In wake of the stock-market drop off early this year due to COVID-19, state and local investment funds lost an estimated $1 trillion dollars in assets, even as it’s hidden from beneficiaries due to a lack of transparency in reporting earnings. As states have continued to fall behind on their pension obligations since the recessions […]
Rhode Island Treasurer Announces Withdrawal from Purchases from Leonard Green
Rhode Island Treasurer Seth Magaziner announced that the state plans to stop buying future funds from private-equity firm Leonard Green in the face of controversy over their control of Prospect Medical, a hospital system with facilities in Rhode Island, Southern California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New Jersey. Magaziner controls the $8 billion fund, and cited Prospect […]
U.S. National Security & the I Fund
It is no secret that the U.S. and China have recently experienced diplomatic tensions, but we now see its effects bleeding into the financial sector. The Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced a rule change to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) dictating that pensions should not be used to solve the […]
Pennsylvania State Pension Fund Drops Risky Stocks in Widely Praised Move
The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) moved to reallocate $5 billion in assets, moving $2 billion from risky investments made through Bridgewater and BlackRock to more secure stocks, bonds, commodities, and infrastructure investments. This move impacts 8% of the entire funds holdings and will take effect October 1st. Pennsylvania State Treasurer Joe Torsella […]
Former Clinton Administration Treasury Official Voices Support for Dept. of Labor ESG Rule
With the comment period recently closed on the newly proposed Department of Labor rule on ESG investments in ERISA-backed pension funds, attention now turns to the evaluation process. Over the next several months, regulators will assess the thousands of comments submitted by organizations and individuals across the country. Attention has also been growing on this […]
Economic Downturn and Stock Market Losses Continue to Impact Public Pensions
Just like many other parts of the economy, the stock market took a heavy hit due to the pandemic. At their lowest points of the crisis, both the Dow Jones and the FTSE 100 were down over 30%. Five months later, they each sit down 13.3% and 19.3% respectively. With the stock market crashing in […]
New Kentucky Lawsuit Takes Aim at Risk in Public Pension Investments
The state of Kentucky revived and expanded a lawsuit that claims former officials of the state pension system and hedge fund firms violated their fiduciary duty by choosing risky investments. The state is demanding compensation from hedge funds for their excessive fees and underperformance. Kentucky’s pension system remains one of the worst-funded in the nation, […]
How do you define ESG investment? It depends on who you ask
The term “ESG” – Environmental, Social, and Governance-based investing – was first used in an International Finance Corporation 2005 report Who Cares Who Wins and developed a widespread use in the following years. Currently, there is over $20 trillion in ESG assets under management and is a growing sector. One of the key issues with […]
Statement from IPFI President Christopher Burnham on the SEC’s Proposed Rule on Proxy Advisory Firms
Washington, DC – The Securities and Exchange Commission is holding an open meeting today to finalize a rule to enhance transparency, improve disclosures, and increase confidence in the proxy advisory process. The rule under consideration could bring the proxy advisory industry in line with every other financial service by ensuring they are registered as fiduciaries – and can be […]
Congress Eyes Additional Pension Relief
At the end of June, word was coming out of Washington that there could be a second stimulus plan coming. President Trump and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin both voiced optimism that the second round of COVID-19 relief would be imminent. Sure enough, it is reported that next week the second plan, the HEROES Act, will be […]