Pension Funds - Articles & White Papers

During the last few years, many U.S. pensions have become fully funded for the first time since 2008. With the widespread adoption of liability driven investing (LDI), bonds now represent a majority of pension assets. With the use of more hedging and less equity risk, pension plan surpluses are likely to persist. This paper…

In its 22nd edition, How America Saves provides an in-depth examination of the retirement plan data of nearly 5 million defined contribution plan participants.

The Global Pension Assets Study estimates global pension fund assets across 22 major pension markets (the P22). These geographies now stand at US$55.7 trillion in pension assets and account for 69% of the GDP of these economies. The study, conducted by WTW and the Thinking Ahead Institute since the 1990s, includes an…

The financial resources, risk aversions, constraints, and objectives of participants in defined contribution plans are as varied as the people themselves. Because there is no uniform path to financial wellness for such a diverse population, plan sponsors should offer their participants a spectrum of solutions.

Radical reform is required to ensure DC pensioners stay on course to achieve the retirement lifestyle that meets their aspirations. For schemes to support members, the industry will need to raise contribution levels and ensure that savings are managed to deliver the best possible outcomes.

It’s set to be another busy year for DB schemes, sponsors and advisers. Read our 2024 guide to the UK Pensions Landscape for details about pension reforms, sustainability, regulations, pooling and more.

This white paper is the fourth in a five-paper series. It introduces a radical new perspective on equities, thinking of them as one would of any high-end consumer good. This change in perspective enables us to demonstrate that income inequality is a hidden driver of equity prices, and also allows us to…

In the initial analysis of U.S. and Canadian asset owners (endowments, foundations, SWFs, and pension funds), 13F filings were used to analyze ETF holdings and trends in these investments. In 2023, asset owner ETF AUM increased 22%, to USD 56 billion. Over the past 10 years, ETF usage has increased 4x, with most of that…

In this piece, we discuss key considerations for retirement plan sponsors in 2024, including where markets may be headed, how sponsors can address declining retirement confidence, trends in regulation, legislation and litigation, and the road forward for defined benefit plans.

In this publication, we offer our views on: pooling by 2025, local investment opportunities, private equity opportunities, taskforce on nature-related financial disclosures, higher yields, what these mean for the LGPS, and inflation hedging using derivatives.

In an ever-shifting economic landscape, trade finance stands out as a resilient choice for investors. It seeks to provide stability and exhibits a low correlation with the often-unpredictable fluctuations of public markets. Moreover, it can offer complexity premium that can enhance portfolio performance over the long term.…

A Vanguard analysis assesses retirement readiness for a nationally representative sample of American workers.

See the latest insights from experts at Legal & General Investment Management.

This year’s GRI takes a deep dive into the critical issues driving global retirement security – and reveals the top countries for retirement security around the world.

In this report we analyse recent trends in mortality and how they affect defined benefit pension schemes. We take a look at what might happen in the future, illustrate some examples of how we have helped other pension schemes to get under the skin of what is driving recent experience and how it might influence your scheme,…

September 2022 caused a fundamental shift in the UK defined benefit (DB) pension market, as well as the demand dynamics for certain asset classes. European insurers are one of the few large institutional asset owners who are able to take advantage of these changes with opportunities presenting themselves across the balance…

Institutional portfolios such as corporate pension plans are increasing allocations to illiquid private assets seeking better returns and diversification. However, as allocations increase, a portfolio’s liquidity structure changes, sometimes abruptly. How can a CIO increase their confidence with private asset allocations and…

Enthusiasm seems to be growing to reopen—or at least to stop closing and freezing—defined benefit retirement plans. The most dramatic manifestation of this enthusiasm for reopening plans has been IBM’s announcement to shift its 401(k) match to an automatic contribution to the cash balance component of its previously frozen…

As the Canadian economy appears certain to transition to a lower interest-rate environment, our Multi-Asset Solutions Team examines how liability-driven investing can help defined benefit plans to preserve pension fund health.