Pension Pulse

Grant Robertson of the Globe and Mail reports, Retirement savings system is falling short, CIBC boss warns (h/t, Susan Eng, VP Advocacy at CARP ): The head of one of Canada’s largest banks is proposing a dramatic overhaul of the country’s pension regime, arguing that average Canadians need more certainty and simplicity from their savings than existing investment tools provide. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce chief executive officer Gerry McCaughey said Canada should reform the Canada Pension Plan to allow people to make voluntary contributions that are beyond what they already pay through their salaries. The move could give many Canadians something they do not have with RRSPs and other investment vehicles tied to the markets: a predictable payout when they retire. Much as Canadians understand exactly how long it will take to pay off their mortgage when they buy a house, average earners should have a pension system that helps them forecast how much money they will have at...

Michael A. Fletcher of the Washington Post reports, Fiscal trouble ahead for most future retirees : For the first time since the New Deal, a majority of Americans are headed toward a retirement in which they will be financially worse off than their parents, jeopardizing a long era of improved living standards for the nation’s elderly, according to a growing consensus of new research. The Great Recession and the weak recovery darkened the retirement picture for significant numbers of Americans. And the full extent of the damage is only now being grasped by experts and policymakers. There was already mounting concern for the long-term security of the country’s rapidly graying population. Then the downturn destroyed 40 percent of Americans’ personal wealth , while creating a long period of high unemployment and an environment in which savings accounts pay almost no interest. Although the surging stock market is approaching record highs, most of these gains are flowing ...

Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Katya Wachtel of Reuters report, U.S. hedge funds sour on Apple; favor dollar stores : Hedge fund heavyweights from Leon Cooperman's Omega Advisors to Barry Rosenstein's Jana Partners threw in the towel on Apple Inc in the fourth quarter, while other managers found discount retailers Dollar General Corp and Dollar Tree Inc attractive, regulatory filings showed on Thursday. Apple has been the topic du jour since last week, when prominent hedge fund manager David Einhorn sued the company to get it to deploy its $137 billion cash pile more effectively and halt a 35 percent drop in its share price from a record high in September. Cooperman, whose hedge fund had $7 billion in assets as of last November, sold his entire stake of 266,404 Apple shares; Rosenstein sold all of the 143,000 shares he held. However, Einhorn's Greenlight Capital, holder of roughly 1.3 million Apple shares, found some company: David Tepper's Appaloosa Management inc...

Investment & Pensions Europe reports, Greek pensions vehicle sees 'huge bet' on domestic bonds pay off : A "huge bet" on Greek government bonds has seen a fund for pension schemes in Greece almost double assets under management (AUM) in around six months. This is a boon for its clients following the restructuring of Greek debt in March 2012, in which the crisis-hit country's pension funds, which were heavily invested in domestic bonds, lost an estimated total of €10bn. However, compensation for the losses promised to Greek pension funds by the government has yet to materialise. The Athens-based Hellenic Pension Mutual Fund Management Company (HPMF), which manages pooled funds exclusively for state retirement schemes, saw assets under management slump from €496m in January 2012 to €384m at the end of June. However, as at 23 January 2013, HPMF's assets jumped to €674.6m. John Kyriakopoulos, managing director at HPMF, said the results were ...