Download or read book Protecting and Politicizing Public Pension Fund Assets written by David Hess and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This article contributes to the debate on public pensions by considering empirical evidence on the systematic impact of different governance structures and practices on pension fund performance. After an introduction to public pension governance in Part I, the next section discusses the growing evidence that political influence has a significant impact on pension systems' funding decisions and on the selection of actuarial assumptions that affect the sponsor government's required contributions to the plan. Part III provides a review of the research on pension funds' investment performance and the potential for political influence to cause lower returns. Part IV presents an empirical analysis that further investigates the findings of previous studies and considers additional governance factors that may have a significant impact on pension fund performance and strategic actions. Part V discusses the policy implications, including the importance of member-elected trustees and the need for improving the training of trustees.
Download or read book Public Pension Plans written by and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Political Economy of Public Pensions written by Eileen Norcross and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-09-02 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Public pensions in the United States face an impending funding crisis in the wake of the financial crisis and the COVID-19 recession. Many cities and states will struggle to meet these growing obligations without major cuts in government services, reneging on pension promises, or raising taxes. This Element examines the development of the pension crisis through the lens of political economy. We analyze the knowledge and incentive problems inherent in the institutional structure, governance, and accounting of public pensions. We conclude by offering several institutional, governance, and reporting reforms to address the pension funding crisis.
Download or read book The effects of investment regulations on pension funds performance in Brazil written by Michel Martins de Morais and published by Editora Dialética. This book was released on 2020-08-19 with total page 55 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Challenges faced by pension funds today include steady increases in life expectancy, frequent changes in the accounting rules, low interest rates and poor equity market returns. It is possible to tackle the difficulties encountered by pension funds not only by raising contributions and/or reducing benefits, but also by improving the way in which pension funds invest. In spite of some changes in the past few years, Brazilian pension funds investment management remains subject to strict constraints. The findings of this study, carried out in 2007, suggest that, even though the results of conducted tests deny, to some extent, the need for further adjustments in investment regulations, concluding this way would not be accurate. There are, in fact, strong reasons to believe that the high interest rates environment experienced over the last years contaminated these results. Furthermore, with a clear downward trend in interest rates, it is possible to imply that, if nothing is done, pension funds will lack flexibility when they need it the most.
Download or read book Fiduciary Law and Responsible Investing written by Benjamin J. Richardson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-21 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about fiduciary law’s influence on the financial economy’s environmental performance, focusing on how the law affects responsible investing and considering possible legal reforms to shift financial markets closer towards sustainability. Fiduciary law governs how trustees, fund managers or other custodians administer the investment portfolios owned by beneficiaries. Written for a diverse audience, not just legal scholars, the book examines in a multi-jurisdictional context an array of philosophical, institutional and economic issues that have shaped the movement for responsible investing and its legal framework. Fiduciary law has acquired greater influence in the financial economy in tandem with the extraordinary recent growth of institutional funds such as pension plans and insurance company portfolios. While the fiduciary prejudice against responsible investing has somewhat waned in recent years, owing mainly to reinterpretations of fiduciary and trust law, significant barriers remain. This book advances the notion of ‘nature’s trust’ to metaphorically signal how fiduciary responsibility should accommodate society’s dependence on long-term environmental well-being. Financial institutions, managing vast investment portfolios on behalf of millions of beneficiaries, should manage those investments with regard to the broader social interest in sustaining ecological health. Even for their own financial self-interest, investors over the long-term should benefit from maintaining nature’s capital. We should expect everyone to act in nature’s trust, from individual funds to market regulators. The ancient public trust doctrine could be refashioned for stimulating this change, and sovereign wealth funds should take the lead in pioneering best practices for environmentally responsible investing.
Download or read book U S Public Pension Handbook A Comprehensive Guide for Trustees and Investment Staff written by Von M. Hughes and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2019-07-26 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first comprehensive guide to mastering the roles and responsibilities of a public pension fiduciary in the U.S. In an ever-changing financial and political landscape, your job as a public pension fiduciary continues to get more difficult. Now, you have the help you need. U.S. Public Pension Handbook is the only one-stop resource that covers the various areas of public pension governance, investment management, infrastructure, accounting, and law. This comprehensive guide presents critical data, information, and insights in topic-specific, easy-to-understand ways—providing the knowledge you need to elevate your expertise and overall contribution to your pension plan or system. U.S. Public Pension Handbook covers: •Today’s domestic and global public pension marketplace•The ins and outs of the defined benefit model, the defined contribution, and hybrid pension designs•Financial concepts central to the actuarial valuation of pension benefits•Public pension investment policies and philosophies•Asset allocations and how they have changed over time•State and local government pension contribution policies•The impact of governance structure and board composition on organizational results•Fiduciary responsibility and the general legal/regulatory framework governing trustees•How changes in trust law may affect public pension trustee fiduciary responsibility and liability•Best practices in pension governance and organizational design Public pension trustees are the unsung heroes of the world of finance, collectively managing over $6 trillion in retirement assets in this country alone. U.S. Public Pension Handbook provides the grounding you need to make sure you perform your all-important with the utmost expertise and professionalism.
Download or read book Socially Responsible Investment Law written by Benjamin J Richardson and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental harm is commonly associated with companies that extract, consume, and pollute our shared natural resources. Rarely are the 'unseen polluters,' the financiers that sponsor and profit from eco-damaging corporations, placed at the forefront of the environmental debate. By focusing on these unseen polluters, Benjamin Richardson provides a comprehensive examination of socially responsible investment (SRI), and offers a guide to possible reform. Richardson proposes that greater regulatory supervision of SRI will help ensure that the financial sector prioritizes ethically-based investments. In Socially Responsible Investment Law, he suggests that new governmental reforms should encourage companies to participate in socially responsible investments by providing a better mix of standards and incentives for SRI through measures that include redefining the fiduciary responsibilities of institutional investors to incorporate environmental concerns. By doing so, Richardson posits that corporate financiers, including banks, hedge funds, and pension plans, will become more accountable to the goals of ensuring sustainable development.
Download or read book The Next Generation of Responsible Investing written by Tessa Hebb and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-11-09 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the face of the recent financial crisis there is increased focus on long-term investment strategies. This is particularly true for institutional investors who manage our retirement savings. Simultaneously there is increased demand that financial assets be invested with an understanding of long-term environmental and social sustainability. Responsible investing provides a long-term sustainable investment strategy that values environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decision-making. Responsible Investing has always had a broad mandate. Put simply, it is a long-term sustainable investment strategy that seeks to reduce risk in investment portfolios through managing ESG issues in today’s corporations. The Next Generation of Responsible Investment explores this topic in an edited volume intended for those with an interest in finance and business.
Download or read book Patient Capital written by Victoria Ivashina and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to overcome barriers to the long-term investments that are essential for solving the world’s biggest problems There has never been a greater need for long-term investments to tackle the world’s most difficult problems, such as climate change, human health, and decaying infrastructure. And it is increasingly unlikely that the public sector will be willing or able to fill this gap. If these critical needs are to be met, the major pools of long-term, patient capital—including pensions, sovereign wealth funds, university endowments, and wealthy individuals and families—will have to play a large role. In this accessible and authoritative account of long-term capital investment, two leading experts on the subject, Victoria Ivashina and Josh Lerner, highlight the significant hurdles facing long-term investors and propose concrete ways to overcome these difficulties.
Download or read book Corporate Governance written by Walter Effross and published by Aspen Publishing. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 842 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Walter Effross is a superb teacher and succeeds in making a sometimes dry subject interesting to students. Corporate Governance contrasts schools of thought, explaining the conflicts between such theories as contractarianism and communitarianism, and such emerging academic approaches as empiricism and behavioral economics. The text includes excerpts from only the most important sections of judicial decisions along with their relevant factual and procedural context. Extensive notes address the reactions to decisions from other courts, commentators, counsel, and executives. Dozens of examples ripped from the headlines, excerpted from actual corporate documents, and drawn from popular culture illustrate key principles and spark class discussions. More than one hundred suggestions for paper topics are especially useful for participants in research and writing seminars. An appendix categorizes and details more than eighty separate initiatives that shareholder activists and commentators have proposed. A wide range of excerpts from corporate documents and court decisions interpreting these materials help students translate the caselaw and learn drafting techniques. The Second Edition reflects legislative, regulatory, judicial, and Fortune 500 developments since mid-2009 as well as new examples from corporate documents, the Great Books, and popular culture. Detailed coverage of new and emerging topics includes discussion of the governance of nonprofit corporations the emerging types of social enterprises such as benefit corporations, B corporations, and flexible purpose corporations; the board s responsibility to rein in the cyber-risks raised by hackers, e-mails, Web sites, and social media; and the implications for directors, officers, and counsel of new research on avoiding common cognitive traps that compromise decision-making in situations of risk and uncertainty. The Second Edition explores governance changes wrought by the financial crisis and reform legislation; the responsible corporate officer doctrine, the honest services doctrine, and other theories of executive liability; issues raised by crowdfunding ; and the consequences of the Citizens United decision removing limits on companies independent political expenditures. New appendices give detailed advice on identifying, developing, refining, and researching topics for articles and on using the publishing process to invigorate one s professional network and career.
Download or read book The CQ Press Guide to Urban Politics and Policy in the United States written by Christine Kelleher Palus and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2016-02-11 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The CQ Press Guide to Urban Politics and Policy in the United States will bring the CQ Press reference guide approach to topics in urban politics and policy in the United States. If the old adage that “all politics is local” is even partially true, then cities are important centers for political activity and for the delivery of public goods and services. U.S. cities are diverse in terms of their political and economic development, demographic makeup, governance structures, and public policies. Yet there are some durable patterns across American cities, too. Despite differences in governance and/or geographic size, most cities face similar challenges in the management of public finances, the administration of public safety, and education. And all U.S. cities have a similar legal status within the federal system. This reference guide will help students understand how American cities (from old to new) have developed over time (Part I), how the various city governance structures allocate power across city officials and agencies (Part II), how civic and social forces interact with the organs of city government and organize to win control over these organs and/or their policy outputs (Part III), and what patterns of public goods and services cities produce for their residents (Part IV). The thematic and narrative structure allows students to dip into a topic in urban politics for deeper historical and comparative context than would be possible in either an A-to-Z encyclopedia entry or in an urban studies course text. FEATURES: Approximately 40 chapters organized in major thematic parts in one volume available in both print and electronic formats. Front matter includes an Introduction by the Editors along with biographical backgrounds about the Editors and the Contributing Authors. Back matter includes a compilation of relevant topical data or tabular presentation of major historical developments (population grown; size of city budgets; etc.) or historical figures (e.g., mayors), a bibliographic essay, and a detailed index. Sidebars are provided throughout, and chapters conclude with References & Further Readings and Cross References to related chapters (as links in the e-version). This Guide is a valuable reference on the topics in urban politics and policy in the United States. The thematic and narrative structure allows researchers to dip into a topic in urban politics for a deeper historical and comparative context than would be possible in either an A-to-Z encyclopedia entry or in an urban studies course text.
Download or read book Labor in the Age of Finance written by Sanford M. Jacoby and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-06 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From award-winning economic historian Sanford M. Jacoby, a fascinating and important study of the labor movement and shareholder capitalism Since the 1970s, American unions have shrunk dramatically, as has their economic clout. Labor in the Age of Finance traces the search for new sources of power, showing how unions turned financialization to their advantage. Sanford Jacoby catalogs the array of allies and finance-based tactics labor deployed to stanch membership losses in the private sector. By leveraging pension capital, unions restructured corporate governance around issues like executive pay and accountability. In Congress, they drew on their political influence to press for corporate reforms in the wake of business scandals and the financial crisis. The effort restrained imperial CEOs but could not bridge the divide between workers and owners. Wages lagged behind investor returns, feeding the inequality identified by Occupy Wall Street. And labor’s slide continued. A compelling blend of history, economics, and politics, Labor in the Age of Finance explores the paradox of capital bestowing power to labor in the tumultuous era of Enron, Lehman Brothers, and Dodd-Frank.
Download or read book Proceedings of New York University Annual Institute on Federal Taxation written by New York University. Institute on Federal Taxation and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Uneasy Partnership written by Geoffrey Hale and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2018-01-25 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Canadian government's pursuit of economic growth is central to its economic policy and to the nature of its relationship with the business community. The government depends on business investment for economic growth vital to the prosperity of citizens, the generation of tax revenues, and enough public satisfaction to win re-election. Businesses depend on the government for stable sets of rules that are necessary for success. They often look to governments for protection against threats to their well-being and for assistance in competing with other businesses. In this new edition of Uneasy Partnership, Geoffrey Hale examines the interdependent relationship between Canadian governments and businesses, considering the political role of the government in the economy and what effect this has on the business environment. Hale provides an overview of the historical dimensions of Canada's political economy and relations between government and business, giving readers background to consider topics such as corporate power, the implications of Canada's economic structure, regional economic differences, and the role of interest groups in political and policy processes, among others. In a thoughtful and well-researched style, Hale lays out how the partnership between business and government in Canada is an uneasy one--and one whose capacity to adapt to ongoing changes is essential in an uncertain world."--
Download or read book Finance Ethics written by John R. Boatright and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2010-08-13 with total page 851 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking exploration of the critical ethical issues in financial theory and practice Compiled by volume editor John Boatright, Finance Ethics consists of contributions from scholars from many different finance disciplines. It covers key issues in financial markets, financial services, financial management, and finance theory, and includes chapters on market regulation, due diligence, reputational risk, insider trading, derivative contracts, hedge funds, mutual and pension funds, insurance, socially responsible investing, microfinance, earnings management, risk management, bankruptcy, executive compensation, hostile takeovers, and boards of directors. Special attention is given to fairness in markets and the delivery of financial services, and to the duties of fiduciaries and agents Rigorous analysis of the topics covered provides essential information and practical guidance for practitioners in finance as well as for students and academics with an interest in finance ethics Ethics in Finance skillfully explains the need for ethics in the personal conduct of finance professionals and the operation of financial markets and institutions.
Download or read book Fiduciary Law written by Tamar Frankel and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Fiduciary Law, Tamar Frankel examines the structure, principles, themes, and objectives of fiduciary law. Fiduciaries, which include corporate managers, money managers, lawyers, and physicians among others, are entrusted with money or power. Frankel explains how fiduciary law is designed to offer protection from abuse of this method of safekeeping. She deals with fiduciaries in general, and identifies situations in which fiduciary law falls short of offering protection. Frankel analyzes fiduciary debates, and argues that greater preventive measures are required. She offers guidelines for determining the boundaries and substance of fiduciary law, and discusses how failure to enforce fiduciary law can contribute to failing financial and economic systems. Frankel offers ideas and explanations for the courts, regulators, and legislatures, as well as the fiduciaries and entrustors. She argues for strong legal protection against abuse of entrustment as a means of encouraging fiduciary services in society. Fiduciary Law can help lawyers and policy makers designing the future law and the systems that it protects.
Download or read book Saving for Development written by Inter-American Development Bank and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why should people - and economies - save? This book on the savings problem in Latin America and the Caribbean suggests that, while saving to survive the bad times is important, saving to thrive in the good times is what really counts. People must save to invest in health and education, live productive and fulfilling lives, and make the most of their retirement years. Firms must save to grow their enterprises, employ more workers in better jobs, and produce quality goods. Governments must save to build the infrastructure required by a productive economy, provide quality services to their citizens, and assure their senior citizens a dignified, worry-free retirement. In short, countries must save not for the proverbial rainy day, but for a sunny day - a time when everyone can bask in the benefits of growth, prosperity, and well-being. This book is open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.
