This session will provide an introduction to the various discount rate methodologies and accompanying case studies described within the monograph. Although the IAA monograph's focus is setting discount rates for financial reporting, citing examples from different countries, it has the potential to inform the practice of actuaries in other roles, too. At the conclusion of the session, attendees will have a greater appreciation of the challenges of setting discount rate assumptions in current economic climate and challenges faced by actuaries in other areas of practice and countries.

The authors suggest the use of a Custom Liability Index as a solution to the pension crisis of significantly underfunded private and public defined benefit plans. From the Investment Symposium, Session R2, March 2012.

Slides from a presentation at the Society of Actuaries 2007 Annual Meeting, held in October, 2007 in Washington, D.C.Presents - Financial Economics and Public Funds Discussion of a variety of subjects relating to public sector pension plans, including: 1. disconnect between financial economics and methods for valuing pension assets and liabilities, which masks the true risks including volatility and adequacy of funding levels and 2. Loss of trust in the actuarial profession if promises to public sector plan participants can't be met long term with current levels of funding, 3. Intergenerational transfer of risk/costs given the methodologies

The authors suggest the use of a Custom Liability Index as a solution to the pension crisis of significantly underfunded private and public defined benefit plans. From the Investment Symposium, Session R2, March 2012.

Slides from a presentation at the Society of Actuaries 2007 Annual Meeting, held in October, 2007 in Washington, D.C. Discussion of population mortality experience and forecast in the USA, Canada, and the UK. Also some comparisons of population mortality improvement to insured lives mortality improvement. Also discussion of longevity risk and the implications for pension plancs

This report should provide an overview of current mortality trends, what research is telling about how mortality may or may not continue to improve, and issues to consider when choosing base mortality rates and improvement scales (more details described below). The target audience for this report is practicing actuaries who are responsible for setting or advising pension plans on mortality assumptions. This paper should not be focused on an academic audience, but rather be viewed as an educational guide to current pension actuaries who are looking for a practical summary of topics related to recent mortality trends and future mortality improvement. Links to further readings and other research would be expected to be included.

Report on the second in a series of studies conducted jointly by LIMRA International and the SOA Long-Term Care Experience Committee. The study examines longterm care insurance LTCI industry persistency experience by reporting on changes in both voluntary lapse and total termination activity for all participating companies during calendar years 2002 through 2004. Overall, the results indicate that LTCI persistency continues to increase. However, recent increases have occurred on the group side of the business more than the individual side.

Report on the first study conducted jointly by LIMRA International and the SOA Long Term Care Experience Committee. The study examines voluntary lapse and total termination activity in LTCI for calendar years 2000 and 2001. Overall, the results indicate that LTCI persistency has continued to improve however, the current improvement seems to be coming from the individual lines of business rather than the group lines.

Do individuals make rational, well-planned retirement age decisions? In this paper, a set of retirement decision propositions, which hypothesize that the heuristic of Anchoring and the resulting cognitive biases described by Prospect Theory will influence the chosen retirement age, are developed. Retirement information provided by the employer is a possible moderator that may reduce the influence of the anchor on the retirement decision a set of moderator hypotheses are also developed in this paper. From NAAJ, July 2003, Volume 7, Number 3.

New approaches are needed to value benefit plans subject to unilateral changes or termination. The paper focuses on postretirement health benefits, but the thesis may be relevant to any flow not guaranteed by law or accumulating funds. This paper provides a basis for discussion of assumptions that are appropriate when the plan sponsor can unilaterally and dramatically change future cash flows. The paper discusses how actuaries might best approach measurement situations where further plan reductions, or outright terminations, are to be anticipated. It introduces refinements and briefly discusses how each would fit with the usual actuarial model and how differences might affect behavior. These ideas are related to financial economics and the Bader-Gold paper Reinventing Pension Actuarial Science. Before concluding, the wider topic of discount rate selection is briefly addressed.