STUMP » Articles » Around the Pension-o-Sphere: Jane the Actuary, ESG, California Rule, and More » 10 March 2019, 08:54

I haven’t done one of these in a while, but I’ve built up a bunch of links in my Actuarial Outpost Public Pensions Watch (for 2019), as well as my other pension watch threads, and thought you might be interested in some of the themes I’ve come across.

Most of these will be short comments followed by a bunch of links. For simplicity, I’m linking to the Actuarial Outpost posts with the specific items, except in the first category.

JANE THE ACTUARY

Jane the Actuary, aka Elizabeth Bauer, writes on a variety of topics in multiple places. The primary pension interest articles can be found on her personal website, Jane the Actuary, and her Forbes contributor page.

In no particular order, some recent posts from her:

• “Go North, Young Man” – To The Wisconsin Public Pension System
• Three Steps To Fixing Illinois’ Pension Crisis
• How Will Alienated America Save For Retirement?
• Minimum wage, median wage: some data and thoughts
• Five Principles For Moving Beyond Employer Plans For Retirement Savings
• Chicago’s Mayoral Election – A Call For Ranked-Choice Voting
• Pritzker’s tax plan: now we know

Two large differences between Bauer and me: she actually lives in Illinois, and she’s a pension actuary (my specialty is life insurance and annuities).

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND GOVERNANCE ISSUES

I’ve written about this a lot. I’m not going to link to my prior posts, but I thought you might be interested in a “local” (to me) story.

The State Comptroller, DiNapoli, recently sent a letter re: women on corporate boards. I don’t care about the specific companies being targeted (and the letter notes that a few dozen other companies have already gotten such letters.)

I just want to point out the crass hypocrisy: there are no female trustees for the New York State pensions.

….Because the state comptroller is the sole trustee.

I think having a sole trustee for a pension plan, whether public or private, is even worse than having no women on a corporate board (especially if the companies are in an industry, like construction, where there are few women involved at any level.)

DiNapoli, call for better pension governance!

More ESG stories:

• Northern Ireland public sector pension cash funds tobacco firms and arms trade
• DiNapoli files shareholder proposals at 4 companies with no women on their boards
• Investor coalition pushes power companies to decarbonize
• Union wants Pennsylvania school pension fund to divest private prison stocks
• Pension funds getting more involved with CEO pay – report
• States acting to deflate movement that seeks to hurt Israeli economy
• New York, pension funds diverge on addressing BDS investment; Hilton agrees to disclose political spending; New York pension fund withdraws resolution
• Why New Jersey’s Public Employees Should Be Mad at Jeff Bezos‘ National Enquirer Mess
• Can Shareholder Activism Tame the Financial System?
• Public Pension Funds’ Sole Responsibility Is To Secure The Retirement Of Public Sector Workers

That final item is my position, essentially. I do think it’s important to consider governance of the companies a pension invests in, whether as an equity- or debt-holder. But some of the other items… it’s iffy. And I’m also talking about items I’m politically sympathetic to: those trying to battle anti-Israel campaigns. But the appropriate response is not to ban companies involved in BDS.

There can be reasons not to invest in companies based in certain countries, due to instability or other issues (like corruption). That I understand.

But the point is that the trustees are fiduciaries for the pension plan participants. Not for pursuing whatever political ends. Most of the trustees try to at least provide a veneer of protecting the investment, but some don’t even bother.

CALIFORNIA RULE ROUND-UP

Last Monday, the California Supreme Court ruled that certain pension benefits could be cut (specifically, air time, which is where employees can “buy” years of credited service to boost their final pensions.) This is a minor victory, and it’s better than nothing. But even getting rid of airtime is not going to help with respect to unfunded liabilities that cannot be changed.

• Elizabeth Bauer, aka Jane the Actuary: California Public Pension Reformers Win A Battle, Not The War
• David Crane: Some Light At The End Of The Pension Reform Tunnel
• An Initiative is the Way to Bring Sense to the “California Rule”; State Supreme Court ducks key pension issue
• Borenstein: Supreme Court punts on pension rule; Newsom ducks; California Public Pension Reformers Win A Battle, Not The War; DeMaio Blasts “Flawed” CA Supreme Court Ruling on Pension Crisis
• California Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Pension Benefit Cuts [no, not really]
• California Supreme Court Dodges a Hard Call in Pension Ruling; California Supreme Court stops short of allowing school districts to modify existing pensions; California public employees’ pension perks can be taken away, court rules; Senator John M. W. Moorlach Reacts to California Supreme Court Pension Decision
• California Supreme Court stops short of allowing school districts to modify existing pensions
• California’s Supreme Court upholds pension rollback; California Court Approves Retiree Cut but Keeps Larger Worker Protections in Place

The actual ruling can be seen here.

I want you to note the conflicting headlines. Something was being allowed to be cut – airtime – but the core benefits are untouched.

I don’t know how large a problem airtime purchases are in the California pensions, but I’m willing to bet it’s much, much smaller than the base pensions.

MULTIEMPLOYER PENSIONS ROUND-UP

There was yet another Congressional hearing over failing multiemployer pensions. You can see the prepared remarks at that link.

You can see the whole session on YouTube, if that’s what you want:

John Bury took some excerpts at his blog.

I will transcribe one of those videos:

TRAHAN (D-MA): Is there anyone on the panel who does not think that federal assistance is required right now to stabilize the PBGC

[pause]

Terrific.

Everyone agrees that inaction is not an option.

Well, making a lot of noise with words is not inaction, right?

FWIW, the PBGC is in big trouble over the multiemployer plans. However, and this is damning, this trouble comes from extremely low “guaranteed” benefits. Those asking for bailouts want something better than that bare minimum.

More on these ailing pensions:

• House panel hears ideas for solving ‘urgent’ multiemployer crisis; Congress Must Address The Multiemployer Pension Crisis
• COAL COMPANY BANKRUPTCIES ARE PUTTING COAL MINERS’ PENSIONS AT RISK
• Links to testimony
• John Bury: Breaking News: Laborers’ Local 265 Pension Fund MPRA Letter
• Will Congress Fix Pension Crisis Before Coal Miners’ Pensions Disappear?
• Workers lose pensions as lawmakers tackle multi-employer plan problems
• Blame Pro-Union Monopoly Policies for Underfunded Pensions
• Multiemployer Pension Plans Need Financial Help or a New Investment Model

That last one is a good round up of the testimony.

I know they want to do some sort of bailout, but I have no idea what form this will take. I can see something passing the House easily, but I’m not sure about the Senate.

PENSION HODGE-PODGE

Finally, just throwing a bunch of stories in. These are not every story I link at the Actuarial Outpost. I gather a lot of stuff there I never blog about… or more, I’m trying to capture a trend over time and I may come back to some entries years later.

I throw a fairly broad net for pension news stories, and I select which ones I want to blog about. But I do keep a record of pretty much anything of significance I can find at the Outpost.

• Trump Treasury Backtracks On Lump-Sum Pension Rules Meant To Protect Retirees – this is for single-employer private pensions
• U.S. Companies Get Green Light on Controversial Pension Payouts
• The next Chicago mayor will make history — and face a staggering fiscal challenge
• Warren Buffett discusses ‘disaster’ contributing to Bay Area exodus in CNBC interview
• The Drastic, Risky, Measures to Fix America’s Brokest Pension Systems
• What Happens When a State Gets Rid of Its Teacher Pension Plan? Evidence from Alaska
• [Illinois] Retirees object to governor’s pension holiday plan
• HOW TO REDUCE MARYLAND’S PENSION LIABILITIES: Lessons From the 30-Largest U.S. Public Pension Funds
• Dallas Police and Fire Pension System wins big case at Texas Supreme Court
• Some California state workers are hoarding vacation days to get $400,000 cash payouts at retirement
• ‘Pension relief’ bills could save local agencies, at a high cost to Kentucky taxpayers
• [Illinois] Union watchdogs don’t bark on pension funding
• Kansas Pension Proposal Would Add Long-Term Costs, Debt
• Texas House Proposes Sweeping Reforms to TRS Pension Plan and School Finance System
• N.J. governor pushes for higher contribution to state pension fund
• Kentucky: ‘Prepared to strike.’ Educator advocacy group draws ‘lines in the sand.’
• Governments Struggle To Find A Way To Pay Retirement Pension Bills

Phew.

Stay warm, everybody!