Alternative investing by state and local pension funds : case studies /

"Prepared for the Urban Institute as part of the project, 'Economic Issues of State and Local Pension Plans,' U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Grant No. H-2921-RG."

State and local pension fund investment performance /

"Prepared for the Urban Institute as part of the project, 'Economic Issues of State and Local Pension Plans,' U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, grant no. H-2921-RG."

Digest of one hundred selected health and insurance plans under collective bargaining, winter 1961-62.

Companion vol. to the Digest of one hundred selected pension plans under collective bargaining, spring 1961.

Private pension plan reform. Hearings, Ninety-third Congress, first session.

Hearings held May 21-June 12, 1973.

Selected psychosocial and demographic factors affecting levels of pre-retirement planning

In September 2002, the State of Florida implemented a new retirement structure for those employed in the Florida Public School System. Teachers were given the option to maintain their existing defined benefit plan or choose the newly offered defined contribution plan. The variables that affect planning for retirement are innumerable. Identifying the most significant variables is essential to understanding how one plans for retirement. ^ This study examined the relationship between hypothesized psychosocial and demographic factors and an individual's level of pre-retirement planning. The criterion variable, the level of pre-retirement planning, comprised two concepts. First, the time spent thinking about retirement was determined by the score an individual received on a pre-retirement planning scale. This scale included the concepts of information gathering, goals, anticipated resources, and long-range planning. Second, implementation of retirement plan procedures was determined by the percentage an individual annually deferred to retirement. ^ The survey used for data collection contained 50 close-ended items. It was distributed to all full-time teachers in nine randomly selected elementary, middle, and senior high schools throughout Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Multiple regression and crosstabulation indicated that math anxiety, general risk, years of service, and total family income were significant predictors of the level of pre-retirement planning, as measured by the pre-retirement planning scale. In addition, the statistical analysis indicated that math anxiety, internal locus of control, years of service, and total family income were significant predictors of the level pre-retirement planning, as measured by the amount deferred to retirement. An individual's level of math anxiety and family income were the two factors that were the most significant predictors for both concepts on the level of pre-retirement planning. ^ Based on the findings of the study, recommendations focused on assessing an individual's level of math anxiety and educating teachers, particularly pre-service candidates, about the factors that affect pre-retirement planning. Further research should investigate the benefit of such educational programs. ^

Framework for assessing financial literacy and superannuation investment choice decisions

There is a worldwide trend towards rapidly growing defined contribution pension funds in terms of assets and membership, and the choices available to individuals. This has shifted the decisionmaking responsibility to fund members for managing the investment of their retirement savings. This change has given rise to a phenomenon where most superannuation fund members are responsible for either actively choosing or passively relying on their funds’ default investment options. Prior research identifies that deficiencies in financial literacy is one of the causes of inertia in financial decision-making and findings from international and Australian studies show that financial illiteracy is wide-spread. Given the potential significant economic and social consequences of poor financial decision-making in superannuation matters, this paper proposes a framework by which the various demographic, social and contextual factors that influence fund members’ financial literacy and its association with investment choice decisions are explored. Enhanced theoretical and empirical understanding of the factors that are associated with active/passive investment choice decisions would enable development of well-targeted financial education programs.

Financial Futures Markets and Their Impact on the Real Economy in Middle and Low Income Countries

This project analyses the influence of the futures market on middle and low income countries. In it, I attempt to show that investments made by large investment funds in this market, as well as by certain pension plans, bring major consequences whose effects are more evident in less developed countries. The cornerstones of the work are as follows; to attempt to see the existing relationship between the commodity futures market and its underlying assets; analysing products such as wheat, rice and corn in-depth, because these are the most basic foodstuffs at a global level; to determine how an increase in trading in these markets can affect the lives of people in the poorest countries; to analyse investor concern regarding the consequences that their investments may have. Throughout the project we will see how large speculators use production forecasting models to determine the shortage of a commodity in order to take a position in the futures market to profit from it. In addition we will see how an increase in trading in this market causes an increase in the price of the underlying asset in the spot market. As for investor concern, I can say it is negligible, but the idea of running pension plans or investment funds that follow some social criteria has been welcomed by those interviewed, which makes me think that different legislation is possible. This legislation will only come into existence if it is demanded by the people. A fact that now becomes complicated because without a minimum financial basis, they cannot even know how the large investment funds trade with hunger in the world. The day when most people understand how large speculators profit from famine will be the day to put pressure on governments to begin to put limits on speculation. This makes financial awareness necessary in order to achieve a curb in excessive speculation.

Erretiroaren pentsioa eta adinez langile nagusien lan-bizitzaren luzamena

[Pentsio-sistema honela antolatzen da: lehen maila, kotizaziopeko pentsioak jasotzen ez dituztenei pentsioak ordaintzera bideratzen da; bigarren maila, Gizarte Segurantza edo kotizaziopeko pentsioena da; hirugarren maila, borondatezko gizarte-aurreikuspen osagarriari dagokio Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoan eta pentsio-planei Espainian. Bigarren mailan, Gizarte Segurantza banaketa-sisteman oinarritzen da. 2050ean erretiro-pentsioak finantzatzeko arazoak egotea espero da. Etorkizuneko egoerari aurre egiteko, 27/2011 Legearen eta 5/2013 Errege Lege Dekretuaren bitartez, erreformak burutu dira. Hirugarren mailan, Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoan gizarte-aurreikuspen osagarria Eusko Jaurlaritzaren esku dago eta Borondatezko Aurreikuspen Sozialeko Erakundeen (BASE) aurreikuspen-planak bertako pentsio-plan propioak dira. Lan honetan, batez ere, pentsio-sistemaren bigarren eta hirugarren mailak aztertuko ditut. Lehenengo marko teorikoa, ondoren alde praktikoa, eta azkenean datuetan oinarrituz proposamen batzuk eman eta ondorioak aterako ditut.]

Shifting the Burden of HIV/AIDS

As the economic burden of HIV/AIDS increases in sub-Saharan Africa, the allocation of the burden among levels and sectors of societies is changing. The private sector has greater scope than government, households, or NGOs to avoid the economic burden of AIDS, and a systematic shifting of the burden away from the private sector is underway. Common practices that shift the AIDS burden from businesses to households and government include pre-employment screening, reduced employee benefits, restructured employment contracts, outsourcing of less skilled jobs, selective retrenchments, and changes in production technologies. In South Africa, more than two thirds of large employers have reduced health care benefits or required larger contributions by employees. Most firms have replaced defined benefit retirement funds, which expose the firm to large annual costs but provide long-term support for families, with defined contribution funds, which eliminate firm risk but provide little to families of younger workers who die of AIDS. Contracting out of previously permanent jobs also shields firms from costs while leaving households and government to care for affected workers and their families. Many of these changes are responses to globalization and would have occurred in the absence of AIDS, but they are devastating for employees with HIV/AIDS. This paper argues that the shifting of the economic burden of AIDS is a predictable response by business to which a thoughtful public policy response is needed. Countries should make explicit decisions about each sector’s responsibilities if a socially desirable allocation is to be achieved.

Health Programming for Clergy: An Overview of Protestant Programs in the United States

The health of clergy is important, and clergy may find health programming tailored to them more effective. Little is known about existing clergy health programs. We contacted Protestant denominational headquarters and searched academic databases and the Internet. We identified 56 clergy health programs and categorized them into prevention and personal enrichment; counseling; marriage and family enrichment; peer support; congregational health; congregational effectiveness; denominational enrichment; insurance/strategic pension plans; and referral-based programs. Only 13 of the programs engaged in outcomes evaluation. Using the Socioecological Framework, we found that many programs support individual-level and institutional-level changes, but few programs support congregational-level changes. Outcome evaluation strategies and a central repository for information on clergy health programs are needed. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

La réglementation des risques associés à la gouvernance des régimes complémentaires de retraite.

Dans un univers financier en turbulence, les régimes de retraite privés gèrent une part importante de l’épargne-retraite des Québécois en conciliant les intérêts divergents de différents acteurs : employeurs, participants actifs, retraités, autres intervenants à la gestion. Considérant la complexité des techniques et des instruments financiers, la gestion des régimes de retraite est devenue, pour les administrateurs de régime, un exercice périlleux. Dans ce contexte, la réglementation des risques associés à la gouvernance des régimes de retraite constitue aujourd’hui un enjeu socio-économique important pour assurer leur pérennité dans notre système de retraite. Le cadre légal et réglementaire applicables aux régimes de retraite découle essentiellement de la Loi sur les régimes complémentaires de retraite et ses règlements ainsi que du Code civil du Québec. En s’appuyant sur des études économiques et financières, cette étude analyse le régime juridique du fonctionnement et de la gouvernance des régimes de retraite par les comités de retraite et propose des améliorations en utilisant une approche fondée sur le risque. À titre préliminaire, pour situer dans le temps la problématique actuelle, cette étude présente l’évolution des régimes de retraite privés de l’origine à nos jours en se concentrant sur les règles affectant leur administration. Ensuite, dans une première partie, le cadre théorique sur lequel s’appuie notre étude est exposé. Les régimes de retraite privés y sont présentés comme un intermédiaire opérant sur les marchés financiers par le biais d’autres intermédiaires : les gestionnaires de portefeuilles, les courtiers en valeurs et les gardiens de valeurs. Il s’applique aux régimes de retraite des principes de gouvernance d’entreprise particuliers fondés sur les risques encourus par l’organisation. Cette partie conduit au développement d’une théorie de l’agence des régimes de retraite privés impliquant notamment des relations fondamentales entre l’employeur, les participants et bénéficiaires et le(s) gestionnaire(s) de portefeuille. Dans la seconde partie, l’environnement légal et réglementaire de la gouvernance applicable des régimes de retraite privés est présenté et la structure incitative des règles analysée à la lumière de travaux économiques théoriques et empiriques. Après avoir expliqué les principaux contrats du régime de retraite, un examen de certains mécanismes légaux est effectué : les devoirs généraux des administrateurs, les règles de composition, le fonctionnement interne et l’obligation de rendre compte. Cette étude permet de proposer une série de recommandations visant à améliorer la gouvernance et le fonctionnement des régimes de retraite privés.

The blended approach to real estate allocations: performance implications of combining an exposure to German Spezialfonds with Global Listed Real Estate Securities

This paper seeks to increase the understanding of the performance implications for investors who choose to combine an unlisted real estate portfolio (in this case German Spezialfonds) with a (global) listed real estate element. We call this a “blended” approach to real estate allocations. For the avoidance of doubt, in this paper we are dealing purely with real estate equity (listed and unlisted) allocations, and do not incorporate real estate debt (listed or unlisted) or direct property into the process. A previous paper (Moss and Farrelly 2014) showed the benefits of the blended approach as it applied to UK Defined Contribution Pension Schemes. The catalyst for this paper has been the recent attention focused on German pension fund allocations, which have a relatively low (real estate) equity content, and a high bond content. We have used the MSCI Spezialfonds Index as a proxy for domestic German institutional real estate allocations, and the EPRA Global Developed Index as a proxy for a global listed real estate allocation. We also examine whether a rules based trading strategy, in this case Trend Following, can improve the risk adjusted returns above those of a simple buy and hold strategy for our sample period 2004-2015. Our findings are that by blending a 30% global listed portfolio with a 70% allocation (as opposed to a typical 100% weighting) to Spezialfonds, the real estate allocation returns increase from 2.88% p.a. to 5.42% pa. Volatility increases, but only to 6.53%., but there is a noticeable impact on maximum drawdown which increases to 19.4%. By using a Trend Following strategy raw returns are improved from 2.88% to 6.94% p.a. , The Sharpe Ratio increases from 1.05 to 1.49 and the Maximum Drawdown ratio is now only 1.83% compared to 19.4% using a buy and hold strategy . Finally, adding this (9%) real estate allocation to a mixed asset portfolio allocation typical for German pension funds there is an improvement in both the raw return (from 7.66% to 8.28%) and the Sharpe Ratio (from 0.91 to 0.98).

Controladoria de gestão na PREVI: modelos, apoio à governança e Lei complementar 108

O segmento de previdência privada fechada tem 3,2 milhões de participantes e assistidos com mais de 1.000 planos de previdência administrados por 330 fundos de pensão (EFPC). Para que essas entidades cumpram a sua missão é necessário um acompanhamento dos recursos acumulados, do desempenho atingido pelos investimentos e a avaliação de se o montante acumulado permite o complemento de renda esperado, e também se faz necessário que os participantes dos planos de previdência tenham acesso às informações de sua performance. Este trabalho abordará o estudo desses fundos de pensão, com foco naqueles cujo patrocínio é de uma entidade pública regida pela Lei Complementar nº108/2001, que disciplina a relação dessas entidades públicas, enquanto patrocinadoras, com suas respectivas entidades fechadas de previdência privada. Há diferenças significativas entre os fundos de pensão e as demais empresas, porém os fundos de pensão passam por problemas similares nos aspectos de gestão e governança. Este trabalho analisará a governança dos fundos de pensão e o papel e atribuições da área de Controladoria, normalmente a responsável por gerar informações para alta administração das empresas em geral, adaptando-as ao contexto da previdência. Como caso prático, será analisada a PREVI - Fundo de Pensão dos Funcionários do Banco do Brasil e sua área de controladoria. A PREVI é uma entidade fechada de previdência complementar, fundada há 109 anos, maior fundo de pensão de América Latina e o 27o do mundo. Atualmente administra três planos de previdência que totalizam mais de R$ 160 bilhões em ativos.

Liquidações extrajudiciais no mercado supervisionado pela SUSEP: impacto, dificuldades e oportunidades.

O problema de pesquisa neste trabalho é a averiguação da eficiência e eficácia do processo de liquidação extrajudicial de seguradoras, companhias de capitalização e de previdência aberta sob o comando da SUSEP, autarquia que regula e supervisiona estes mercados. Historicamente os processos de liquidação na SUSEP têm demorado em média mais de onze anos e ao final a maioria das liquidações encerra-se por autofalência, revelando baixa eficácia e eficiência do processo. Disto decorre nosso objetivo central de pesquisa que é descobrir os fatores que contribuem para esse quadro negativo e fazer recomendações de melhorias, a partir do estudo das leis, normativos e procedimentos aplicáveis e de entrevistas de profundidade com supervisores e pesquisa eletrônica com os liquidantes. Ao final, recomendamos medidas objetivas, que emergiram da análise e do próprio trabalho de pesquisa, as quais vemos como capazes de eliminar os maiores obstáculos que impedem melhores resultados nos processos de liquidação da SUSEP.