Products December 9, 2014

Northern Trust Enhances Risk Reporting for Pensions

RiskFirst’s Web-based platform, PFaroe, has been integrated with Northern Trust’s global operating platform.
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Northern Trust has enhanced its suite of asset-liability reporting solutions, enabling pension funds to gain deeper insights into their risk exposure with a cross-balance-sheet view of their assets and liabilities.

The analytics will be provided from RiskFirst’s Web-based platform, PFaroe, and integrated with Northern Trust’s global operating platform. Northern Trust’s pension fund clients can monitor and evaluate a portfolio’s risk and performance by profiling assets and liabilities in the same framework, helping facilitate investment decisions. 

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RiskFirst is a financial technology business that provides risk analytics and reporting. Its core product PFaroe is Web-based and allows users to evaluate risk from multiple perspectives and to perform real-time scenario stress testing.

“Pension funds are increasingly looking for tools that enable them to view their assets and liabilities holistically, rather than in isolation,” says Ian Castledine, global head of investment risk and compliance product at Northern Trust. “Our enhanced solution adds significant granularity to our liability modelling capabilities, enabling our clients to have a far better understanding of their asset-liability position.”

Northern Trust’s integrated risk management platform provides operational support to include data loading, daily position maintenance and asset modelling alongside secure data storage, a reporting portal and a global team of investment risk consultants.

Benefits December 9, 2014

Wellness Incentives Biggest Health Benefit Change in 2015

Few employers plan to eliminate or make major changes in their health care benefits in the near future.
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Only 1% of plan sponsors are planning to eliminate health benefits in 2015, according to the SHRM/EBRI 2014 Health Benefits Survey.

The research from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) also found most employers are not planning to make changes to eligibility for spousal coverage and part-time worker benefits, and less than one in ten are moving toward tiered networks (3.6%), private health insurance exchanges (3.2%), value-based insurance design (2.6%) and reference pricing (0.6%). Employers may be waiting for evidence from early adopters before making untested changes, EBRI says.

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However, 26.3% of employers are introducing wellness rewards and penalties in 2015. Employers may also be focusing on wellness programs because of the link to worker risks and behaviors, which drive chronic conditions and account for a large percentage of overall health spending, according to EBRI.

Few employers surveyed expect to trigger the so-called “Cadillac tax” on high-cost health plans in 2018. But, EBRI notes, ultimately, concerns about the excise tax on high-cost health plans may result in accelerated adoption of tiered networks, private health insurance exchanges, value-based insurance design and reference pricing.

The full report, “What to Expect During Open-Enrollment Season: Findings From the SHRM/EBRI 2014 Health Benefits Survey,” is published in the December EBRI Notes, available online at www.ebri.org

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