equity market boom, a new report said. On average, the difference between assets and liabilities at U.S. public pension funds, known as the "funded ratio," remains "unsatisfactory" at less than 75%, sovereign investor specialist Global SWF said in a report. To boost returns, many will...

February 1, 2022
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January 2022
26Jan

Spain to raise regular public pensions by 2.5% this year

Spain will raise most public pensions by 2.5% in 2022, boosting the average pensioner's income by around 250 euros ($281.78) a year Social Security Minister Jose Luis Escriva said on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting where the increase was approved. The lowest public pensions will increase by 3%, he added, while inflation reached 6.5% in 2021. Overall, the pension increase will cost some 6.5 billion euros. ($1 = 0.8872 euros) Read more @ZAWYA The newspaper El Economista explains today that on the same...

January 26, 2022
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24Jan

UK university pension scheme to add climate focus to 5 billion stg of AUM

Britain's Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) will add a climate focus to 5 billion pounds ($6.77 billion) of its assets under management to meet climate targets, it said on Monday. The climate focus will initially reduce emissions compared to the broad equity market by at least 30%, and further cut its carbon intensity by 7% each following year, USS said in a statement. USS, which has 82 billion pounds in total assets under management and is one of Britain's biggest pension schemes,...

January 24, 2022
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20Jan

UK. More universities join USS strike

The University and College Union has secured the support of yet more institutions in its campaign for strike action over member benefit cuts in the Universities Superannuation Scheme. The UCU balloted its members in November over strike action in response to proposals agreed between the USS trustee and Universities UK, the group representing 340 USS employers, over the scheme’s controversial 2020 valuation. The union has argued that the agreement, which includes covenant support measures that UUK says are necessary to stave...

January 20, 2022
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