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June 2020

Milliman analysis: Estimated cost of retiree pension risk transfer drops significantly, from 105.5% to 103.9% in May

Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced the latest results of its new 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. The MPBI uses the FTSE Above Median AA Curve, along with annuity purchase composite interest rates from insurers, to estimate the average cost...

COVID19 impact on the pension risk transfer market

This has had a compounding impact on the premium rates insurers charge for BPA policies. The strong demand from trustees and sponsors of pension schemes to purchase BPAs during 2019 gave insurers a strong negotiating hand to choose which counterparties they would engage with. Consequently, insurers’ focus has gravitated towards larger transactions (where the prize was worth the risk of being unsuccessful). Whilst competition amongst insurers enabled larger schemes to maintain a comparatively strong negotiating...

Virus Exposes ‘Systemic Risk’ in Australia Pensions Industry

The coronavirus crisis has exposed structural weaknesses in Australia’s retirement savings system and shown the urgent need for the pensions industry to consolidate, according to the government. Senator Jane Hume, the assistant minister for superannuation and financial services, said the pandemic had highlighted the heavy concentration of some funds, whose membership is drawn from industries such as tourism, retail or hospitality. That left them vulnerable to the widespread layoffs impacting those sectors. “It’s a systemic risk and it’s been...

US. Pandemic creates pension plan tension: Take the lump sum or trust lifetime payments

One of the risks that comes with pension plans may be looming larger than usual. As many companies work to regain their financial footing in the midst of continuing economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a retiring worker’s decision to take either a lump sum or lifetime payments from their pension could boil down to one factor: whether they think the employer will be able to meet its long-term commitments. “That’s one of the biggest considerations that employees...

Building better retirement systems in the wake of the global pandemic

By Olivia S. Mitchell In the wake of the global pandemic known as COVID-19, retirees, along with those hoping to retire someday, have been shocked into a new awareness of the need for better risk management tools to handle longevity and aging. This paper offers an assessment of the status quo prior to the spread of the coronavirus, evaluates how retirement systems are faring in the wake of the shock. Next we examine insurance and financial market products that...

May 2020

Pension Finance

By M Barton Waring, Robert C Merton Pension plans around the world are in a state of crisis. U.S. plans alone are facing a total accrued liability funding deficit of almost $4 trillion (of the same order of magnitude as the federal debt), a potential financial catastrophe that ranks among the largest ever seen. It has become clear that many government, corporate, and multi-employer pension sponsors will not be able to cope with this crippling debt and may default...

The Game of Pension Risk Transfers Continues

fsi Many employers with defined benefit pension plans would love to put responsibility for the plans in the hands of a life insurer, by buying a large group annuity contract. Predictions about how the current COVID-19, stock price and interest rate turmoil will affect the market for pension risk transfer annuities are… highly diverse. The life insurers in the market say demand is strong. Analysts at Moody’s Investors Service say big pension risk transfer units could help buffer...

How will the current financial climate affect UK pensioners?

By Rebekah Evans Pension saving often involves a lot of forward planning, with key decisions having to be made at particular times within a person’s life. However, due to the economic and financial disruption brought about by coronavirus, many savers have expressed uncertainty in the current pension market. Read also Transaction costs make up 37% of UK pension investment costs: CACEIS It is feared pension savings could potentially be at risk, and a significant number of savers are looking for ways...

The Shifting Ground of Pension Design: Reflections on Risks and Reporting

By Robert D. Baldwin Debates about the relative merits of defined-benefit (DB) and defined-contribution (DC) pension plans have been a prominent part of pension discourse over the past forty years. The intensity of the debate has ebbed and flowed over the years but has been more intense in recent years as there has been a shift from DB to DC plans in Canada. This shift has left the remaining members of DB plans feeling threatened and, for many, the...

How People React to Pension Risk

By Nicolas Salamanca, Andries De Grip, Olaf Sleijpen We show that people exposed to greater pension risk are less likely to invest in risky assets. We exploit a reform that links people’s future pension benefits to their pension funds’ funding ratio — a measure of the fund’s financial health — making funding ratios a fund-specific measure of pension risk. The effect of pension risk is stronger for people who are better informed about their pensions, for retirees and pension-age...