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March 2025

U.S. Pension Risk Transfer Market Size to Hit $102.38 Billion by 2030 – Arizton

The US pension risk transfer (PRT) market is experiencing rapid growth, fueled by regulatory changes, favorable economic conditions, and a heightened focus on reducing financial risks. Key trends include increased plan terminations, the growing adoption of de-risking strategies, rising interest in buy-ins, and the emergence of sidecar solutions. PRT transactions, which encompass lift-outs, plan terminations, and buy-ins, are available in various sizes, with small plan sizes seeing the most significant growth. The evolving regulatory landscape is prompting companies to adopt...

PLSA IC 25: UK pension funds urged to take more risk

UK pension funds are not taking "anywhere near enough risk", particularly given efforts to reach net zero, National Wealth Fund head of banking and investment, Ian Brown, has said, emphasising the need for more investment in key UK assets. Speaking at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference 2025, Brown urged pension scheme trustees to "please take some more risk". "Please take some more risk - do it in a considered way by all means," he stated. "Do it...

February 2025

US. Over 71,000 retirement savers may be victims of cyber breach at The Pension Specialists

More than 71,000 customers of retirement plan administrator The Pension Specialists may have had their personal data breached in a cyber theft that occurred last year, according to a notification filed by The Pension Specialists with the Office of the Maine Attorney General on Feb. 14. The company became aware of the cyber incident on Feb. 24, 2024, when it experienced a network disruption. After initiating an investigation with cybersecurity experts, it determined that certain files may have been accessed...

Living Beyond Age 100: A Possibility With Financial Impact

Living beyond age 100 might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but think about how many once-impossible ideas are now part of everyday life. Air travel, landing on the moon, mobile phones and even the ability to map our DNA were unthinkable not long ago. Now, breakthroughs in medicine and technology are nudging us closer to the possibility of living significantly longer, healthier lives. While immortality isn’t on the table just yet, the idea of living well beyond 100...

Pension funds foresee increased risk to assets and liabilities in 2025

The majority of pension fund executives expect their plans’ risk profile to increase in 2025, according to a survey conducted by Ortec Finance, a provider of risk and return management solutions for pension funds. The research shows that 77% of pension fund executives surveyed expect the coming year to bring an elevated risk profile. The survey targeted senior pension fund executives in the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Canada and the Nordics whose funds collectively manage $1.451trn (€1.399trn) in assets. The risks were...

January 2025

Retirement is a risky business for most people

Firstlinks published an article by Bruce Bennett on 8 January 2025 that highlighted some of the problems with the Commonwealth Super Scheme (CSS): This article drew comparisons between account-based pensions available from industry super funds and SMSFs. I think those comparisons are misplaced. A more interesting exercise would be to compare the CSS with the age pension because both are income streams that are paid for life and indexed to inflation. In both cases, the provider is the Commonwealth Government and benefits are...

US. Could climate change cost pensions 44 per cent?

Climate change is a complex financial risk. Its immediate impact on weather patterns and the various societal responses to a changing climate will influence GDP growth, inflation and ultimately, financial markets. An inaugural climate report released by Ortec Finance has found that Canadian pension funds are among the funds most vulnerable to climate change, second only to US pensions. Climate risk specialist at Ortec and author of the report Doruk Onal says Canadian pension funds are expected to experience profound...

December 2024

Private Equity for Pension Plans? Evaluating Private Equity Performance from an Investor’s Perspective

By Arthur Korteweg, Stavros Panageas & Anand Systla We evaluate private equity (PE) performance using investor-specific stochastic discount factors, and examine whether investors could benefit from changing their allocation to PE. Plans invest in PE funds with higher average risk-adjusted performance. This is mainly due to access to successful PE managers, not superior selection skill. Decomposing returns into risk-compensation and "alpha", we find that some plans obtain higher PE returns by taking more risk without earning higher, and in some cases earning lower,...

Half of US pension returns at risk of climate change wipeout

By Mona Dohle   UK institutional investors are closely examining their transatlantic counterparts amid ongoing discussions about whether the so-called Maple 8 Model could be replicated in the UK to attract private investment in the country’s ailing infrastructure. However, the combination of a home bias alongside a relatively higher allocation to alternatives are precisely the factors that leave pension funds more vulnerable to potential climate risks, according to new research by Ortec Finance, a Dutch climate risk modelling firm. North American and Canadian pension funds find...

November 2024

Pension Liquidity Risk

By Kristy Jansen, Sven Klingler, Angelo Ranaldo & Patty Duijm Pension funds rely on interest rate swaps to hedge the interest rate risk arising from their liabilities. Analyzing unique data on Dutch pension funds, we show that this hedging behavior exposes pension funds to liquidity risk due to margin calls, which can be as large as 15% of their total assets. Our analysis uncovers three key findings: (i) pension funds with tighter regulatory constraints use swaps more aggressively; (ii) in...