The Retirement Plans Experience Committee (the Committee) of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) is interested in seeking bids for receiving, compiling and analyzing data related to a pension plan mortality study. The Committee, which is chaired by Gavin Benjamin, is responsible for developing comprehensive studies of pension plan mortality in Canada and the U.S.

Purpose

The results of this study will give practitioners an updated view of pension plan mortality to be used in developing pension plan valuations. The study is also expected to be used as a basis for a mortality table to satisfy future U.S. Government requirements

Experience Study Objectives

The objective of the study is to receive, compile, edit, analyze and summarize detailed pension plan experience data from approximately 20 to 30 consulting firms and large pension plans. Data on 20 to 30 million lives is expected. This study would include interaction with the Committee, SOA staff and the contributing entities. The desired end result would be a comprehensive study of pension plan mortality, including raw rates by gender, age, duration of employment and benefits, employment status, workforce characteristics and various plan characteristics.

Specific Components

The data specifications and additional relevant information are described in the attached document titled "New Pension Plan Mortality Study – Requirements Document." The needed effort will include the following components:

1. Work with the Committee to implement the data requirements, reasonableness testing procedures and exhibit formats.
2. Coordinate with contributors; receive and process their contributions of seriatim experience data in a variety of formats and verify accuracy of their submissions.
3. Develop raw pension plan mortality rates.
4. Create a database to provide the basis for subsequent mortality table development.
5. Maintain a fairly rigorous time schedule and other specifications as detailed in the requirements documents.

Throughout the project, the successful bidder will work closely with the contributors and the Committee to ensure satisfactory outputs.

Funding

The vendor will be selected based on a comparison of costs and services included. Funding will be provided by the SOA through revenues generated from the SOA's annual assessment for experience studies, which are used to benefit the actuarial profession, insuring organizations, consulting firms and the public in general.

Schedule

Proposals must be received no later than DATE (a notice of intent to submit a proposal is requested by DATE). The proposal to be funded will be selected by DATE. Rough timeframes for the completion of the projects are presented in the Requirements Document. The Committee will select the proposal to be funded in consultation with the SOA after review and evaluation.

Proposals must be received no later than DATE (a notice of intent to submit a proposal is requested by DATE). The proposal to be funded will be selected by DATE. Rough timeframes for the completion of the projects are presented in the Requirements Document. The Committee will select the proposal to be funded in consultation with the SOA after review and evaluation.

Expected Output

The project output would include an electronic database of the summarized experience submitted in a format, which would allow analysis, manipulation and reorganization of the data (i.e., "slicing and dicing" of the data). A second project output would be a full database to reside at the SOA office for subsequent analysis of this data.

A report would be prepared summarizing the data collection and review process. A second report summarizing the preliminary analysis of the mortality experience would also be prepared. Both of these reports would be created in a format agreed to by the Committee.

The Committee and the SOA are responsible for reviewing and evaluating the proposals. The SOA, represented by Jack Luff, Experience Studies Actuary, and Bruce Iverson, Managing Director of Research, will provide staff support. Input from other knowledgeable individuals also may be sought, such as representatives of the Pension Section Council and the Pension Section Research Committee.

The proposal evaluation will be based on a comparison of costs, services provided and other relevant information as described in Section VII above.

Any questions regarding this RFP should be directed to:

Jack Luff at the same address as noted above

Questions and responses to questions will be sent to all parties who have indicated intent to submit a proposal as noted in X. above. Only those who have made such a notification will receive this distribution.

If you intend to submit a proposal, please send written or electronic notification by DATE. This will allow us to create a list to distribute additional information and answer questions to all interested parties. Please send your notice of intent to:

Jack Luff
Experience Studies Actuary

Society of Actuaries
475 N. Martingale Rd., Suite 600
Schaumburg, IL 60173
ph: 847.706.3571
f: 847.273.8571
e–mail: jluff@soa.org

If submitting a proposal, please send an electronic version (e.g., Word Document) if possible, or two (2) hard copies of the proposal to Jack Luff at the above address.

Proposals must be received no later than DATE.

Note: Proposals are considered confidential and proprietary.

Project Monitoring

The chair of the Committee (Gavin Benjamin) and the SOA staff (Jack Luff and Bruce Iverson) will be responsible for oversight of the progress of the study. A Letter of Agreement between the selected vendor and the Society of Actuaries will specify the deliverables, key dates, progress expectations and a payment schedule.

The SOA reserves the right to not award a contract for these studies or to award them to separate vendors. Reasons for not awarding a contract could include, but are not limited to, a lack of acceptable proposals or a finding that the cost of the proposals received exceeds reasonable and affordable levels. The SOA also reserves the right to redirect the project as is deemed advisable.

The SOA intends to copyright and publish the results of this experience study. The research will be considered work-for-hire and all rights thereto belong to the SOA. In particular, the data associated with the study will remain the property of the SOA.