Description: Many retirement actuaries have experience developing, implementing, and monitoring Liability Driven Investing (LDI) strategies for plan sponsors. These strategies typically involve modifying a plan’s investment strategy to remove a significant portion of the investment and interest rate risk now or at some point in the future when specific triggers are met. The tactics often involve the use of fixed income assets to cash flow and/or duration match the liabilities. In the spirit of helping actuaries expand their roles in an evolving defined contribution world, this article explores the application of LDI and derisking strategies within defined contribution and individual retirement accounts. The economic theory behind this approach is called the lifecycle hypothesis, or lifecycle finance. The benefits of the lifecycle finance method are that it provides a safe approach to save for retirement and a secure source of floor income during retirement. Similar to pension plans, each individual has his or her own idiosyncratic needs, wants, and risks that should be considered. Actuaries are uniquely situated to help defined contribution plan sponsors, individuals, and even themselves implement the lifecycle finance approach by developing and distributing tools and methods that focus on income (rather than wealth), LDI strategies, and personalization.

Description: This article discusses the shortfalls present in most retirement planning software. Some of these come from the design of the software and some from unsophisticated use of it. In any case, the resources needed for retirement are often understated.

Description: An increased focus on pension plan cost and risk management has led plan sponsors to pursue innovative plan designs. This, in turn, is driving the need for actuaries to utilize new approaches to modeling the underlying market risks of such plan designs. The presenters will discuss advanced techniques to pension plan cash flow modeling that will ensure that the risks embedded in complex plan design features are fully captured. Specifically, a new dimension to cash flow modeling, benefit commencement year (in addition to payment year), will be introduced as well as the concept of 'collapsible' cash flow. Case studies will illustrate how techniques can be used in practice for cash balance plans, pension equity plans and other lump sum paying plans. Other risks such as form of payment and longevity will also be covered. This session is intended to meet the needs of actuaries and investment consultants focused on providing advice on risk management and investment strategy to sponsors of pension plans with complex design features.

Description: The Q&A’s contain additional background information on the development, application and impact of Scale BB. Scale BB was introduced in March 2012 as an interim mortality improvement scale which may be used by pension actuaries until work on a formal successor to the widely used improvement scale, Scale AA, is complete.

Description: This paper and subsequent Railroad Retirement Board remarriage tables are results from a culmination of remarriage studies from the period 1947-56. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1960, Vol. 12, No. 32.

Description: 1992 SOA Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. This session on mergers and acquisitions discussed the impact of pensions, post-retirement costs and fringe benefits on acquisitions as well as the special problems that arise when the parties in a transaction are globally diverse.

Description: This paper discusses the mortality of railroad annuitants between the 1946 and 1949 anniversaries. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1951, Vol. 3, No. 7.

Description: This panel discussion looks at what a pension plan valuation report should contain and the valuation report as a consulting tool with the client/plan sponsor.

Description: This session of the 1976 SOA Spring Meeting in Houston presented a panel discussion on issues related to Individual Retirement Accounts IRA in the U.S. and RRSPs in Canada. Topics included: 1. which products have proved successful, 2. regulation problems that have developed, 3. Taxation problems, 4. Rollover problems, 5. Problems with increases, 6. Competition from other financial institutions, 7. Applicability of new money rates, and 8. Long- term interest guarantees.

Description: This panel discussion from the 1977 SOA Meeting focuses on the practical considerations, design and administration of individual policy pension trusts.