Description: The editorial provides an overview of articles in this issue that explore and illustrate solutions to current retirement challenges.

Description: This presentation from Session 19 of the SOA June 2005 New Orleans Health/Pension Spring Meeting discusses the risks faced by retirement plan sponsors, and puts them into context with their operational risks. It covers what actuaries can do to help manage and mitigate risks, and how current regulatory frameworks can inhibit risk management processes. It also discusses the consulting challenges in helping clients find long-term solutions, and how to manage toward those solutions in the short-term. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 31, No. 2.

Description: This presentation from Session 90 of the SOA June 2005 New Orleans Health/Pension Spring Meeting focuses on consulting about and communicating retirement plan risks, as well as risk management and mitigation strategies, to plan sponsors. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 31, No. 2.

Description: This paper advocates asset/liability management for pension plans. It identifies the economic factors that influence the economic value of liabilities and discusses the typical asset portfolio that results.

Description: This paper sets forth challenges presented by an aging society with a focus on the situation of the individual and the implications for actuaries. From Retirement Needs Framework, M-RS00-1.

Description: This article explores the changing risk profile between the transitional Affordable Care Act (ACA) period (2014-2016) and under the final ACA period (beyond 2017) for the individual market. Actuaries are in a unique position to help facilitate the change from the current ACA period to the final period when health plans will have to take on substantially more risk.

Description: Feature article describing how traditional pension asset allocations contain so much risk that the details of the “liability benchmark” have been largely ignored.

Description: From the 41st ARC: a presentation focusing on risk management of a pension plan whose benefit is the greater of a defined benefit DB and a defined contribution DC plan. Hedging strategies are derived and illustrated, recognizing that the DB guarantee is like an option.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to explore pension plan dynamics— – the behavior of a defined- benefit pension plan over time in an uncertain environment. We proceed by simulating the behavior of a model plan in a stochastically varying economic environment. While both the model and its environment are simplified, the model displays interesting behavior suggesting policy considerations that should be included in the design and funding of these plans.

Description: View the complete issue for the August 2014 Reinsurance News newsletter.