April 2022

Movements In and Out of Poverty at Older Ages: Evidence from the HRS

Movements In and Out of Poverty at Older Ages: Evidence from the HRS

By Robert L. Clark, Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell The objective of this paper is to determine Americans’ mobility patterns into and out of poverty in their later years. We track how older adults enter into and exit from poverty using the most extensive longitudinal survey on older Americans currently available, the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Using over 20 years of data from the HRS, we show that the conditional probability of escaping poverty diminishes as the number...

US. Retirees less worried about financial risk than younger people

As the pandemic passes the two-year mark, there seems to be an emerging gap in the financial security of younger Americans compared with their retired counterparts, new survey findings suggest. Americans who have yet to retire and are still balancing careers, family and saving are feeling more worried about their financial future than they did at this point last year and are significantly less confident than current retirees. In fact, nearly two-thirds (63%) of non-retirees said they fear running out of...

US. Corporate Pension Risk Minimization Is Going to Become Increasingly Inefficient, Says JPM Strategist

US. Corporate Pension Risk Minimization Is Going to Become Increasingly Inefficient, Says JPM Strategist

Corporate pensions are better funded than ever, according to a new study released by JP Morgan. The data shows that the top 100 corporate pensions in the United States have finally surpassed the average funded levels achieved pre-2008. The average top-100 corporate plan today is 96.4% funded. Currently, over 70% of the plans studied were at their highest-funded levels ever since the Great Recession. Read also US. Retirees less worried about financial risk than younger people But the strategies that work...

Wealth After Work Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security

Wealth After Work Innovative Reforms to Expand Retirement Security

By William G. Gale, J. Mark Iwry, & David C. John Pensions and retirement saving plans have helped millions of households build financial security. But tens of millions of people have been left behind, without access to these wealth accumulation vehicles. For many others, the plans they have do not ensure financial security in retirement. The problems that underlie these failures can be addressed. This book proposes concrete, practical ways to make dependable retirement income accessible for all Americans—not just those...

Australia. Two pathways for super funds to address longevity risk

Australia. Two pathways for super funds to address longevity risk

Addressing longevity risk in the Retirement Income Covenant (RIC) is a tougher nut to crack for superannuation funds than its mandate for funds to mitigate investment and inflation risk to retirement savings. Speaking to Money Management, Challenger’s general manager, institutional partnerships, Simon Brinsmead, said this was because it was the only risk that funds needed to balance that existed outside of the accumulation phase. “Why this is significant is because you've got around about 700 people retiring every day now, so...

How climate investors are getting ready for the carbon removal boom

The world is hurtling towards irreversible and catastrophic warming. The goals of the Paris climate accord are fast slipping out of reach. At least we know what to do. In the face of the gathering climate threat, the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report strikes a decidedly ‘can-do’ attitude. Global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 as fossil fuels are rapidly scaled down. And carbon removal technologies, as well as natural solutions, will be necessary to make up for hard-to-abate...

March 2022

AIG shifting $150 billion to BlackRock

AIG shifting $150 billion to BlackRock

American International Group hired BlackRock to manage up to $60 billion of its general account and up to $90 billion in its life and retirement investment portfolio, the insurance company announced on Monday. BlackRock will manage "certain liquid fixed income and private placement assets" and also will provide AIG with investment technology for both portfolios via Aladdin, the money manager's risk-management system, the insurer said in a news release. AIG said in the release that the shift of assets to BlackRock...

Global Pension Risk Survey 2021/22. UK survey findings. The DB pension risk management journey

By AON We have been carrying out the Global Pension Risk Survey every two years for over a decade and it gives the industry great insight into how the pensions landscape has developed. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, it created many challenges for sponsors, pension schemes and their members. We saw sponsors and trustees reassessing the risks that they faced. While the impact was not negative for all pension schemes, there was a large market crash which had a...

US. Milliman analysis: Competitive pension risk transfer buyout rate hits all-time low in February, at 98.9%

US. Milliman analysis: Competitive pension risk transfer buyout rate hits all-time low in February, at 98.9%

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced the latest results of its Milliman Pension Buyout Index (MPBI). As the Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) market continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to monitor the annuity market for plan sponsors that are considering transferring retiree pension obligations to an insurer. During February, the estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process decreased from 99.9% of a plan's total liabilities...

US. Mixed Reports on Retirement Funding

US. Mixed Reports on Retirement Funding

A defined benefit plan’s funded status is often cited as an indication of the plan’s financial health and there is good news on that score for the largest U.S. plans. A report from Willis Towers Watson shows that the estimated aggregate funded status of 361 Fortune 1000 companies improved to 96% at the end of 2021. That’s the highest level since 2007 and an increase of five percentage points from 2020. The analysis also found the funding deficit is...