Description: From a session at the Spring regional meeting of the Society of Actuaries held in Atlanta, Georgia, May 24-25, 1999 Panel examined the failure of three major life insurance companies in North America: Executive Life, Mutual Benefit, and Confederation Life, changes that have taken place in the aftermath of these failures, and the likelihood of future failures.

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

Description: This paper analyzes which of the factors that affect retirement mortality determined in Phase I of the FARM project should be added to the existing mortality studies of the Society of Actuaries. Some factors were added or modified and two were dropped from those in Phase I.

Description: This study examines reductions in retirement benefits from the decline in defined benefit plans and increases in defined contribution plans during the past 20 years and what effect this has on workforce management. In particular how this change is affecting older workers’ decisions to retire and what effect this could have on companies. An underlying assumption implicit in evaluating the benefit of retirement of older workers is that productivity declines in old age while pay does not, leading to a pay productivity gap that could have an adverse effect on the employer from delayed retirement. The validity of this assumption was also examined.

Description: Full version of Risks and Rewards Newsletter, March 1999, Issue No. 32.

Description: Full version of Risks and Rewards Newsletter, October 1998, Issue No. 31.

Description: This report compares the CIA pricing method for estimating group annuity closeout pricing to methods used in the US.

Description: Panelists discuss recent developments in: Guaranteed Investment Contract [GIC] products, annuities for terminations of pension plans [terminal funding], settlement of obligations under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 88 [FAS 88], and separate accounts and portfolio insurance. From the 1988 Record of Society of Actuaries, Vol. 14, No. 1.