Description: A pension plan uses Actuarial Equivalence to determine a 'fair' adjustment to pension benefits for form and timing of payment. The definition of Actuarial Equivalence is set in the Plan Document which may not have been reviewed for decades. With a wave of recent pension litigation in the U.S., plan sponsors, attorneys and actuaries now pay more attention to how pension plans define Actuarial Equivalence. How does a change in mortality table or interest rate affect the ultimate benefit? What are the requirements under ERISA and pertinent regulations? Are there court cases that have examined this question before? What are the issues behind the recent lawsuits and what can a plan sponsor do now to reduce their legal exposure? What alternative strategies are available for changing or not changing the definition in the plan document?

Description: This 1981 discussion session covers Government and Pension Reports, in particular, reports from the U.S. President's Commission on Pension Policy, the National Commission on Social Security, the Canadian Lazar Report, and the Report of the Ontario Royal Commission on Pensions. This discussion also covers the implications of these reports for the pension business in the United States and Canada.