Description: This article discusses the affects of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 PPA primarily in relation to defined benefits pension DB plans.

Description: From a session at a meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in San Diego, CA, June 22-23, 2000 Topics in this discussion include: 1 An overview of the municipal reinvestment market—size, current players, and historical development, 2 A comparison of muni-guaranteed investment contracts to stable value guaranteed investment contacts 3 Types of funds and contracts issued in this market, including contract provisions and risks 4 Roles that life insurers currently play in this market and 5 Use of structured companies or parent-supported subsidiaries.

Description: This is a summary of a new research paper entitled: “Determining Discount Rates Required to Fund Defined Benefit Plans” by John Turner and three other economists, which describes a new way to look at pension funding for ongoing plans that is a variant of using expected returns (currently used in public plans) that takes into account the risk that contributions will be needed in the future for this year’s benefit accruals.

Description: Highlights a new research paper on determining discount rates for pension plans, by John Turner. The paper breaks new ground on deciding on the appropriate discount rate for untradeable benefit obligations, with a comprehensive summary of the field.

Description: This article discusses index separate accounts and their use by insurance companies for group pension clients, including product design and regulatory developments.