Tag: press release

Global pension funds weather the storm of 2020

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-pension-funds-weather-storm-151200506.html

Excerpt:

 Global institutional pension fund assets in the 22 largest major markets (the P22) continued to climb in 2020 despite the impact of the pandemic, rising 11% to $52.5 trillion at year-end, according to the latest figures in the Global Pension Assets Study conducted by Willis Towers Watson’s Thinking Ahead Institute.

The seven largest markets for pension assets (the P7) — Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. — account for 92% of the P22, unchanged from the previous year. The U.S. remains the largest pension market, representing 62% of worldwide pension assets, followed by Japan and the U.K. with 6.9% and 6.8%, respectively.

Author(s): Willis Towers Watson (press release)

Publication Date: 16 February 2021

Publication Site: Yahoo Finance

Cuomo Administration Releases FOIL-Requested Nursing Home Data

Mary Pat Campbell
Cuomo Administration Releases FOIL-Requested Nursing Home Data

Excerpt:

Tonight the Cuomo administration released additional data on coronavirus deaths in long-term care facilities that the Empire Center requested under the Freedom of Information Law.

The data have been posted on our website here.

The release came six months after the FOIL request was submitted, five months after we and the Government Justice Center filed suit, and one week after a court found that the department had violated FOIL and ordered it to release what were clearly public records.

Data link:

COVID Nursing Home Data

Author(s): press release

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Empire Center for Public Policy

NYC Public Educator Pensions Rise Again

Mary Pat Campbell
NYC Public Educator Pensions Rise Again

Excerpt:

Average pension benefits paid to newly retired public educators in New York City rose again in 2020, according to data posted today at SeeThroughNY.net for New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (NYCTRS). 

The pension benefits collected by 969 teachers, college instructors, and school administrators who retired in 2019 with at least 30 years of service credit and received a full year of pension benefits in 2020 averaged $75,212.  

NYCTRS paid six-figure pension benefits to 3,708 retired New York City teachers. Of those retirees collecting more than $100,000, 104 retired during the 2019 calendar year.  

Author(s): press release

Publication Date: 11 February 2021

Publication Site: Empire Center for Public Policy

State Rep. Elik Keeps Promise By Rejecting The Lawmaker Pension

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://www.riverbender.com/articles/details/state-rep-elik-keeps-promise-by-rejecting-the-lawmaker-pension-47705.cfm

Excerpt:

State Representative Amy Elik (R-Fosterburg) kept her promise to Metro East taxpayers by rejecting the lawmaker pension. The pension benefit is available to all lawmakers serving in the part-time legislature.

“I refused the taxpayer-funded pension because the state can’t afford to offer this lavish benefit to lawmakers anymore,” said Rep. Elik. “The pension offered to lawmakers is swimming in debt with over $314 million in unfunded liabilities. By rejecting the pension, I am reducing the debt forced onto Illinois taxpayers.”

Publication Date: 8 February 2021

Publication Site: Riverbender

New Study Finds Pandemic-Spurred Technologies Lowered Barriers to Exit in High-Cost States

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Press-Release–New-Study-Finds-Pandemic-Spurred-Technologies-Lowered-Barriers-to-Exit-in-High-Cost-States.html?soid=1107718355130&aid=MZYC-NYVCD4

Excerpt:

Both employers and households will find it easier to leave major job centers as technologies made commonplace by the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a rethinking of the geography of work, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute. 

“The pandemic has changed the calculus on whether telecommuting is worth it, for both employers and workers,” said Andrew Mikula, author of “Barriers to Exit Lowered in High-Cost States as Pandemic-Related Technologies Changed Outlook.” 

The study draws on survey data projecting that a third of workers could be permanent telecommuters by the end of 2021 and discusses implications of these trends for transportation, municipal finance, and wealth migration. While worst-case scenarios could bring a level of disinvestment in places like New York City not seen since the 1970s, even a mid-range scenario suggests a significant relocation of jobs and potentially wealth.

Author(s): Pioneer Institute

Publication Date: 10 February 2021

Publication Site: Constant Contact

Research establishes a new method to predict individual risk of cognitive decline

Mary Pat Campbell

Link: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-02-method-individual-cognitive-decline.html

Excerpt:

The early prognosis of high-risk older adults for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), using noninvasive and sensitive neuromarkers, is key for early prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. A recent study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, by researchers at the University of Kentucky establishes what they believe is a new way to predict the risk years before a clinical diagnosis. Their work shows that direct measures of brain signatures during mental activity are more sensitive and accurate predictors of memory decline than current standard behavioral testing.

“Many studies have measured electrophysiological rhythms during resting and sleep to predict Alzheimer’s risk. This study demonstrates that better predictions of a person’s cognitive risk can be made when the brain is challenged with a task. Additionally, we learned that out of thousands of possible brain oscillation measures, left-frontal brainwaves during so-called working memory tasks are good predictors for dementia risk,” explained lead investigator Yang Jiang, associate professor of behavioral sciences and an affiliated faculty member at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging.

Author(s): University of Kentucky (it’s a press release)

Publication Date: 5 February 2021

Publication Site: Medical Xpress