Inside these posts: Pensions

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Boeing wants higher ranking claim in aircraft case

Citing unfulfilled promises from Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc. to finish up work on four military jets, Boeing Co. is asking a Delaware bankruptcy judge for some financial reassurance, requesting that the court put its $8 million claim against the Birmingham aircraft maintenance company ahead of other major creditors. Get the full story »

Illinois pension crisis eludes easy solutions

Lawmakers in Illinois say they may try to fix the state’s ailing pension system by asking current workers to pay more into the plan, though the approach faces substantial legal and political obstacles.

The lawmakers are also entertaining the politically difficult idea of applying broader pension changes made this year for newly hired employees to current workers. Those include raising the retirement age and scaling back on annual cost-of-living raises.

Whatever approach is embraced, it remains unclear whether such strategies would fix the Illinois system, which is 45 percent funded. That makes it the most under-funded state plan in the U.S., according to Moody’s Investor’s Service. Get the full story »

Illinois to sell pension bonds Tuesday, Wednesday

From Bond Buyer | Illinois plans to sell $3.7 billion of taxable general obligation bonds Tuesday and Wednesday, the state said Friday morning.

Illinois bonds, budget in muni market spotlight

Illinois’ lingering fiscal problems will be center stage in the U.S. municipal bond market next week as the state sells $3.7 billion of bonds and as its governor unveils a budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year. Get the full story »

Exelon CEO’s pay rises 14%

Exelon CEO John Rowe saw his total compensation for 2010 rise 14 percent to $7.2 million, according to documents filed today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an increase largely tied to a change in the theoretical value of his pension.

Rowe had the opportunity to earn stock performance awards worth $1.1 million — compensation that is directly tied to the performance of Exelon stock. But the company’s shares performed in the negative direction in 2010 and Rowe received no equity for performance.

At the same time, stock options worth $1.15 million were underwater at the end of 2010. Get the full story »

Daley unveils pension proposal for firefighters, cops

Mayor Richard Daley’s administration unveiled a plan Friday for police and fire pension reform that would increase employee contributions as part of a package it hopes would save Chicago property taxpayers $240 million per year compared to a bill Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law earlier this month.

Atwood: Pension bill should pass to keep funding through 2011

From Bloomberg TV | The executive director of the Illinois State Board of Investments, which manages about one-fifth of Illinois’ pension funds, told Bloomberg TV on Monday that Illinois will have to figure out how to fund pensions in 2012, and also discussed the possibility that Illinois lawmakers may approve a plan to sell $3.7 billion of bonds to fund the state’s pension contributions.

Exelon says new tax law will hit its earnings

Power company Exelon Corp. forecast a 5 cent and 3 cent reduction for its 2010 and 2011 earnings respectively, hit by the combined effect of pension contributions and the recently passed tax legislation.

The Chicago-based company said the direct impacts of the tax legislation will reduce its 2010 earnings by about 1 cent per share and 2011 earnings by about 11 cents per share because of a cut in the manufacturing tax deduction for which it was eligible. Get the full story »

Moody’s: Illinois pension system still in trouble

From Bloomberg | Moody’s issued a report Monday saying that Illinois, which has the worst-funded pension system among U.S. states, may see it deteriorate more even if it sells bonds to close the gap.

Illinois passes pension fix for cities

From Bloomberg News | The Illinois General Assembly recessed until early January without acting on a $3.7 billion bond proposal to make payments into state employee pension funds, saying it didn’t have enough votes to pass the bond plan.

GM injects $4 billion cash into pension funds

General Motors said on Thursday that it made a $4 billion cash contribution to pension plans for its U.S.-based hourly and salaried workers. Get the full story »

GM to repay taxpayers $2.1B as it prepares for IPO

In a series of moves that pave the way for an IPO and strengthen its finances, General Motors Co. said on Thursday it would repay $2.1 billion to U.S. taxpayers and make early payments to pension and retiree health plans.

The announcement comes just days before bankers are expected to begin a road show for potential investors in an initial public offering that would allow the U.S. government to start to reduce its stake in the top U.S. automaker. Get the full story »

Fitch downgrades rating on Chicago bonds again

Less than two weeks before Chicago plans to sell $804.3 million in bonds, Fitch Ratings downgraded the city’s bond rating for the second time in less than three months.

Fitch cited the city’s continued use of long-term financial reserves and other non-recurring revenues to patch budget deficits, its large and increasing unfunded pension liability and the high unemployment and foreclosure rates locally.

“The downgrade reflects the city’s weakened financial flexibility,” Fitch stated in the report it issued this afternoon. Get the full story »

SEC delays Rattner case, NY probe ongoing

A proposed settlement between Steven Rattner, the former head of the U.S. auto task force, and the Securities and Exchange Commission over a pension corruption scheme was unexpectedly pulled from Thursday’s calendar, one source with knowledge of the matter said Thursday. Get the full story »

Cities, counties struggle to cover pensions

The pension benefits that U.S. cities and counties are unable to cover could total as much as $574 billion, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study, conducted by academics at Northwestern University and the University of Rochester, looked at how long the assets for 77 defined pension plans sponsored by 50 major U.S. cities and counties will last.

It found that six major cities — Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Jacksonville and St. Paul — can only cover promised benefits through 2020. Get the full story »