Rethinking Multiemployer Pensions: A Cash Balance Solution
Source: Samuel S. Stanley, Journal of Pension Benefits, Vol. 26, No. 1, Autumn 2018 (subscription required) Multiemployer pension plans are a very important part of compensation for millions of union...
View ArticleFocus On… Lump Sum Distributions from Defined Benefit Plans
Source: David A. Pratt, Journal of Pension Benefits, Vol. 26, No. 1, Autumn 2018 (subscription required) As one strategy to reduce risk, some defined benefit plans are allowing lump sum distributions....
View ArticleState Public Pension Funds’ Investment Practices and Performance: 2016 Data...
Source: Pew Charitable Trusts, Issue Brief, September 26, 2018 Substantial investment in complex and risky assets exposes funds to market volatility and high fees. From the overview: State and local...
View ArticleThanks To A Strong Economy, California’s School Districts Can Face Continued...
Source: S&P Global Ratings, November 8, 2018 (subscription required) Key Takeaways – School revenue increases, driven by a strong state economy, have far outpaced nominal growth in required pension...
View ArticlePrefunding Public Sector Retiree Health Benefits: The California Example
Source: John G. Kilgour, Compensation & Benefits Review, OnlineFirst, First Published November 1, 2018 From the abstract: Most state and local governments have historically funded their retiree...
View ArticleHow Much Income Do Retirees Actually Have?
Source: Anqi Chen, Alicia H. Munnell and Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, IB#18-20, November 2018 The brief’s key findings are: – Recent research has...
View ArticleStability in Overall Pension Plan Funding Masks a Growing Divide
Source: Jean-Pierre Aubry, Caroline V. Crawford and Kevin Wandrei, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, SLP#62, October 2018 The brief’s key findings are: – Under traditional accounting...
View ArticleState and Local Governments’ Fiscal Outlook: 2018 Update
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-19-208SP, December 13, 2018 From the summary: What’s the prognosis for the fiscal health of state and local governments across the nation? Our annual...
View ArticleLocal government – Illinois: Ability to absorb pension costs supports...
Source: David Levett, Rachel Cortez, Alexandra S. Parker, Moody’s, U.S. Public Finance, Sector In-Depth, December 14, 2018 (subscription required) Heavy pension burdens have weakened credit quality for...
View ArticleIn Case You Missed It: S&P Global Ratings’ U.S. Public Finance 2018 Pension...
Source: S&P Global Ratings, December 13, 2018 (subscription required) S&P Global Ratings’ U.S. public finance team continues to highlight key pension and other postemployment benefit (OPEB)...
View ArticleTeacher Pensions vs. 401(k)s in Six States: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia,...
Source: Leon (Rocky) Joyner, Nari Rhee, UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education (Labor Center) and the National Institute on Retirement Security, January 2019 From the abstract: A new...
View ArticleInfrastructure: Elixir for Long-Term Pension Liabilities?
Source: Daniel Bauer, PA Times, January 4, 2019 Two primary drivers critically impacting both budgetary considerations and public policy processes for the foreseeable future regardless of revenue and...
View ArticleFive U.S. State And Local Government Pension And OPEB Trends To Watch For In...
Source: S&P Global Ratings, January 16, 2019 (subscription required) Key Takeaways • Volatile markets could affect future pension costs and funding status. • States might need to offload pension...
View ArticleAdjusted net pension liabilities rise for most of the 50 largest local...
Source: Thomas Aaron, Timothy Blake, Moody’s Investors Service, Sector In-Depth, Local government – US, December 18, 2018 (subscription required) Adjusted net pension liabilities (ANPLs) reached new...
View ArticleLocal government – New Mexico – Pension burdens will continue to weigh on...
Source: Heather Correia, Roger S Brown, Naomi Richman, Alexandra S. Parker, Moody’s Investors Service, Sector In-Depth, Local government – New Mexico, December 18, 2018 (subscription required)’ Without...
View ArticleLocal government – Illinois: Ability to absorb pension costs supports...
Source: David Levett, Rachel Cortez, Alexandra S. Parker, Moody’s Investors Service, Sector In-Depth, Local government – Illinois, December 14, 2018 (subscription required) Heavy pension burdens have...
View ArticleIllinois (State of) – Pension funding improves, but lags other states due to...
Source: Ted Hampton, Thomas Aaron, Timothy Blake, Moody’s Investors Service, Issuer Comment, State government – Illinois, December 18, 2018 (subscription required) Illinois’ (Baa3 stable) pension...
View Article2018 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study
Source: National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems and Cobalt Community Research,January 30, 2019 From the press release: Fueled by strong investment returns, public retirement systems...
View ArticleRetirement Security: Alternate Price Indexes for Cost-of-Living Adjustments...
Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), GAO-19-218R: Published: Jan 28, 2019. Publicly Released: Jan 28, 2019. From the summary: Cost-of-living adjustments can help ensure that federal...
View ArticleReDefined Contribution Plans: 2018 Defined Contribution Language Study
Source: Invesco, 2019 (subscription required) From the executive summary: Despite the great strides plan sponsors have made over the past 30 years in providing participants with in-depth education,...
View ArticleState and local government – US: Retiree benefits drive growth in fixed...
Source: Benjamin J VanMetre, Grayson Nichols, Thomas Aaron, Rachel Cortez, Alexandra S. Parker, Moody’s, Sector In-Depth, February 5, 2019 (subscription required) Fixed costs — the combination of debt...
View ArticleState and local government — US: Market volatility underscores risk of high...
Source: Thomas Aaron, Timothy Blake, Moody’s, Sector In-Depth, February 20, 2019 (subscription required) Equity market losses in late 2018 will translate into larger than expected pension cost hikes in...
View ArticleIllinois Budget Proposal Places Risky Bets On Asset Transfers and Graduated...
Source: S&P Global Ratings, February 22, 2019 (subscription required) S&P Global Ratings believes that Illinois’ (BBB-/Stable) executive budget proposal precariously balances the current...
View ArticlePension Brief: Are Asset Transfers A Gimmick Or A Sound Fiscal Strategy?
Source: S&P Global Ratings, February 19, 2019 (subscription required) (Editor’s note: This publication marks the start of a series of short comments on credit matters of interest in the municipal...
View ArticleOPEB Brief: The Credit Impacts Of OPEB Obligation Bonds
Source: S&P Global Ratings, March 11, 2019 (subscription required) Other postemployment benefit (OPEB) underfunding of obligations is pervasive across U.S. state and local governments, and costs...
View ArticleLump-sum Pension Payments: Who Are the Winners and Losers?
Source: Olivia S. Mitchell and Elizabeth Kennedy, Knowledge@Wharton, April 2, 2019 The U.S. Treasury department’s move last month to allow private companies to pay lump-sum pension payments to retirees...
View ArticleManaging the Conflicting Interests of Workers and Shareholders: Evidence from...
Source: J. Adam Cobb, ILR Review, Volume: 72 issue: 3, May 2019 (subscription required) From the abstract: Whereas research on corporate governance typically attends to the conflicting interests...
View ArticlePensions and retiree healthcare challenge some of the largest mass transit...
Source: Thomas Aaron, Timothy Blake, Moody’s, Sector In-Depth, April 11, 2019 (subscription required) Pensions and retiree healthcare pose a credit risk for some of the largest mass transit...
View ArticleGrowing school pension burdens will require more state support
Source: Matthew Butler, Joshua Grundleger, Emily RaimesMoody’s, Sector In-Depth, State government – US, April 9, 2019 (subscription required) Recent actions by states signal growing recognition that as...
View ArticleCalifornia: Revised budget increases funding for school districts and...
Source: Helen Cregger, Eric Hoffmann, Leonard Jones, Moody’s, Sector Comment, Public K-12 school districts and community colleges, May 22, 2019 (subscription required) On May 9, California Governor...
View ArticlePensionomics 2018: Measuring the Economic Impact of Multiemployer DB Pension...
Source: Diane Oakley, Ilana Boivie, National Institute on Retirement Security, Issue Brief, January 2019 From the abstract: This study analyzes data on specific private sector pension plans (referred...
View ArticleIllinois Pension Consolidation: A Path Forward Or A Road To Nowhere?
Source: S&P Global Ratings, May 14, 2019 (subscription required) – Illinois is considering consolidating numerous single-employer public safety plans as a possible remedy to its pension woes; –...
View ArticleKansas (State of) – Retained pension funding, vetoed tax relief are credit...
Source: Matthew Butler, Moody’s, Issuer Comment, June 6, 2019 (subscription required) On May 29, the Kansas legislature voted to override several spending vetoes that Governor Laura Kelly made when she...
View ArticleUS Public Pension Landscape Series
Source: Thomas Aaron, Timothy Blake, Moody’s, Sector In-Depth, June 14, 2019 (subscription required) Many US states and local governments, though certainly not all, face heightened credit challenges...
View ArticleAdjustments to US State and Local Government Reported Pension Data: Proposed...
Source: Thomas Aaron, Marcia Van Wagner, Timothy Blake, Moody’s, Request for Comment, July 10, 2019 (subscription required) In this Request for Comment, we propose a number of changes to the...
View ArticleU.S. Not-For-Profit Health Care Pensions: 2018 Funded Ratios Remain Solid And...
Source: S&P Global Ratings, July 11, 2019 (subscription required) The U.S. not-for-profit health care sector has benefited from an increase in the median funded status of its pension plans in...
View ArticleThe Evolution of Private Sector Retirement Income From Defined-Benefit...
Source: John G. Kilgour, Compensation & Benefits Review, OnlineFirst, Published July 19, 2019 From the https://doi.org/10.1177/0886368719864480: Traditional employer-sponsored defined-benefit...
View ArticleUS Public Pension Landscape Series – July 24, 2019
Source: Thomas Aaron, Timothy Blake, Moody’s, Sector In-Depth, June 24, 2019 (subscription required) Many US states and local governments, though certainly not all, face heightened credit challenges...
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Infographic: Pension liabilities continue to trouble Illinois, Kentucky,...
Source: Moody’s Investors Service, October 3, 2019 Adjusted net pension liabilities (ANPL) declined in states’ fiscal year 2018 reporting due to healthy investment returns in fiscal 2017, though...
View ArticlePension Reforms and Public Sector Turnover
Source: Evgenia Gorina, Trang Hoang, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Published: June 24, 2019 From the abstract: Over the past decade, many states have reformed their retirement...
View ArticleAn Introduction to Police and Fire Pensions
Source: Jean-Pierre Aubry and Kevin Wandrei, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, SLP#69, February 2020 The brief’s key findings are: Pension and retiree health benefits for public safety...
View ArticleExamining the Nest Egg: The Sources of Retirement Income for Older Americans
Source: Frank Porell, Tyler Bond, National Institute on Retirement Security (NRIS), January 2020 From the summary: A new report finds that a large portion (40 percent) of older Americans rely only on...
View ArticleFortifying Main Street: The Economic Benefit of Public Pension Dollars in...
Source: Dan Doonan, Maryna Kollar, Nathan Chobo, Tyler Bond, National Institute on Retirement Security, March 2020 From the summary: As many small towns and rural communities across America face...
View ArticlePension investment losses are poised to inflict material damage on US...
Source: Moody’s, March 24, 2020 (subscription required) Recent US public pension investment losses are likely to severely compound the pension liability challenge facing many state and local...
View ArticlePension Obligation Bonds: Yes or No?
Source: Government Finance Review, Vol. 30 no. 3, June 2020(subscription required)Pension obligation bonds (POBs) are taxable bonds that some state and local governments have issued as part of an...
View ArticleDo Pensions Matter for Recruiting State and Local Workers?
Source: Laura D. Quinby, Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher, State and Local Government Review, OnlineFirst, Published August 7, 2020(subscription required) From the abstract: Many state and local governments...
View ArticleState and Local Government Pension Funding on the Eve of the COVID-19 Recession
Source: John G. Kilgour, Compensation & Benefits Review, OnlineFirst, August 5, 2020(subscription required) From the abstract: This article examines the funding of public pension plans through...
View ArticlePublic Corruption and Pension Underfunding in the American States
Source: Cheol Liu, John Mikesell, Tima T. Moldogaziev, American Review of Public Administration, OnlineFirst, Published February 16, 2021 (subscription required) From the abstract: Unfunded public...
View ArticlePublic Pension Governance and Opportunistic Accounting Choice: A...
Source: Odd J. Stalebrink, Pierre Donatella, The American Review of Public Administration, Volume: 51 issue: 3, April 2021(subscription required) From the abstract: The selection of actuarial...
View ArticlePolice and Fire Pensions in Florida: A Comparison of Conditions After 10 Years
Source: Joseph Vonasek, Robert Lee, Compensation & Benefits Review, OnlineFirst, April 5, 2021(subscription required) From the abstract: This article is an analysis of 31 defined benefit police...
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