October 2024

China state pension recoups losses, posts positive return in 2023

China’s national pension fund reversed its 2022 losses, achieving a 1% investment return in 2023 despite a domestic market downturn, thanks to a diversified portfolio. Though it ranked as the worst annual performer among state-owned investors globally, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) maintained robust long-term investment performance, with a 10-year average annual return of 6.4%, standing out among Asian peers. In 2023, the national pension fund recorded an investment return of Rmb25 billion ($3.5 billion), or 0.96%, including a realised...

SEC Investigations of Public Pensions

By Kangkang Zhang In recent years, the looming threat of substantial unfunded liabilities and the obligation to meet these financial commitments have become critical issues for numerous state pension plans, prompting concerns about their solvency and management. This study examines the effect on public pension plans of investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Utilizing a stacked cohort difference-in-differences design, I observe that state pensions tend to improve investment performance when subjected to SEC investigation. The observed effect...

US Is Sleepwalking Into an Economic Storm

By Daron Acemoglu   Daron Acemoglu, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, received the Nobel in economic science this year. Inflation seems under control. The job market remains healthy. Wages, including at the bottom end of the scale, are rising. But this is just a lull. There is a storm approaching, and Americans are not prepared. Barreling toward us are three epochal changes poised to reshape the U.S. economy in coming years: an aging population, the rise of artificial intelligence and...

Why the US lags globally in retirement security

The United States ranks 29th out of 48 countries Mercer and the CFA Institute evaluated for their global pension index published this week. That equates to a C-plus letter grade, with a peer group of the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Spain, Colombia, and Saudi Arabia. All of those countries have systems with “some good features but also ha[ving] major risks and/or shortcomings that should be addressed,” the report stated. “Without these improvements, its efficacy and/or long-term sustainability can be...

US aging population is on a collision course with a fragile healthcare supply chain

As Americans age, the need for a steady, reliable flow of healthcare supplies will only grow Hurricane Helene, which devastated swaths of the southeastern U.S. and caused the deaths of hundreds of people, also uncovered a quieter crisis and preparedness gap that could potentially shake the U.S. healthcare system and affect the lives of millions. One of the country's largest manufacturers of intravenous bags, North Cove, N.C.-based Baxter International (BAX) - which is responsible for 60% of the nation's supply of...

US. Most Corporate Pensions Saw Funding Dip in September

U.S. corporate pension funding ratios dipped slightly in September, as falling yields drove liabilities higher than could be offset by strong gains in equities, according to most of the country’s largest plan consultants. The consensus of slight declines in pension funding status comes after a month in which the Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic and its campaign of hikes to combat inflation, which began in 2022. Pension liabilities, driven in part by market interest...

Biggest US public pension fund Calpers invests in UK’s Octopus Energy

The largest public pension scheme in the US has invested in Octopus Energy, highlighting international interest in the fast-growing UK power company. Calpers, which oversees the pensions of public workers in California and has about $500bn of assets under management, invested in the private company this year as part of a push into climate-related assets, Calpers confirmed in response to a query from the Financial Times. It made its investment in May alongside Australian pension fund Aware Super. Together the two...

US. What Does Inflation’s New Normal Mean for Public Pension Funds?

September’s Federal Reserve interest rate cut was meant to signal a win in the battle against inflation. With the highest inflationary peak in decades behind us, there was palpable relief at the idea of rates coming down. That may be especially true for public pension plan participants and plan sponsors. Over the past few years, more retiree groups have pushed for cost-of-living adjustments for their retirement benefits, as inflation eroded pension benefits. Some have been successful at getting ad hoc...

US. Over 90% of corporations with derisking goals to shed pension liabilities — MetLife

More than 90% of U.S. corporations with defined benefit plans that have derisking goals plan to transfer all their liabilities in an average of just under four years, according to a new poll conducted by MetLife. In the insurer’s 2024 Pension Risk Transfer Poll, 93% of respondents said they intend to completely offload all of their pension liabilities, up from 89% that expressed that sentiment a year ago. Among that population, they plan to do so in an average of 3.8...

US. A Little Bit of Everything in September for DB Plans

September is a little bit of everything. It’s summer, it’s fall. Baseball season, football season. In like manner, the funding status of private-sector pension plans showed slight progress — or slight decline — this September, depending on the analysis. But the common theme is that there was relative stability. This marks the second consecutive month in which the funding of private-sector pension plans had mixed results. They fared similarly in August, when a number of analyses diverged on whether private-sector pension...