On January 11, 2017 I penned a blog post titled "Perpetual Doesn't Mean Sustainable", which addressed my concerns about the fact that the idea that public pension systems were perpetual might just be a fallacy. In fact, the funding status...

During June, the estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer rose 70 basis points, from 103.9% of a plan's total liabilities to 104.6% of those liabilities according to the Milliman Pension Buyout Index (MPBI). The historically low...

In another classic example of being out of touch with what is truly happening to American workers, US Senate Republicans have introduced a new bill: the Addressing Missed-savings Opportunities for Retirement due to an Epidemic Act (AMORE) Act. Senators Ted...

Recent news reports have indicated that New Jersey's funding of their upcoming pension contribution ($3.75 billion) is going to be negatively impacted by a decline in lottery revenues. Although that is a true statement, NJ's issues go well beyond the...

There is a lot of volatility in a normal asset allocation in short time frames. We've seen this unfold dramatically in a number of cases during the last couple of decades. At Ryan ALM we are guiding pension clients to...

On June 23, 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a proposed rule to provide further guidance for Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) plan fiduciaries interested in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. These ESG strategies must be chosen...

Once upon a time in a land not so far from here, defined benefit pension systems were over funded and cash flow positive. Yes, really! As recently as 1999, most DB pension plans were showing strong funded ratios and were...

We are pleased to share with you the 2Q'20 Ryan ALM Newsletter . This edition highlights our effort to bring forth perspective on a number of critical pension-related issues. Both Ron and I believe that education is the key to...

I recently read an article that began with the statement that "pensions and 401(k) plans are totally different retirement plans" - I agree. It then went on to state that "one isn't better than the next" - I couldn't disagree...

It isn't rocket science to understand why defined contribution plans are inferior to defined benefit plans for the simple reason that most American workers do not have the discretionary income to fund one's retirement account, if they even have access...