Acronyms are everywhere in the institutional investing industry.
Asset owners especially are renowned for referring to their pools of assets as acronyms. Among the Pensions & Investments staff's favorites are LASERS (Louisiana State Retirement System, Baton Rouge), LAGERS (Missouri Local Government Employees' Retirement System, Jefferson City) and COPERS (City of Phoenix Employees' Retirement System).
London-based IHS Markit Ltd., however, has taken the practice of acronyms to a new, prophetic level. The computer programming company in its Jan. 22 10-K filing with the SEC announced it had completed the terminations of its U.S. and U.K. defined benefit plans.
The company refers to the terminated plans as "U.S. RIP" and "U.K. RIP."
Officially, the acronyms stand for Retirement Income Plan. They may, however, also rest in peace.
