As a young man growing up in Palisades Park, NJ, I loved the folk duo Simon and Garfunkel, and one of my absolute favorite songs was "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (released in January 1970). Much to the chagrin of my...

At the end of 1999, the average US public pension plan had a funded ratio >100%. Yes, just a couple of short decades ago the average public pension plan was overfunded thanks to great equity returns during most of the...

Remember when Alan Greenspan uttered this famous phrase? He spoke these two words at an American Enterprise Institute event in the 1990s. It was a reference to the stock market’s valuation during the Dot-Com go-go era. It was interpreted as...

The US Federal Reserve has just released a report stating that inflation is running "hotter" than expected. That probably won't come as a surprise to anyone buying nearly anything today. So, what happens to your fixed-income portfolio should we get...

It is common in our pension industry to fit every product/strategy into an asset class box. I understand the thought process, but it doesn't work for ALM strategies, especially when discussing products that are designed to meet a client's specific...

We've reported previously on the results of the Natixis Global Retirement Study. 2021's results are out and the United States has fallen one spot to #17. Not much to be proud about given that ranking. Sure, we are one place...

I suspect that most of us have no idea that today, September 10, 2021, is National 401(k) Day. This day is recognized every year on the Friday following Labor Day. The day is supposed to be an opportunity for retirement...

We've been discussing pension obligation bonds (POBs) for the last couple of years and it seems as if folks are listening! According to a WSJ article that was published during the weekend, there have been 72 POBs issued in 2021...

We, at Ryan ALM, are big supporters of Pension Obligation Bonds (POB) provided that the proceeds are used to defease the pension system's liabilities chronologically for as far out as the POB allocation will permit. We are also encouraging the...

There once was a time when investors demanded more from corporate America than just the opportunity to invest in companies with the hope of a return on that investment. They demanded and were given significant dividends. It was not unusual...