Pension Series

The American Rescue Plan Act Brings Relief and Highlights Challenges for US Pension Plan Sponsors

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The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and included a variety of plan sponsor–friendly changes to single-employer and multiemployer pension plans, but no real help for public sector plans. ARPA may change the future landscape of US pension plans, which may prompt plan sponsors to modify their investment strategies to achieve plan objectives. Its impact will vary greatly, both by plan type and individual plan circumstances.

Navigating Market Crises: Insights and Recommendations from US Plan Sponsors

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With the initial chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic somewhat behind us but much uncertainty and potential volatility ahead, plan sponsors will be well served by focusing on—and possibly recalibrating—some core plan management elements. These approaches include liquidity management, rebalancing processes and opportunities, governance, and communication.

Credit Spreads Take Pensions for a Wild Ride

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As the COVID-19 outbreak has escalated in the United States, sponsors of single employer–defined benefit pension plans have experienced a roller coaster ride. Avoiding, or at least cushioning, another wild ride requires a well-designed hedging strategy that accounts for credit spreads. We provide context for this rapidly evolving spread environment and potential responses.

Liability Hedging in Response to Pandemic Crisis

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The notion that interest rates are dynamic in nature and notoriously difficult to predict has been demonstrated in spades by the uptick in market volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic impact from the virus has been swift, creating a dichotomy between “risk-free” Treasury interest rates and corporate spreads. In this paper, we outline how hedging programs may need to re-align their strategies given the current circumstances while continuing to lean on the basics.

Friend or Foe: Hedge Funds Versus Alternative Risk Premia (Euro Edition)

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It has been a challenging time for hedge funds in recent years. Loose monetary policy has driven equity markets upwards and hurt short books. The growth of quantitatively traded funds has eroded some of the inefficiencies commonly exploited by hedge funds. This fact, coupled with the shift toward low-fee passive and alternative risk premia (ARP) products, has raised questions about the merits of hedge funds in investor portfolios. In this paper, we focus on comparing ARP versus hedge funds and investigate whether hedge funds and ARP funds are complementary or whether ARP funds are actually a viable replacement for hedge funds.

Liability-Hedging Strategies for US Plan Sponsors in the Low Interest Rate Era

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As sponsors of US single-employer defined benefit plans know all too well, interest rates have experienced dramatic swings in recent years. While many plan sponsors have adapted to this environment by strategically hedging their liability interest rate risk, many are still questioning the efficacy of doing so—especially when interest rates appear to be low. Yet, failing to hedge long-duration liabilities with long-duration assets is a risky endeavor that exposes the plan sponsor to significant downside risk.

Revving UK Pension Schemes’ Funding Engines

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A number of UK defined benefit pension schemes have experienced significant funding level gains in recent years, driven by sponsor contributions, liability management exercises, and strong equity market returns. However, due to increased volatility in global equity markets, relatively high valuations in many market segments, and the late stages of the economic and credit cycles, optimising the scheme’s growth engine is more challenging than ever. This paper provides a framework for how to achieve that goal.

Revving Pension Plans’ Funding Engines

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Many corporate defined benefit plans experienced significant funded status gains in recent years. Recent capital markets volatility, however, has set many plans a few steps back, re-focusing plan sponsors on both protecting long-term funded status gains and closing the asset-liability deficit. Given increased volatility in global equity markets, relatively high valuations in many market segments, and the late stages of the economic and credit cycles, optimizing the plan’s growth engine is more critical, and challenging, than ever. This publication provides a framework for how to do so in the context of the evolving market environment.

Time for a Reset? Rethinking Contributions Policy

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While the focus on making contributions prior to the mid-September tax deadline is important for corporate defined benefit plan sponsors, it should be the first step in establishing a dynamic contribution roadmap. Especially given potentially mounting contribution requirements ahead, plan sponsors should take this opportunity to view their contribution policy as one available lever—along with asset returns, liability hedges, and benefit management—in navigating the pension plan to a strong financial position.