NCPERS News Clips

July 2, 2013

News Clips for July 2nd, 2013

U.S. News

• PERA reports 12 percent investment gain for 2012
  The Colorado Public Retirement Association posted nearly $3 billion in gains in 2012, but board members still grappled Tuesday with how to fund a $23.5 billion unfunded liability for the retirement benefits of past and present state employees.
• Key to real pension reform is HB3303
  (Editorial) It was in March of this year when a prediction was made that Illinois would probably exceed $100 billion in pension debt sometime in the month, which amounts to a huge and reckless shortfall in money owed to current and future retired teachers, judges, state workers, and even lawmakers themselves.
• Pension bottom line looks better, posing challenge for critics
  Gov. Rick Scott and the rest of the Florida Cabinet were given news Tuesday that poses a challenge for critics of public pensions.
• Pennsylvania AFL-CIO Urges Legislators to Act on the Facts and the Findings of Today's PERC Report, Not the Myths and Claims of Ideologies
  Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale said today's report by the Public Employee Retirement Commission, (PERC), confirms that the costs of switching future employees into defined contribution plans will increase underfunding of both pension systems and provides less retirement security for public sector workers.
• Hedge Funder Wants To Reform Public Pensions
  A spokesman for Texas-born John Arnold has said that the hedge fund billionaire is campaigning for reform in the California public pension systems, according to a Reuters report.
• Ratings Service Moody’s Finds Pension Shortfall
  Moody’s Investors Service, dissatisfied with the way states measure what they owe their retirees, released its own numbers on Thursday, showing that the 50 states have, in aggregate, just 48 cents for every dollar in pensions they have promised.

Canadian News

• How large pension funds can drive meaningful reform in Canada
  Large, professionally-managed public-sector pension plans have come a long way since the days when they were essentially extensions of government, boxed in by layers of regulatory constraints and treated as a captive source of capital to fund public works.