Chairperson's Corner

Chairperson's Corner

By Martine Sohier, FSA, FCIA

Our New PSN Look

We have improved the format of our now-electronic PSN to make it easier to find articles and print them as you wish. We hope you like the changes. Please let us know what you think of the new PSN look by contacting either Emily Kessler, SOA Retirement Systems staff fellow, or our Communications Team chair, Kelley McKeating .

Retirement 20/20

Our second Retirement 20/20 Conference on Resolving Stakeholder Tensions–Aligning Roles with Skills will be held Sept. 24 and 25, 2007 in Washington, D.C. This will be an important step in our search for retirement system solutions that alleviate tensions between stakeholders while using their skills in the most efficient manner. Please read the article later in this newsletter to learn more about our Retirement 20/20 activities.

Other Activities

Our Research Team is working on the development of a methodology for assigning partial credibility to a pension plan sponsor's own mortality experience. More on this methodology will be communicated to you in an upcoming issue of the PSN. A model for long–term retiree medical trends is also being developed in conjunction with the Health Section. This new model will be presented at the SOA annual meeting in October.

The 2007 Risks and Process of Retirement Survey is also well underway, and initial results will be presented at the SOA annual meeting as well.

The SOA annual meeting will also include sessions discussing the results of the Needs and Spending in Retirement Call for Papers, as well as an update from this September's Retirement 20/20 Conference.

We continue to offer you our webcast series on topics that are of interest to you. Please take a look at our Webcast Corner later in this newsletter to find out more.

Martine Sohier, FSA, FCIA, Chair of the Pension Section Council, works as a senior consultant with Watson Wyatt Worldwide in Toronto, Ontario.