Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • LOGIN
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • SECURE 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. ASSET OWNERS
June 23, 2014 01:00 AM

Center for Retirement Initiatives founder makes pitch for U.S. superannuation plans

Sophie Baker
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

    Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former lieutenant governor of Maryland, has called on the pension industry for advice on how to design and run superannuation plans for the U.S.

    “I ask for any of you during this conference to hear your advice: I need your advice, and I would love your advice,” Ms. Townsend told attendees at the Pensions & Investments' Investment Innovation and the Global Future of Retirement conference in New York on Monday.

    Ms. Townsend, who is also founder of the Center for Retirement Initiatives at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, said 17 U.S. states are interested in setting up superannuation funds, up from just one state — California — six years ago. “This summer, six states, including Maryland, set up groups” to look at the proposals, she said.

    Proposed legislation changes in several states would mandate that employers that do not offer defined benefit or defined contribution plans to employees pay 3% of employee salaries into a pooled fund that will be professionally managed. Management will “probably” fall to the treasurer of the state, or will be opened up to requests for proposals from money managers, Ms. Townsend said. “That is (what) we are trying to do at the state level and proposing that we pool these funds, which will reduce the risk, have lots of people in the funds and have professional management to look at a different range of asset classes, to invest in different asset classes, and do a better job in finding places to invest,” she added.

    Ms. Townsend gets advice from an international advisory board, with representatives from Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and other countries, “who know much better than we do how to solve the problem.”

    She said they are looking at contribution rates, how to communicate with employees and how to annuitize contributions. “I said we will make annuitization the new word that is popular in the U.S.,” Ms. Townsend said. “Americans don't like three words — retirement, elderly or planning — which makes this a very difficult effort. People are afraid of retirement, they feel guilty as they haven't planned, and (they) are more afraid of aging than of dying. We have to … tell them that they can easily save. The plans that these states are developing will make it easier and less expensive to save, and they don't have to make decisions about where to invest themselves.”

    Related Articles
    California private-sector pension plan gets governor's OK
    States pushing to offer retirement accounts to private sector
    Maryland governor creates private-sector retirement task force
    Connecticut governor signs state retirement security board into law
    Recommended for You
    Stack_of_Money_i.jpg
    Wilshire TUCS plans post first positive return of year in Q4
    FTX_Screen_i.jpg
    FTX bankruptcy ensnares Kraft, Och and other family offices
    ONLINE_180419851_AR_0_SWJHUISTXOVN.jpg
    Northern Trust plan universe returns -4.2% in Q3
    Carving a Path For Fixed Income Through Shifting Scenarios
    Sponsored Content: Carving a Path For Fixed Income Through Shifting Scenarios
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    2023 Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Wellbeing
    Bonds: Shaken, but Not Stirred
    Today’s rate cycle and US equities in target date portfolios
    A Study of Allocations to Alternative Investments by Institutions and Financial…
    Unlocking Hidden Value in Japan
    The Art of the Possible in Data Automation for Institutional Investors
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    December 12, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • SECURE 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2023
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • 2023 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2023 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars