The funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan fell 5.6 percentage points in August, to 78%, as pension plans were affected by both falling assets and increasing liabilities for the second month in a row, according to BNY Mellon Asset Management. The typical plan is now at its lowest funding level since September […]
American corporate pension plans are underfunded by approximately $388 billion, according to a recent study by Credit Suisse. “The recent market turmoil has been unkind to many portfolios,” says the report, The Magic of Pension Accounting, Part V. “But it has been especially painful for defined benefit pension plans as they get hit with the […]
Watch this video The past decade has brought enormous changes in the global investment landscape, says Scott Berg, portfolio manager, global large-cap strategy with T. Rowe Price. He cites the tech bubble, Sept.11, housing booms, the global financial crisis and Japan’s earthquake as just a few of the events that have impacted the investment environment. […]
Pension, health and welfare reform in many countries has created significant challenges for multinational companies looking to manage the cost, risk and competitiveness of employee benefit programs, says Mercer. According to Mercer’s latest Benefit Plans Around the World Report (BPAW Report), pension and health reforms, prompted by an aging population and the growing cost of […]
There was no mention of a third round of quantitative easing, but the Federal Open Market Committee has announced it will leave interest rates near zero until at least mid-2013. The Federal Reserve has held rates at just 25 basis points since December 2008. Until today, the Fed had said it would keep it low […]
Recent market volatility has dealt a severe blow to U.S. pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies, this according to the latest figures by Mercer. Aggregate funded status decreased by US$191 billion to a funding deficit of US$496 billion and an aggregate funded ratio of 73% as of the market close on August 8. The […]
Northern Trust has said that Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the U.S. Treasury debt will not affect the firm’s view of the U.S. bond market. Bob Browne, Northern Trust’s chief investment officer, said the downgrade was unlikely to influence the firm’s position on risk assets globally. He noted that Northern Trust has no plans […]
The U.S.’s credit rating was downgraded from AAA to AA+ by credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s late Friday, raising the question of what effect this will this have on Canadian pension plans, many of which are required to hold a certain percentage of assets with AAA ratings. For now, it appears the effect may […]
At the end of last year, pension fund asset levels in most countries had returned to their pre-crisis levels; however, growing risks due to the euro zone crisis and other financial market issues are making the outlook less clear, says the latest report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The 2011 edition of […]
Originally from our sister publication, Advisor.ca. There are many ways to interpret the ongoing U.S. debt ceiling crisis. Many in the Canadian financial industry feel it’s a pointless production before an inevitable resolution. “This is nothing but a show,” said David L. Fingold, lead portfolio manager of the Dynamic Global Discovery Fund. “This is a […]