Over the past week, our consultants have provided insight into pension investments, risk management, U.S. pension law, and technology-supported wellness programs.
Wealth
U.K., I&PE.com, Opportunities in Solvency II
“Although there have been some very interesting pockets of development,” said William Parry, investment consultant at Xerox, “the impact in terms of attractive pricing, has been relatively short term for liquid assets. Whereas illiquid assets, such as infrastructure debt, will see lower yields for much longer. Where the upside is over a shorter term, the time might not be enough to engage with trustee boards about investment in those asset classes.”
U.K., Actuarial Post, More DB sponsors than expected will absorb increased NI cost
“The good news”, said Mark van den Berghen, Head of Financial Risk Management at Xerox HR Services, “is that for employees continuing in these open DB schemes, while they will see an increase in their own NI, they are likely to receive an overall increase in their pension at retirement when including state provision – that is, if the review into the State Pension Age launched yesterday by the government results in future changes to the State pension.”
Legislation
U.S., Institutional Investor, Anthony Kennedy and Post-Scalia SCOTUS Lay Down ERISA Law
“Specifically, if these laws [on the management of state-level benefit plans such as defined-benefit and defined-contribution pension plans] are challenged, depending on exactly how they are written, they may be found to be preempted by ERISA,” says Allison Klausner, principal, Kknowledge Resource Center and director of government relations at Xerox HR Consulting.
Technology
U.S., Technology News, Employers Invest in Technology to Promote Employee Wellbeing Though Measuring Effectiveness Proves Challenging
“Measuring the impact of technology-supported wellness programs remains challenging for employers, particularly where direct cause and effect cannot be quantified,” said Scot Marcotte, client technology leader, Xerox HR Services. “Wearable sensors offer an opportunity for better measurement, but adoption of work-sponsored wearable usage has been slow due to a variety of reasons, including cost of the technology and privacy concerns.”
Webinar reminder
Can Competitive Pay Alone Achieve Your Business Objectives?
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CT | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT
As business and regulatory environments become more complex, new challenges and opportunities are created across industry lines. Many companies recognize that success in these environments lies in their ability to attract, retain and motivate a strong leadership team and a highly engaged workforce. But can this be accomplished through competitive pay alone? Is there a way to align your total compensation offering with your overall business objectives?
Register here to join our interactive discussion.
