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The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Delaware Chancery Court in Wilmington, demands an "inspection of McDonald's books and records" related to harassment charges throughout the company since 2006.
Thee Teamsters Local 237 funds sued McDonald's demanding the company provide records related to sexual harassment and other allegations.
The inquiry reinforces a controversial proposal issued in June that many industry observers say will curb ESG investing in ERISA plans.
The Department of Labor is cracking down on plan sponsors that use ESG funds in their investment lineups.
The report also said that while the CARES Act provides some short-term relief for corporations with DB plans, the help is limited.
Corporate defined benefit plans face higher liabilities in the coming months as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic becomes apparent.
The best performer in the fiscal year was LACERA's risk reduction and mitigation asset class at 7.5% vs its 7.7% benchmark.
Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association returned 1.8% for its fiscal year.
The 7-0 ruling upheld the law and rebuffed a challenge by the New Jersey Republican State Committee over the law that authorizes the state to borrow up to $9.9 billion.
New Jersey's Supreme Court ruled that the state can borrow to offset revenue lost due to the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Among all employers citywide, women earned on average 76% of the earnings of their male co-workers. The average hourly wage is $46, with men earning $47 and women earning $44.
A large pay disparity exists between female and male employees at the city of Los Angeles' two largest pension plans, according to a report.
McKinsey will retain an independent third party for at least three years "to review the plans' investment options and review all expense reimbursements to McKinsey, MIO, or any other affiliated person or entity."
McKinsey agreed to pay $39.5 million to settle an ERISA complaint over the violation of rules against self-dealing in two retirement plans.
"It's becoming a very crowded trade to short the dollar...The risks could manifest at any time, there's room for the dollar's retracement."
Betting against the dollar is looking increasingly like a crowded trade that's due for a squeeze, some hedge funds say.
U.K. GDP fell 20.4% in the three months ended June 30, with sectors taking hits from the coronavirus pandemic. The drop followed a 2.2% contraction in the first quarter, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday.
The U.K. economy is in a technical recession following a second quarter of negative growth and the biggest fall in quarterly GDP on record.
Milliman estimates that the pension plans' investment return for the first half of 2020 was about -1.3%, up from an estimated year-to-date return of -13.4% at the end of the first quarter.
The aggregate funding ratio of U.S. multiemployer pension plans dropped to 82% as of June 30, down from 85% at the end of 2019.
According to the letter, the application is being rejected because the Treasury Department has determined "that the investment return assumption used to demonstrate that the plan will remain solvent is unreasonable."
An application by Teamsters Local 807 Labor-Management Pension Fund to suspend benefits to prevent insolvency is expected to be denied.
The $10.1 billion San Bernardino County (Calif.) Employees' Retirement Association was one of the first to take action. On Aug 6, its board voted to exclude certain kinds of pay including standby pay, on-call pay, and callback pay as required by the court decision.
Some California pension plans are starting to decide how to implement a recent state Supreme Court decision involving the “California rule.”
"One of the strongest rebounds in modern history lifted the fund's value well above what it was at the close of the state fiscal year and restored most of the losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic."
New York State Common Retirement Fund posted a 10.4% return on investments for the first fiscal quarter ended June 30.
Geeta Aiyer, founder of the $2.7 billion firm, said she will renew pressure on nine global companies (which she declined to name) to better combat racial inequity within their ranks, products and services — and to boost transparency when it comes to lobbying.
Boston Common Asset Management is planning to confront banks and real estate investors as an eviction crisis looms across the U.S.
In the report, Funston said many respondents expect to continue virtual board and committee meetings, most likely via a combination of phone and video conferencing, though 44% said it was "too soon to tell" how future meetings would be conducted.
A survey of 34 public pension funds found few had significant problems with contingency plans put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.
Attached to the complaint are two statement of economic interest forms filed by Mr. Meng with CalPERS, the first when he joined CalPERS as CIO on Jan. 2, 2019, and the second filed April 1, 2020, for calendar year 2019.
Former CalPERS CIO Yu "Ben" Meng failed to disclose sales of stocks and other holdings, according to an anonymous complaint.
A letter sent Thursday to Mr. Scalia by 29 congressional Democrats warned that the proposal "would move the nation backwards by reinstating a broken status quo that allows financial advisers to evade their fiduciary duties and denying retirement savers meaningful remedies when they have been harmed."
Democratic lawmakers still seek to put the brakes on the Labor Department's fiduciary rule and a proposed exemption for investment advice.
The working group also called for the SEC to require more prominent investor disclosure of the risks of investing in China and other uncooperative countries, and enhanced registered fund disclosures for funds exposed to such issuers.
Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges should have to follow tougher auditing rules and other listing standards, a report says.
On July 31, the board of trustees unanimously voted to place Mr. Ingram on administrative leave “due to performance issues covered by his employment contract.”
Richard Ingram resigned as executive director of Illinois Teachers' system, after being placed on administrative leave on July 31.
"Not only is this another example of deep-pocketed interests profiteering off Puerto Ricans' suffering, but these hedge funds may have also violated securities law...There needs to be an immediate, thorough investigation and any wrongdoing must be swiftly prosecuted."
Members of New York's congressional delegation want the state to investigate whether hedge funds manipulated prices of Puerto Rico bonds.
"I'm proud of the work we did to change the portfolio, build a skilled investment office, and set CalPERS on a strong path to achieve our return target. But at this time, it's important for me to focus on my health and on my family and move on to the next chapter in my life."
Yu “Ben” Meng has resigned as CIO of the California Public Employees' Retirement System after 18 months in the role.
"Setting a long-term net-zero target is the easy part; the challenge is to have a credible and transparent framework that enables your fund to convert intent into practical decisions and action."
Some 70 investors with $16 trillion in assets have developed recommendations for investing sustainably in an effort to limit global warming.
Under environmental themes, BlackRock discussed climate risk management 272 times and operational sustainability 245 times, and within the social theme, BlackRock discussed human capital management 236 times.
BlackRock made 974 engagements with 812 of the companies in its global investment portfolio in the second quarter.
The request is related to the recent lawsuit filed by the $15.3 billion Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, Little Rock, charging the money manager improperly invested the pension fund's assets in three enhanced-return strategies.
Allianz Global Investors has received a request for information from the SEC regarding its structured alpha funds.
The company said the transaction during the second quarter "mitigates future mortality, inflation and yield curve risk" in an 8-K filing Tuesday with the SEC.
Arconic Corp. purchased a group annuity contract from an insurer to transfer about $250 million in U.K. pension plan liabilities.
"While most asset classes delivered positive returns during the second quarter, sizable allocations to U.S. equities was the primary driver of returns."
Institutional investors saw very healthy median returns in the second quarter, data from Wilshire Associates show.
"We are working diligently to ensure a seamless transition and superior exam experience for our candidates. It goes without saying that we will uphold the rigor of the passing standard to earn the CFA charter."
All CFA Institute examinations will move to computer-based testing starting in 2021, with the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating a planned move.
"With rates continuing to drop, additional pension funding relief is looking even more attractive to plan sponsors faced with large increases in contributions over the next few years."
Funding ratios for corporate pension plans fell slightly in July as market returns could not keep pace with an increase in liabilities.
"A failure by the federal government to provide adequate fiscal relief to state and local governments could upend the state budget – and by extension, the city's," the report said.
The New York City Retirement Systems posted a preliminary return of 4.4% for the fiscal year.
The $64.7 billion sovereign wealth fund's preliminary return was 4 basis points below its primary benchmark return of 2.05%.
Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. recorded a preliminary return of 2.01% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 4 basis points below its benchmark.
There's a lot at stake should the scrutiny lead to tougher oversight. The alternative financiers are major providers of credit to households and companies, making their smooth functioning critical to the health of financial markets and the economy.
The Fed and central banks worldwide are heading for a collision with shadow lenders, firms that increasingly are dominating global finance.
The endowment's new 4% long-term target to private credit was recommended "to take advantage of private credit's strong illiquidity premium and preferred return characteristics over marketable hedge funds."
University of California approved a new long-term target of 4% to private credit for its endowment pool and cut absolute return.
About 30% of Grosvenor shares will be publicly traded and the firm's management will own the remainder of the equity shares of the combined company "consistent with their historic ownership level of the firm," according to a Grosvenor news release.
Grosvenor Capital Management is set to become a publicly traded company through a merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald SPAC.
"There's definitely going to be pressure in some places to not pay annual required contributions because of revenue shortfalls...States are going to have to make up the shortfall somehow, some way."
Colorado and South Carolina have pulled back from making additional payments to their underfunded pension plans — and others may follow.
The court said the so-called "California rule" for calculating public pension benefits, developed by a string of court cases stating that pension benefits cannot be cut without providing a similar benefit, did not prevent the state legislature from excluding or limiting the inclusion "of additional types of compensation in an effort to prevent perceived abuses of the pension system."
The California Supreme Court ruled pension systems are not barred from reducing or eliminating practices that resulted in benefit increases.
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