Author Archives: Leo Kolivakis

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. It was a bullish start for markets on the first trading day of August. On Monday, the S&P 500 broke above 1,000 for the first time in nine months and the Libor rate dropped to a new record low. I noted that Bank of America (BAC) keeps […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was on ABC’s This Week sounding cautiously optimistic. Mr. Greenspan’s logic is very simple: as long as the financial markets are calm, then the real economy will eventually improve. Mr. Greenspan is concerned about a double-dip, especially if housing prices erode […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. You might be reading my blog wondering where is public outrage over pensions? For example, how can PSP Investments lose billions and still pay their top officers bonuses, allowing them to get extremely well compensated in a terrible year? And it’s not just PSP. The same is […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Last week, I reported on PSP Investments’ terrible 23% loss in FY 2009. I think it is worth going over the FY 2009 annual report to try to understand where they lost money. Let’s begin on page 4, the Chair’s report, where Mr. Cantor states the following: […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The NYT reports on how firms wooed a U.S. agency with billions to invest: As a New York money manager and investment banker at four Wall Street firms, Charles E. F. Millard never reached superstar status. But he was treated like one when he arrived in Washington […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Boston Globe reports that Mass. pension fund posts big loss: Hurt by the steep decline in the stock market last summer, the Massachusetts state pension fund reported its worst year in its modern history. The fund lost 23.6 percent, or $12.8 billion, in the fiscal year […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse.The Times reports British pensioners are among the poorest in the EU: Britain’s pensioners have the fourth highest level of poverty in Europe, according to figures published today by the European Commission. The over 65’s in Britain are, on average, worse off than their counterparts in Romania, Poland […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Globe & Mail reports that federal pension plan books 22.7% loss: The pension plan for federal government workers lost 22.7 per cent in the latest fiscal year, but paid partial bonuses to its top executives for meeting their individual objectives for the year. The Public Sector […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The USA Today reports that pension freezes are on the rise, but are they effective?: Nearly a third of the pension plans offered by Fortune 1,000 firms are now frozen, according to a report from Watson Wyatt. Though the rate at which companies are freezing plans has […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. As if California didn’t have enough to deal with its budget crisis, now the FT reports that the two largest pension funds in the US have recorded steep losses following the turmoil in stock markets, with the value of their combined portfolios shrinking by almost $100bn: The […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The WSJ reports that three days before Pete Nowicki announced he was retiring, fire department trustees agreed to increase his salary in a practice called “pension spiking.” The resulting bump in his annual pension has angered colleagues and residents in this Northern California area. (See related article.) […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Nortel Networks pensioners are calling for action by governments at all levels after a U.S. government agency seized control of the U.S. Nortel pension plan: They say they’re worried that the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. will try to get Canadian assets of the insolvent company to […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. From CalPERS’ lawsuit against credit agencies, we go to another more interesting lawsuit. The WSJ reports that Delphi retirees are suing over a plan to end pensions: A group of retirees of Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ) filed suit Thursday, saying it needs an independent administrator to help stop […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Independent reports that CalPERS is now suing rating agencies over $1 billion losses: Calpers, the California state employees’ pension fund and one of the most powerful fund managers in the US, is suing the three main credit rating agencies, saying they were negligent when they gave […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Associated Press reports that the funding shortfall faced by the UK’s defined benefit pension schemes broke back through the £200 billion barrier during June: The deficit of the 7,400 defined benefit schemes, including final salary pensions, widened to £200.1 billion during the month, after dipping below […]