Credit rating industry dodges reforms, despite role in financial meltdown /...
Source: Alison Fitzgerald, Center for Public Integrity, June 18, 2014 Key findings: - Despite contributing to the 2008 financial crisis by rating bonds made up of toxic mortgages as ‘AAA,’ the big...
View ArticleAre Pensions Finally Fed Up with Social Divesting?
Source: Liz Farmer, Governing, June 26, 2014 In the past, pension funds have pulled their investments as a way of spurring change. But they’re changing their strategy when it comes to oil, coal and gas...
View ArticleAre City Fiscal Woes Widespread? Are Pensions the Cause?
Source: Alicia H. Munnell, Jean-Pierre Aubry, Josh Hurwitz, Mark Cafarelli, Challenge, Vol. 57 no. 4, July-August 2014 (subscription required) From the abstract: Detroit’s bankruptcy and Chicago’s...
View ArticleAn Update on Pension Obligation Bonds
Source: Alicia H. Munnell, Jean-Pierre Aubry, and Mark Cafarelli, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Issue in Brief, SLP#40, July 2014 The brief’s key findings are: • Some state and...
View Article2014 Symposium: Reimagining Pensions: The Next 40 Years
Source: Pension Research Council, May 2014 Forty years after the passage of the US Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974, confidence in retirement systems is shakier than ever. This...
View Article“Crisis” Management: Uncertainty and the Workplace
Source: EBRI-ERF Policy Forum, Policy Forum #74, May 2014 PANEL 1: Never Let a (Retirement) Crisis Go to Waste: What’s Broken, What’s Not, and What to Do About It (or Not) PANEL 2: Be Careful What You...
View ArticleThe High Cost of Big Labor
Source: Competitive Enterprise Institute, 2014 The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s new three-part series, The High Cost of Big Labor, looks at the economic impact of labor policies on U.S. states....
View ArticlePensionomics 2014: Measuring the Economic Impact of DB Pension Expenditures
Source: Nari Rhee, National Institute on Retirement Security, July 2014 From the summary: A new national economic impact study finds that DB pension benefits have a significant economic impact: 6.2...
View ArticleQuarterly Survey of Public Pensions for 2014: 1st Quarter
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, June 26, 2014 This quarterly survey provides national summary statistics on the revenues, expenditures and composition of assets of the 100 largest state and local public...
View ArticleAn Empirical Analysis of State and Local Public Pension Plan Funded Ratio...
Source: Qiushi Wang, Jun Peng, The American Review of Public Administration, Published online before print July 24, 2014 From the abstract: Between 2001 and 2009, all public pension plans suffered...
View ArticleDefined Benefit vs. Defined Contribution — the Continuing Challenge of State...
Source: Mary Branham, Council of State Governments, e-newsletter, no. 142, August 14, 2014 While public pension plans still face problems, the situation isn’t as bleak as the headlines report,...
View ArticleWhose Presidential Campaign Will Your Pension Finance?
Source: David Sirota, In These Times, Web Only, August 15, 2014 Republicans are arguing that Wall Street should have the right to influence politicians’ investment decisions.
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Why there’s global urgency to enhance pensions
Source: Adam Mayer, Toronto Star, August 17 2014 As Ontario gets going on its supplementary pension plan, Britain has already launched one and the U.S. has one under consideration. … South of the...
View ArticleSize of Long-term Obligations Varies Across States
Source: Sarah Babbage and Kil Huh, Pew Charitable Trusts, Fiscal 50, August 19, 2014 States commit to future spending both when they borrow and when they fall short of funding the cost of retirement...
View Article2014 Retirement Confidence Survey of the State and Local Government Workforce
Source: Paul J. Yakoboski, Joshua M. Franzel, Center for State and Local Government Excellence and TIAA-CREF Institute, August 2014 From the summary: This report analyzes data from a recent survey...
View Article2013 Annual Survey of Public Pensions: State-Administered Defined Benefit Data
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, August 26, 2014 From the tip sheet: This provides a comprehensive look at the financial activity of the nation’s state-administered defined benefit pension systems,...
View ArticleEmployee Benefits: Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday
Source: Nevin Adams and Dallas Salisbury, Employee Benefit Research Institute, Issue Brief, no. 401, July 2014 From the summary: In 2013, the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI)...
View ArticlePublic Employees’ Pension Dilemma
Source: Charles Chieppo, Governing – Better, Faster, Cheaper blog, September 2, 2014 Today’s municipal workers have to cut the best deals they can, but nobody’s looking out for tomorrow’s workers.
View Article2014 Municipal Finance Conference
Source: The Bond Buyer & Brandeis International Business School, July 31-August 1, 2014 A conference for both academics and practitioners on recent developments in municipal credit markets and the...
View Article2014 Employee Healthcare and Other Benefits in Higher Education Survey
Source: College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, 2014 The Employee Healthcare and Other Benefits Survey collects data on the most representative healthcare and...
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