Download or read book State and Local Pension Fund Investment Performance written by John E. Petersen and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Alternative Investing by State and Local Pension Funds written by John E. Petersen and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Investment Practices of State and Local Pension Funds written by Annika E. Sundén and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The investment practices of public pension funds have become a topic of major interest in the wake of President Clinton's 1999 proposal to invest a portion of the Social Security Trust Funds in equities. Both supporters and opponents of the proposal point to the performance of public plans to argue their case. Supporters cite the success of Federal plans, particularly the Federal Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), which has avoided picking individual stocks by investing in a stock index and has steered clear of projects with less than market returns. Divestiture of stocks for social or political reasons has also not been a problem, and TSP has avoided government intervention in the private sector since individual portfolio managers vote the proxies. Opponents of Social Security Trust Fund investment in equities point to state and local pension funds. They contend that state and local pensions often undertake investments that sacrifice return to achieve political or social goals, divest stocks to demonstrate that they do not support some perceived immoral or unethical behavior, and intervene in corporate activity. Opponents claim that if Social Security's investment options were broadened, Congress would use the Trust Fund money for similar unproductive activities. An important question is the extent to which allegations about state and local plans are true. This study explores four possible avenues through which social or political considerations could enter the investment decisions of state and local pension funds. The first section focuses on economically targeted investments (ETIs), those investments that are designed to meet some special need within the state. The second section looks at instances of pension fund activism, whereby the fund managers attempt to influence corporate behavior to improve profitability or other aspects of corporate performance. The third section investigates the extent to which state and local pension plans have avoided or divested certain holdings in order to make a political or ethical statement. The fourth section investigates the extent to which states and localities have used pension funds as an escape valve for general budget pressures. This comprehensive review yields the following conclusions. First, economically targeted investments account for no more than 2.5 percent of total state and local holdings. Although early studies showed plans sacrificing considerable return for targeting their investments to in-state activities, recent survey data reveal no adverse impact on returns as a result of the current small amount of ETI activity. Second, public plans in only three states have seriously engaged in shareholder activism, and this activism appears to have been motivated by a desire to improve the bottom line not to make a political statement. The literature suggests that this activity has had a negligible to positive impact on returns. Third, the only significant divestiture that has occurred was related to companies doing business in South Africa before 1994. This was a unique situation where worldwide consensus among industrial nations led to a global ban on investment in that country. With respect to tobacco, public plans have generally resisted divestiture, and only a few have actually sold their stock. Finally, state and local governments have borrowed occasionally from their pension funds or reduced their contributions in the wake of budget pressures, but this activity has been restrained by the courts and frequently reversed. In short, the story that emerges at the state and local level is that while in the early 1980s some public plans sacrificed returns for social considerations, plan managers have become much more sophisticated. Today, public plans appear to be performing as well as private plans.

Download or read book Investment Practices of State and Local Pension Funds written by Alicia Haydock Munnell and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book State and Local Pension Fund Management written by Jun Peng and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2008-08-21 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intense media coverage of the public pension funding crisis continues to fuel heightened awareness in and debate over public pension benefits. With over $3 trillion in assets currently under management, the ramifications of poor oversight are severe. It is important that practitioners, researchers, and taxpayers be well-advised regarding any concer

Download or read book Bishopsgate Stakes for the Common Council Plate written by and published by . This book was released on 1821* with total page 1 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Investment Performance of State Retirement Funds written by Daniel Richard Vellenga and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Evaluating the Financial Performance of Pension Funds written by Richard Hinz and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-01-14 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countries around the world are increasingly relying on individual pension savings accounts to provide income in old age for their citizens. Although these funds have now been in place for several decades, their performance is usually measured using methods that are not meaningful in relation to this long-term objective. The recent global financial crisis has highlighted the need to develop better performance evaluation methods that are consistent with the retirement income objective of pension funds. Compiling research derived from a partnership among the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and three private partners, 'Evaluating the Financial Performance of Pension Funds' discusses the theoretical basis and key implementation issues related to the design of performance benchmarks based on life-cycle savings and investment principles. The book begins with an evaluation of the financial performance of funded pension systems using the standard mean variance framework. It then provides a discussion of the limitations inherent to applying these methods to pension funds and outlines the many other issues that should be addressed in developing more useful and meaningful performance measures through the formulation of pension-specific benchmark portfolios. Practical implementation issues are addressed through empirical examples of how such benchmarks could be developed. The book concludes with commentary and observations from several noted pension experts about the need for a new approach to performance measurement and the impact of the recent global financial crisis on pension funds.

Download or read book A History of Public Sector Pensions in the United States written by Robert Louis Clark and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2003-05-12 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Wharton School, offering a comprehensive assessment of the political and financial dimensions of public-sector pensions from the colonial period until the emergence of modern retirement plans in the twentieth century.

Download or read book Our Money s Worth written by New York (State). Governor's Task Force on Pension Fund Investment and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Public Employee Pension Funds written by Lee Webb and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Upgrading the Investment Policy Framework of Public Pension Funds written by Dimitri Vittas and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Public pension funds have the potential to benefit from low operating costs because they enjoy economies of scale and avoid large marketing costs. But this important advantage has in most countries been dissipated by poor investment performance. The latter has been attributed to a weak governance structure, lack of independence from government interference, and a low level of transparency and public accountability. Recent years have witnessed the creation of new public pension funds in several countries, and the modernization of existing ones in others, with special emphasis placed on upgrading their investment policy framework and strengthening their governance structure. This paper focuses on the experience of four new public pension funds that have been created in Norway, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. The paper discusses the safeguards that have been introduced to ensure their independence and their insulation from political pressures. It also reviews their performance and their evolving investment strategies. All four funds started with the romantic idea of operating as 'managers of managers' and focusing on external passive management but their strategies have progressively evolved to embrace internal active management and significant investments in alternative asset classes. The paper draws lessons for other countries that wish to modernize their public pension funds.

Download or read book Pension Funds written by Clay B. Mansfield and published by Irwin Professional Publishing. This book was released on 1993 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For all pension fund decision makers, including directors, trustees, and staff members, as well as investment managers, actuaries, consultants, and beneficiaries, shows how to use common sense to manage pension assets and liabilities at the lowest cost to contributors and at the lowest risk of nonpayment of benefits to the plan participants. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book The Investment Performance of Corporate Pension Plans written by Steven A. Berkowitz and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1988-02-22 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines whether pension plans achieved satisfactory investment results when compared to conventional market indexes. It also covers the impact of factors such as risk, turnover and investment allocation policy on performance. . . . Pension plan managers and accountants who audit or advise them will be most interested in obtaining this book, as will academics doing research on pension plan performance. Journal of Accountancy The authors argue that the principle causes of the poor performance record of pension plan investments are frequent portfolio reallocations and high turnover. They show that these twin strategies act more to incur unnecessary costs than to enhance profits. They proceed to develop a new concept for pension fund diversification, one that will achieve the goals the present strategies have failed to achieve. Must reading for pension fund executives, corporate money managers, and bank trust officers, this book is also a significant addition to the finance and investing curriculum.

Download or read book State Pension Fund Investment Performance written by Judith S. Lohman and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discusses which states give the state treasurer sole authority to invest state pension funds and which have investment boards or committees and, how the investment performance of Connecticut's pension funds compares to that of states that give investment authority to a committee or board.

Download or read book Pension Funds written by Peter O. Dietz and published by Free Press. This book was released on 1966 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Pensions at a Glance 2017 written by OECD and published by Org. for Economic Cooperation & Development. This book was released on 2017-12-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2017 edition of Pensions at a Glance highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD countries over the last two years. Moreover, one special chapter focuses on flexible retirement options in OECD countries and discusses people's preferences regarding flexible retirement, the actual use of these programs and the impact on benefit levels. This edition also updates information on the key features of pension provision in OECD countries and provides projections of retirement income for today's workers. It offers indicators covering the design of pension systems, pension entitlements, the demographic and economic context in which pension systems operate, incomes and poverty of older people, the finances of retirement-income systems and private pensions.