Description: ERM has methodology for quantifying the risk to capital, but to determine optimal capital, the impact of capital level on firm value is needed. This gets into the realm of valuation. Also capital allocation provides risk quantification for business units, but comparing return among units is fundamentally a risk-pricing exercise. When considering risk pricing, optimal returns on allocated capital are not necessarily constant across business units. The current ERM methodology, as well as actuarial literature on valuation and pricing, are reviewed, and possible directions for application of pricing and valuation methods to risk management problems are outlined.

Description: This paper sets forth challenges presented by an aging society with a focus on the situation of the individual and the implications for actuaries. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: This paper offers a preliminary exploration of the implications of alternative mandatory annuity designs in a privatized Social Security environment. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: This paper provides a novel approach to the valuation of the market value of economic surplus that is stable and immune from “market noise”.

Description: This paper provides a novel approach to the valuation of the market value of economic surplus that is stable and immune from “market noise”.

Description: This paper examines the social structures that are determining retirement for female Baby Boomers, and what can be done for these women to reflect the shift from shared responsibility to individual responsibility for retirement security. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to consider whether there is a coherent and principled approach to decide the question of what rights if any nonparticipant spouses should have in the retirement plans of participant spouses. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: Interest rate changes and volatile equity returns have contributed to significant funding and expense volatility for defined benefit plans in recent years. This paper will describe the design of an option contract with payouts that are tied to the combined impact of interest rates and investment returns on the funding level of a defined benefit pension plan. Current derivatives used by plan sponsors can limit exposure to one of these risks; however, a derivative that combines these risks may provide more targeted protection to a plan sponsor at lower cost. This paper discusses several considerations in designing such a derivative. It will also briefly discuss pricing of the option. Finally, the difference in potential outcomes between plan funding with and without option ownership will be demonstrated. As an outcome of the design work, a new way to visualize pension risk that may be useful in sponsor accounting disclosures will be shown.

Description: The U.K. Pension Protection Fund (PPF) was established in April 2005 to protect the pensions of members of U.K. private sector defined benefit pension schemes that have insufficient assets and whose corporate sponsor fails. The fund takes over the pension scheme assets and assumes responsibility for the payment of compensation to the former members of the scheme. PPF is funded by a levy on the population of eligible schemes. The elements of the enterprise risk management of the fund have been developed by reference to practice within proprietary insurance institutions and other pensions funds; their application to this unique financial vehicle is the subject of this paper. The paper draws on references to relevant risk and actuarial work. It is designed to illustrate the application of principles and techniques to a real world example.

Description: This paper looks at retirement income planning techniques currently practiced in North America, and then discusses contingencies that are generally omitted from the retirement needs analysis. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.