NCPERS News Clips

12/15/2009

Holiday Greetings?

In this holiday season, Moody's plays the role of the Grinch by downgrading the two largest California pension funds.

• CalPERS, CalSTRS see long- term credit ratings lowered
  Moody's cites the pension funds' steep investment losses in downgrading them three notches to Aa3. The firm keeps their short-term ratings unchanged.
• Teachers' Contributions Stay Level
  The Arkansas Teacher Retirement System plans to hold the line on employer contribution rates despite a drop in investment income and a continuing rise in the number of retirees.
• SIPC Chief Struggles With Madoff Claims and Victims' Pain
  Stephen P. Harbeck knows what it feels like to be under attack - in 1970, he served in Vietnam as a sniper with the fabled Seventh Cavalry, once led by Custer.
• Taxpayers' pension tab starts to spike
  Pennsylvania's school districts will see their retirement costs increase by more than 70 percent next year as the first symptoms of the state's public pension crisis begin to be felt.
• Pension funds seek alternatives in hunt for yield
  Large public pension funds in New York, California and Ohio are looking increasingly to alternative investments in hedge funds, private equity and emerging markets in a global hunt for yield, senior managers and trustees said.
• Incoming New York City Comptroller to Rein in Costs
  One month before he takes office, New York City Comptroller-elect John Liu is gearing up for a wide-ranging review of city finances, from public pensions to schools to agencies.
• Charter amendment would revamp San Francisco pensions
  San Francisco voters may soon have the opportunity to decide major changes to the city's pension and retiree health care systems - both of which have seen their costs skyrocket as the city grapples with consecutive years of major budget deficits.