One of the first acts of the incoming US president was to sign an executive order instructing the federal government to buy more goods made in the US. He also announced a ‘made in America’ director role at the Office of Management and Budget, an office that directly serves the president. China was not mentioned explicitly but it was clear it was at least partly the target of these measures.
● The investment world is at risk of being caught in the midst of a ‘geoeconomic’ conflict between the world’s main economic blocs
● There are several channels through which international investment can be hit including government screening of inward investment and currency intervention
Public Pensions Fail to Rebound with Market Rally
Report says the worst of the COVID-19 recession has ‘yet to be fully felt by state governments and public retirement systems.’
Despite a decadelong bull market and a strong rebound during the second half of this year, the total funded ratio for statewide US pension plans is near its lowest point in modern history, according to a new report from the Equable Institute, a bipartisan nonprofit group that focuses on public retirement plans.
Equable Institute’s analysis of statewide public pension funds forecasts that their aggregate funded ratio will decline to 69.4% this year from 72.9% last year, with a funding shortfall of $1.55 trillion. And as of September, the average return among the pensions for 2020 was only 2.14% far below the 7.17% average assumed rate of return (and falling) for the pension funds.
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NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Today, Equable Institute released the latest results of its analysis of statewide public pension funds in a mid-year update to State of Pensions 2020. Equable Institute forecasts that the aggregate funded ratio will decrease from 72.9% in 2019 to 69.4% in 2020, with a funding shortfall of $1.55 trillion – a marginal improvement on its previous estimate of 67.9%.
(PRNewsfoto/Equable Institute)
Equable Institute forecasts the funded ratio for public pension plans will decrease from 72.9% in 2019 to 69.4% in 2020
Preliminary investment returns for the 2020 fiscal year have near-universally come in below assumed rates of return that pension boards had set for the year, as expected. As of September 2020, the average actual return at 2.14% is well below the 7.17% that pension funds were expecting. The financial market rebound during the summer and fall drove the slight improvement in the expected degree o