US Archives - Page 165 of 167 - Pension Policy International

26AprApril 26, 2017

US. A New York hotel deal shows how some public pension funds help to enrich Trump

Public pension funds in at least seven states including Missouri have invested millions of dollars in an investment fund that owns a New York hotel and pays one of President Donald Trump's companies to run it, according to a Reuters review of public records. That arrangement could put Trump at risk of violating an obscure constitutional clause, some legal experts say. The Trump SoHo Hotel and Condominium in Manhattan is an upscale 46-story property owned by a Los Angeles investment...

April 26, 2017

NewsUS

25AprApril 25, 2017

US. Pensylvania Governor and Treasurer push to cut Pension investment fees

Pennsylvania’s two large public-sector pension agencies got a message from Gov. Tom Wolf on Monday: cut the fees paid to outside firms handling billions in investments. Wolf and Treasurer Joe Torsella said at a news conference that they hoped that the state government pension fund would find ways to save $46 million annually and the school employees’ fund about $100 million a year. The two Democrats said Pennsylvania is near the top in the ranking of states that pay the highest...

April 25, 2017

NewsUS

25AprApril 25, 2017

Performance Evaluation of Pooled Funds in US and Canada

Pension funds kick off 2017 with positive returns. Morneau Shepell (MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the first quarter of 2017. According to the report, in the first quarter of 2017, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 3.0 per cent before management fees. "Stock markets made strong advances in the first quarter. Emerging market equities dominated with an impressive return of 10.9 per cent for the MSCI Emerging Markets...

April 25, 2017

NewsCanada, US

24AprApril 24, 2017

Is retirement problem the same as a savings problem?

HOUSE Resolution 67, which Donald Trump signed last week, rolls back a rule that the Labor Department finalised late last year, which would have made it easier for cities and counties to run retirement savings plans for citizens who couldn’t get them through work. It is an odd choice for Republicans to kill plans that would encourage private, voluntary, tax-deferred saving, which they tend to approve of. But a trade group for investment funds opposes the city-run retirement plans....

April 24, 2017

News, OP EdUS

20AprApril 20, 2017

US. Metro’s Manager Calls For More Funding, Reduced Pensions

Metro general manager Paul Wiedefeld officially charged into the region’s political arena Wednesday, unveiling an ambitious plan to save the transit system’s sinking finances. Wiedefeld is calling on local lawmakers to establish a dedicated source of funding that will provide $500 million annually for WMATA’s long-term infrastructure and maintenance needs. However, he is not prescribing a specific solution, such as a regional sales tax. Wiedefeld is leaving that for elected officials to decide. The bottom line of Wiedefeld’s long-awaited report, published...

April 20, 2017

NewsUS

19AprApril 19, 2017

House GOP bill would give Trump greater power over Wall Street regulation

A sweeping House GOP bill would give the president new powers that could limit the independence of certain regulatory agencies. House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling last week unveiled an outline of his bill aimed at dismantling the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory reform. At the top of Republicans' long wish list: handing the president authority to fire the heads of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a consumer watchdog agency, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae...

April 19, 2017

NewsUS

19AprApril 19, 2017

As the Clock Ticks, Senate Stalls on State-Run Retirement Plans

Late last month, Congress voted to overturn an Obama-era rule that cleared the way for cities to create retirement programs for private-sector workers that didn't have one through their employer. But a similar resolution targeting the rule as it applies to states is stuck. For the past three weeks, that resolution has lingered in uncertainty as the Senate stalls on taking an up or down vote. Many believe that signals an opportunity. "Based on the conversations we've had with staff and...

April 19, 2017

NewsUS

14AprApril 14, 2017

Factors Aligning to Accelerate Pension Activity in the US

While combined pre‑funding and risk transfer actions have typically been economically positive, primarily due to the substantial increase in Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) premiums and other defined benefit (DB) maintenance costs, many plan sponsors have stayed on the sidelines or managed pension risk tentatively, Mercer notes in a report. However, Mercer says, pension sponsors are growing tired of market and regulatory volatility and are contemplating bolder action. Potential tax changes that will drive accelerated pre‑funding make a tipping point...

April 14, 2017

News, OP EdUS

11AprApril 11, 2017

US. Pension Fund Reforms in the Wake of the Great Recession

Pension plans are still recovering from the enormous losses suffered in the wake of the Great Recession. According to the Federal Reserve, state and local pension fund asset values fell from $3.2 trillion at the end of 2007 to $2.1 trillion in March 2009, increasing pension costs at a time when state and local governments faced severe losses in revenue. More recently, the California Public Employees Retirement System (Calpers), the country's largest public pension fund, announced in December 2016,...

April 11, 2017

NewsUS

10AprApril 10, 2017

President Trump Just Cost Americans Saving For Their Retirement $3.7 Billion

Donald Trump talked a big game on the campaign trail about standing up to big corporations and putting the interests of hardworking Americans first. But as president, Trump has repeatedly broken his promises – and now, he’s dealing a blow to Americans saving for retirement. In February, he set in motion a process to kill a common-sense rule that would keep financial advisers from siphoning off money from the clients who trust them. Right now, predatory financial advice cheats investors out...

April 10, 2017

NewsUS

April 2017