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Many of our best and brightest educators take a hard and close look at the teacher’s retirement system in Alaska early in their careers and are stunned, writes LaDawn Druce, president of the Kenai Peninsula Education Association. Read more

National News

The Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) in Social Security: Proposals for a New Proportional Formula

Two bills introduced in 2023--H.R. 4260 and H.R. 5342--would replace the current-law WEP approach with a proportional formula for certain individuals who would become eligible for Social Security benefits in 2025 or later. Because the proportional formula could reduce Social Security benefits for some future beneficiaries with noncovered employment compared to current law, both bills provide a protection provision, wherein individuals would receive a benefit based on the higher of the current WEP formula or the proportional formula. Read more

Milliman Sees Public Pension Funding Ratios Decline to 75.3% in August

Pension funding declined in August to 75.3% from 76.8% in July. Milliman attributed the decline in pension funding to poor market performance: The S&P 500 returned negative 1.7% in August, the worst monthly performance of the year. Read more

The Big Employer Still Adding Jobs and Boosting Pay: The Government

Public-sector jobs at the federal, state and local level have risen by 327,000 positions so far in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is approaching one-fifth of all new American jobs created in the first eight months of the year. In contrast, public-sector jobs accounted for 5% of employment growth during the equivalent period last year. Read more

Public Funds in 2023: Challenges and Opportunities

Aon’s Ed Bardowski recently joined P&I to discuss the key challenges and opportunities for public pension funds in the current market. Read more

These Are the Pension Funds Posting the Most Consistent Returns

Two public pension funds have found ways to keep annual returns relatively consistent — but in two wildly different ways, according to a new analysis by Markov Processes International. Read more

Institutional Clients Moving to Consolidate Manager Lineups

Institutional investors are moving to forge deeper ties with a smaller circle of external managers, whether to lighten their oversight burdens, eke out fee savings or obtain expert help in building in-house management capabilities, money management executives say. Read more

Canadian Newsï»¿

Alberta Threatens Breakaway From Canada Pension Plan

Provincial leaders in Alberta have floated publicly the possibility of withdrawing assets of Alberta residents from the Canada Pension Plan by 2027 and released on Thursday the findings of a report commissioned by the provincial government analyzing and detailing the benefits and risks of such a move. Any decision on an Alberta pension plan would have to be approved through a provincial referendum. A poll from earlier this year showed that only 21% of Alberta voters were in favor of the idea of withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan. Read more

State News

Indiana Lawmakers Begin Study of Cost-of-Living Increases for Public Pension Retirees

In almost every budget going back three decades, the state provided either a cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, to monthly pension benefits, or it’s given retirees a 13th check — an extra month’s worth of benefits. It didn’t do that this year, opting instead to study a permanent COLA of 0.5 percent per year. The Indiana Public Retirement System told legislators Wednesday that would cost the state about $60 million a year. Read more

Washington Public Pension System Expected to be Fully Funded by 2027

Washington state’s public pension system is expected to be fully funded by 2027, according to the Office of the State Actuary. However, ongoing contributions will still be required for most of the 11 pension plans. Read more

New York Common Pension Fund Looking to Hire Senior Investment Officer

The position will report to the director of emerging managers, while the pension giant is also seeking an assistant counsel for investments. Read more

Gov. Whitmer Awards Funding to Shore Up Retirement Savings for Michigan Seniors

Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced that more than $553 million in Protecting MI Pension Grant awards are being sent to 123 Michigan communities, putting dollars back into the pockets of retirees and offsetting costs for local communities, keeping them from having to divert funds from critical public services. Read more

New Jersey Police, Fire Pension Seeks CIO, Plans to ‘Dramatically’ Expand Staff

The $31 billion Police and Firemen’s Retirement System of New Jersey is looking for a permanent CIO to lead the investment staff for the multiemployer defined benefit plan, which has more than 80,000 members at 579 different companies. Read more

Illinois Police Pension Fund Plans to Start Investing in Loans and Private Credit

Illinois’s local police pension fund, set to manage around $11 billion if it clears a court challenge, is looking to hire money managers to help it start buying leveraged loans, and said it plans to eventually invest in private credit. Read more

Missouri Local Government Pension Plan Posts 4.3% Return

The $10.4 billion pension fund's performance fell below its policy benchmark return of 6.6% for the period. Read more

Texas House OKs Bill to Increase Teacher Pension Payouts, But It Needs Voter Approval

The Texas House of Representatives gave their final approval for a bill that would increase retired teacher’s pension payouts on Monday, Sept. 11. This would be the first cost-of-living adjustment in 20 years. Read more

Washington State Investment Board Returns 5.2% for Fiscal Year

Washington State Investment Board's $155.7 billion commingled trust fund of defined benefit plan assets returned a net 5.2% for the fiscal year ended June 30. Read more

Maryland State Retirement Slates $1.5 Billion for Alts

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System, Baltimore, disclosed $1.5 billion in alternatives commitments and extended State Street Bank and Trust Co.'s term as its global custodian at its Sept. 19 meeting. Read more