NCPERS News Clips

April 23, 2013

News Clips for April 23rd, 2013

U.S. News

• NCPERS Video Blog!--Dan Loeb
  Hank Kim discusses hedge fund manager, Dan Loeb, and his involvement with anti- public pension organizations, even though his hedge fund heavily relies on public pensions for profit.
• AFT rags on hedgies who pan pension plans
  Hedge-fund honchos who normally like to pick fights were quick to back down from a confrontation with one of the nation's biggest teachers unions.
• Has Pension Reform Gone Too Far?
  Nearly every state in the union and scores of localities have reacted in recent years to their growing unfunded public pension liabilities with reforms that aim to soften that financial burden in the coming decades. The changes have ranged from reducing benefits for current retirees to raising the retirement age to establishing new (read: cheaper) plans for incoming public employees.
• Cash Balance Plans Could Overtake 401(k)s
  Cash balance plans are growing in popularity and could overtake 401(k) retirement plans within the next few years, according to research from Sage Advisory Services.
• Fitch: CalPERS Changes Prudent But Pressure State And Locals
  The changes the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) made this week are prudent steps that will improve the system's funded ratio and the predictability of payments for employers over the long term. However, they will also add to already rising budgetary pressure for the state and participating local governments.
• Raymond Edmondson, Jr.: Public employees deserve pensions
  In response to the newspaper's April 8 editorial, "Cut Florida pension risk," it is not responsible or fair to cut further into the financial security of working Americans because they happen to be public employees. Debate in Tallahassee about closing the state's defined benefit pension plan to all new hires in favor of 401(k)-style investment accounts is nonsensical.
• PBS' Frontline to Re-Air Retirement Plan Documentary
  Next week, Public Broadcasting System's (PBS) Frontline program will air a documentary called “The Retirement Gamble.”
• Governor's Proposal to Delay State Contributions Would Add Billions to Public Pension Debt
  Delaying state and school district pension contributions, as Governor Corbett has proposed doing, would worsen Pennsylvania's public pension debt, according to the fourth in a series of “Pension Primers” released today by the Keystone Research Center (KRC).
• Pension reforms moving through Florida Legislature
  The Florida House of Representatives recently passed legislation that would move new employees in the Florida Retirement System (FRS) from a defined benefit pension plan to a 401(k)-type defined contribution plan. The bill moves to the Senate for consideration.
• Montana Senate advances pension plan overhaul
  A proposed overhaul of the state's public employee and teacher pension systems has gotten closer to approval in the Legislature after the state Senate advanced a pair of related measures Wednesday.
• Politics: Billionaire Dan Loeb Turtles, Flees Investor Conference, After Political Affiliations Exposed
  Last week, I wrote an article about hedge fund king Dan Loeb's involvement with StudentsFirstNY, a group that lobbies against defined benefit plans in public-sector retirement funds. What made that story interesting was that Loeb takes money from defined benefit plans, so turning around and supporting a group that campaigns against guaranteed benefits for teachers and other public-sector workers seemed like a peculiarly ugly form of betrayal, particularly coming from someone who doesn't need to worry too much about his own retirement.