Description: This paper examines some of the methods used to determine the value of the assets held by a pension fund and used in actuarial valuations to determine the required contributions for a pension plan. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1968, Vol. 20, Pt. 1, No. 58.

Description: This paper describes the actuarial valuation method for pension plans, the formulas and assumptions used, and the way these assumptions might be chosen. A case study is presented. Followed by several discussion papers submitted

Description: Survey of Asset Valuation Methods for Defined Benefit Pension Plans. From The Pension Forum, August 2001, Volume 13, Issue No. 1

Description: The report presents the results of a survey on asset valuation methods for defined benefit plans. Information was provided on 9,670 pension plans, 9026 US plans, 612 Canadian plans, and 32 other plans. Fair market value is the frequently used method, especially for smaller plans.

Description: A new approach to computing annual pension costs, based on an open-group projection of the participant population for a number of years, was described in detail in a paper published in the 1975 Transactions, entitled 'The Forecast Valuation Method for Pension Plans.' That paper described the operation of such a cost method at the initial valuation date. This paper discusses several alternative approaches to projection valuation methods and also describes how costs should be computed at valuation dates after the first one. In addition, the author illustrates projected contributions and asset buildups under both traditional [closed-group] cost methods and projected [open-group] cost methods, for a number of years under a variety of assumptions as to the growth rate of the participant group. Projection valuation methods have not been described heretofore in sufficient detail to make it possible for actuaries to use them on a recurring basis or for the Internal Revenue Service to make a determination as to the acceptability of such approaches for computing tax-deductible pension plan contributions. It is the hope of the author that this paper will fill both of those gaps. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1977, Vol. 29.

Description: This paper addresses how to explain yearly fluctuations and computed pension cost in terms of deviations of actual from expected experience. It presents a method for deriving gain-an-loss analysis formulas directly from the valuation formulas and shows that the analysis is implicitly defined by the valuation formulas, rather than something which can be considered apart from them. This method can be used to attack both individual and aggregate cost methods and the development of exact analysis formulas provides not only the basis for computation but also valuable insight into the mechanisms by which cost methods adjust computed costs to reflect actual experience.

Description: This Excel workbook contains the complete set of tables developed from the Society of Actuaries 2003 Pension Plan Termination and Retirement Study. Separate tabs are included for the Basic Age Table, Basic Service Table, Select & Ultimate Table, Small Plan Age Table, and Small Plan Service Table.

Description: This report compares the CIA pricing method for estimating group annuity closeout pricing to methods used in the US.

Description: Traditional pension cost methods are based on the actuarial present value of future benefits [which is a mean value]. As a consequence, these cost methods are deficient because they cannot provide plan sponsors with certain valuable information such as the probability that the accumulation of a particular sequence of contributions will ultimately provide sufficient funds to pay benefits, or the size of fund needed to ensure that retirees' lifetime benefits are paid with a specified probability. In response to these deficiencies, a new family of cost methods, called a-percentile cost methods, is developed. These cost methods are based on the probability of adequately covering all participants' benefits. Expressions for the normal cost, the accrued liability and the gain are provided. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1993, Vol. 45.

Description: This paper demonstrates how, under the projected benefit cost methods whereby the gains are reflected in the normal cost rate, gains determined at a given valuation date are amortized over the future working lifetime of the active employees included in the valuation as of that date.