Public Pensions Archives - Page 20 of 34 - Pension Policy International

05JanJanuary 5, 2022

US. NCPERS Proposes a New Tool to Make Public Pension Plans Fiscally Sustainable

Public pensions can be made and kept sustainable for the long haul by incorporating a new tool— sustainability valuation—into funding policies and practices, according to a new study by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. Pension systems can use sustainability valuation to monitor their fiscal status on a continuing basis, gaining insights that would enable them to identify fiscal adjustments needed to stabilize pensions long-term, the study found. The study by Michael Kahn, NCPERS director of research, delineates...

January 5, 2022

News, Slider2022, Public Pensions, Sustainability, US

16DecDecember 16, 2021

US. Record Returns Not Enough to Ensure Public Pension Stability

Despite logging average returns of 27.5% during fiscal year 2021, state pension plans still face a large funding shortfall and might have billions more in unfunded liabilities not yet recognized on their books, according to a recent report from nonprofit Equable Institute. “This past year has been an incredibly helpful boost to state pension funds that spent a decade mired in mediocrity,” Equable Institute Executive Director Anthony Randazzo said in a statement. “But even a nearly $400 billion improvement in...

December 16, 2021

News, Slider2021, Public Pensions, System sustainability, US

10DecDecember 10, 2021

US. California Public Pensions Are Major Fossil Fuel Investors

California’s climate-conscious policies aren’t matched by the investment choices of its largest public pension funds, according to a report from two environmental groups. Of the 14 top U.S. pension funds analyzed by Stand.earth and Climate Safe Pensions Network, California Public Employees’ Retirement System, known as Calpers, and California State Teachers’ Retirement System, known as CalSTRS, were the largest investors in fossil fuel companies, with $27.1 billion and $15.7 billion, respectively, according to findings published Wednesday. The two combined hold about half...

December 10, 2021

News2021, Climate crisis, Public Pensions, US

08DecDecember 8, 2021

US. Public Pensions Need a Shift in Investment Strategies

A report, which says their investments have underperformed since the 2008 financial crisis and are costly, suggests officials should switch to purely passive investing. Public employee pension funds, endowment funds and other nonprofit institutional investors in the U.S. have underperformed properly constructed, passively investable benchmarks by a wide margin since the global financial crisis of 2008, contends Richard Ennis, an early pioneer of quant investing and co-founder of U.S. investment consultancy EnnisKnupp, in a research paper. A composite of 46 large...

December 8, 2021

NewsInvestment, Public Pensions, US

03DecDecember 3, 2021

Elderly Poverty and its Measurement

By Yoko Niimi & Charles Yuji Horioka This paper examines various aspects of elderly poverty and its measurement. It first discusses some of the most important issues relating to measuring elderly poverty. It then reviews recent trends in elderly poverty, which show considerable heterogeneity in the extent of elderly poverty even among developed countries. Such cross-country differences are due at least partly to differences in the generosity of public old-age pensions and other social safety nets for the elderly. Empirical...

December 3, 2021

Aging, Articles2021, Equality, Income, Public Pensions, Social Security

02DecDecember 2, 2021

US. Most Kentucky pension plans face billions in debts, but not the one for legislators

Despite many billions in public pension debts, Kentucky has a state pension fund that is literally overflowing with cash — the one reserved for legislators. Last week, lawmakers in Frankfort were briefed on the Fiscal Year 2021 performance of their Legislators Retirement Plan, which provides them with state-subsidized pensions and health insurance. Their $79 million pension plan has a funding level of 108.9 percent, which is up from 106.3 percent in 2020. Their retiree health insurance plan is 362 percent funded. By...

December 2, 2021

News, Slider2021, Funding, Public Pensions, System sustainability, US

01DecDecember 1, 2021

UK universities hit by strike action over pay and pensions

More than a million students will be hit by three days of strikes on campuses across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland starting on Wednesday, in the latest round of an increasingly bitter dispute in which university leaders have accused leftwingers within the University and College Union (UCU) of blocking progress over a possible deal. Fifty-eight universities will be affected where staff backed a ballot on strike action called by the UCU, halting lectures and tuition at the country’s largest universities,...

December 1, 2021

News, Slider2021, Public Pensions, UK

23NovNovember 23, 2021

Low-income Greek pensioners to get one-off grant to buffer price surge

ATHENS- Greece will hand out one-off grants to low-income pensioners and medical staff ahead of Christmas to shield them from higher energy and food prices, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday. Consumer inflation hit a multi-year high of 3.4% in October with costs in the housing sector rising by an annual 7.8%, mainly due to rising electricity, heating oil and natural gas prices. The government has already spent about 700 million euros ($790 million)on subsidies for the majority of Greek...

November 23, 2021

News, Slider2021, COVID-19, Greece, Income, Public Pensions

23NovNovember 23, 2021

Puerto Rico. Pension Costs Hound Final Steps in Bankruptcy Case

Disagreements over public worker pensions in Puerto Rico continue to threaten a restructuring plan that would ease $33 billion of the island’s debt just as the judge overseeing its bankruptcy case hears final arguments. A lawyer representing the congressionally appointed board overseeing the island’s finances said in court Monday that local laws, if enforced, would boost public-worker benefits and increase Puerto Rico’s expenses by an estimated $5 billion, too much for the plan to work. “Quite possibly the plan wouldn’t be...

November 23, 2021

News, Slider2021, Public Pensions, Puerto Rico, System sustainability

18NovNovember 18, 2021

Mexico. Pensions will consume 16.5% of the federal budget next year

About one-sixth of the 2022 federal budget will be used to pay pensions as a record 1.17 trillion pesos (US $56.6 billion) will end up in the pockets of retired workers next year. According to the 7-trillion-peso (US $338.8 billion) budget approved in the lower house of Congress last Sunday, the outlay on pensions will increase 6.2% in 2022 and represent 16.5% of the total budget. Read also UK. Could CDC solve the USS crisis? The 1.17 trillion pesos will go to...

November 18, 2021

News, Slider2021, Mexico, Public Pensions

January 2022

US. NCPERS Proposes a New Tool to Make Public Pension Plans Fiscally Sustainable

December 2021

US. Record Returns Not Enough to Ensure Public Pension Stability

US. California Public Pensions Are Major Fossil Fuel Investors

US. Public Pensions Need a Shift in Investment Strategies

US. Most Kentucky pension plans face billions in debts, but not the one for legislators

UK universities hit by strike action over pay and pensions

November 2021

Low-income Greek pensioners to get one-off grant to buffer price surge

Puerto Rico. Pension Costs Hound Final Steps in Bankruptcy Case

Mexico. Pensions will consume 16.5% of the federal budget next year