Скачать или смотреть The Pension Fund Heist: How Wall Street Siphons Your Retirement To Fund Their Riskiest Bets.

This documentary investigates the systemic transformation of public pension funds from bastions of retirement security into vehicles for high-risk speculation. We examine how the post-2008 era of historically low interest rates created a critical funding crisis for state and local pensions, which traditionally relied on stable, predictable returns. This pressure forced fund managers to abandon conservative investment strategies in favor of complex, high-fee "alternative" investments offered by Wall Street, including private equity, hedge funds, and leveraged derivative products. Using the near-collapse of the British pension system in September 2022 as a case study, the film deconstructs the mechanics of strategies like Liability-Driven Investing (LDI), revealing how hidden leverage can create catastrophic "doom loops" in moments of market volatility. We analyze the profound consequences of this shift, including the siphoning of wealth through exorbitant fees and the transfer of ultimate financial risk from investment firms to the public taxpayer, who remains the final guarantor for these promised benefits.

KEY CONCEPTS

Public Pension Systems (Defined Benefit Plans)
The Assumed Rate of Return
Post-2008 Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP)
Pension Funding Gaps and Unfunded Liabilities
Alternative Investments (Private Equity and Hedge Funds)
Liability-Driven Investing (LDI)
Financial Leverage and Hidden Debt
Derivatives (Interest Rate Swaps, Total Return Swaps)
The 2022 UK Gilt Market Crisis and Margin Calls
Fee Structures (e.g., "2 and 20")
Information Asymmetry in Financial Governance
Taxpayer Liability and Public Finance

RESEARCH & REFERENCES

Bank of England, Financial Stability Report - December 2022. (Provides an in-depth analysis of the LDI crisis, the vulnerabilities it exposed in the UK pension system, and the Bank's emergency intervention).

U.S. Government Accountability Office, Report GAO-23-106228, "The Nation's Fiscal Health: Federal Action Critical to Avert Fiscal Crisis" (Discusses long-term fiscal pressures on state and local governments, including unfunded pension liabilities).

Lowenstein, Roger. "When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" (2000). (A foundational text on the dangers of excessive leverage and complex financial models, providing historical context for the risks embedded in modern pension strategies).

Schultz, Ellen. "Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers" (2011). (Investigative journalism detailing the methods used to shift risk and extract value from traditional pension and retirement plans).

Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, "The Public Plans Data" (An extensive database and series of publications providing current, academically rigorous analysis on the financial state of public pension systems across the United States).

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010). (The landmark legislation passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis, which sought to increase transparency and regulation of the derivatives markets discussed in the video).

DISCLAIMER

The information presented in this video is for educational and documentary purposes only. It is not intended to be, and should not be construed as, financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. All content is based on publicly available information, historical analysis, and economic research. Viewers should conduct their own research and consult with qualified professionals before making any financial decisions. The producers and creators of this documentary are not liable for any actions taken based on the information provided herein.