Description: This panel discussion is from the 1991 Meeting of the Society of Actuaries, held June 3-5 in Colorado Springs. The panelists discuss the future, if any, of defined-benefit pension plans, and whether they have been “legislated” out of existence, in particular the role of the Internal Revenue Service as the primary regulator of pension plans. From the Record of Society of Actuaries Vol. 17, No. 3B.

Description: In defined-benefit plans, a portability problem arises, especially in an inflationary economy. Final salary plans were designed to cope with inflation. However, transfer of employment during a career can result in long service at a prior employer with outdated final compensation and short service at a current employer with appropriate final compensation. Thus the problem. This presentation discusses possible solutions. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 17, No. 3A.

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: This session will highlight the mortality experience of a large set of private pension plans in the United States for experience years 2010-2014.

Description: Presenters examine the difficulty in determining, under current regulations, the maximum benefits payable from defined-benefit pension plans. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries, Vol. 25, No. 2.

Description: At this presentation, the Executive Director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation talks about some recent pension plan terminations what can be done to protect pensions without upsetting the delicate balance of some companies with underfunded pension plans. The answer is not to allow the underfunding to go unchecked. Nor is the answer to let the PBGC absorb all the losses. From the Record of the Society of Actuaries Vol. 18, No. 2.

Description: The presenters in this session will discuss the simultaneous use of DB and DC plans. With the continued growth of DC assets and the freezing of DB plans, it is increasingly common to see DB participants with a DC plan that is more than just supplemental. Because of this, it is important that retirement professionals see DB and DC plans as not just competitors for contributions, but as partners. The presenters will discuss how that partnership can work and how the presence of a DB plan can influence the design of DC solutions such as target date funds.

Description: This 1978 session focused on valuation techniques for pension plans. Topics covered: 1. Asset Valuation Methods 2. Use of projections and forecasts 3. Has application of forecasts allowed the actuary to determine short range best estimate of future costs different from traditional methods? 4. Treatment of salary scales, turnover assumptions, retirement decrements

Description: 1994 SOA Meeting, San Antonio. This session covered the SEC letter on FAS 87, discount rates analyzing the current yield curve, matching bond portfolios to benefit payments, selection of salary scale, selection of return on assets, update on ASB proposed standards, and the relationship, if any, of funding assumptions to accounting assumptions.

Description: 1993 SOA Spring Meeting, San Diego. This session discussed cash-balance pension plans, design variations, rate of interest credit, IRC section 417e problems, and transition from traditional defined-benefit plans.