Description: The two basic considerations in a pension plan valuation are the choice of actuarial cost methods and actuarial assumptions. This paper deals with the assumptions. The concern in this regard is what actuaries are doing and why. There are explicit criteria why particular assumptions are chosen, and these have often been discussed in the pension literature. However, there also are implicit criteria, which, while seldom discussed in the literature, can dominate the valuation. The goal of this paper is to quantify some of these criteria, and thereby provide a basis for further discussion and research.

Description: The SOA is pleased to make available a report updating the 2012 risk assessment performed by Porteous et al. The report also provided an economic capital analysis for a stylized US plan with the same member profile and the USS provisions modified to reflect a typical US DB plan.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to sketch the mathematical functions which are needed in valuing the benefits of a self-insured plan, and to study certain problems that arise in connection with the valuation of these plans. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1950, Vol. 2, No. 2.

Description: Presented at October 1996 Annual Meeting. Now that plan sponsors are required to purchase only the “safest available” annuities, companies encounter a number of difficulties when they attempt to terminate a defined-benefit plan. This session addresses the lack of available insurers and the resulting effect on competition, a situation in which the plan sponsor may have difficulty finding any insurer to take plan benefits, the effect on prevalence of lump-sum distributions, and the role of the PBGC as insurer of last resort.

Description: When a pension plan surplus reaches a high level, distributing some of it may be desirable. This article proposes a percentile-based criterion for how much to give. From Actuarial Research Clearing House, Volume 2000,Vol.1.

Description: Presented at October 1996 Annual Meeting. This session focuses on the new types of defined-benefit plans: cash balance, pension equity, life cycled, etc. The issues covered include the regulatory environment, funding and accounting issues, and benefit adequacy.

Description: Read the September 2016 issue of Pension Section News published by the The Pension Section. Newsletters provide practical information for the working actuary, articles on trends that impact sections and news about section activities.

Description: These are discussions of the following research papers: 1. 'Actuarial Functions as Expected Values' by John A. Fibiger and Stephen G. Kellison, and 2. 'A New Look at Gain and Loss Analysis' by Arthur W. Anderson. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1971, Vol. 23, Pt. 1, No. 66 AB.

Description: This paper examines some of the effects of mortality improvements on traditional defined benefit plans. From The Future of Pension Plan Funding and Disclosure Monograph, M-RS05-1.

Description: Among many purposes, this paper will outline the theory of gain and loss analysis for pension fund valuations, indicate practical problems met in applying the theory to two model plans and show the Fackler accumulation formulas. From Transactions of Society of Actuaries 1959, Vol. 11, No. 31.