The Quebec Court of Appeal has ruled the province’s Bill 15, which substantially modified municipal sector pension plans, is unconstitutional with respect to retirees but justified for active plan members. The legislation, which was passed in 2014, adopted a cost-sharing formula for plans and plan deficits, established a shared-cost stabilization fund and put an end […]
When Alaska switched its public education employees from two defined benefit pension plans to a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan, more staff left their positions, according to a new report by the National Institute on Retirement Security. The report benchmarks retirement benefit offerings among state-level plans in Alaska and nationwide, analyzing the evolution of public pension […]
Saskatchewan’s Public Employees Benefits Agency is transitioning to a not-for-profit corporation. The PEBA began pursuing the transition in 2021 at the request of the trustees of the two largest pension plans it administers — the Public Employees Pension Plan and the Municipal Employees Pension Plan. The not-for-profit will begin operations on Jan. 1, 2024 under the […]
Wells Fargo has agreed to pay US$1 billion to settle a lawsuit filed by its two public sector pension plans that alleged the bank made misleading statements about its compliance with federal regulators after a fake account-opening scandal came to light in 2016. The class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of members of the […]
There’s something about the Arizona State Retirement System — a US$49.3-billion defined benefit-like hybrid pension plan for the state’s 600,000 current and former public sector workers — that feels downright Canadian. The resemblance is intentional. Canadian Paul Matson, executive director of the AZSRS, drew inspiration from his home country when establishing its approach, particularly in […]
Vestcor Investment Management Corp., an organization that manages the investment and administration of 11 public sector pension plans in New Brunswick, saw its investment decline 3.63 per cent in 2022. During the year, Vestcor’s assets declined from about $21 billion to $20 billion, according to a press release, which credited the losses to the unusually […]
A resolution to reverse a rule allowing U.S. pension investors to consider environmental, social and governance criteria has been blocked by President Joe Biden. “It would put at risk the retirement savings of people across the country,” the president said after issuing his first-ever veto. Through the office’s veto power, a president may block any […]
When two U.S. banks failed this month, among the investors who lost millions were U.S. public sector pension funds responsible for ensuring the retirements of teachers, firefighters and other government workers. Since the pension funds are diversified investors whose holdings in Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were small portions of their portfolios, experts aren’t […]
To bolster Alaska’s public sector, a bipartisan effort is underway to relaunch the state’s pensions as defined benefit plans. “I’m carrying this bill on behalf of thousands of state employees who have worked for more than a decade to refine it,” said Cathy Giessel, leader of the state senate’s Republican majority during her introduction of […]
The world’s 42 largest public sector pension investment organizations saw their combined assets decline by nine per cent in the year ending June 30, 2022, according to a new report by data platform Global SWF. “The last time we saw a decline was 2015 but that was a small drop,” says Diego Lopez, founder and […]