Description: This is a summary of the employer costs for pension plans published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as of December 2013.

Description: This articles describes the multi-pillar system of 1 pay as you go and 2 individual capital accounts to fund public pension plans which exists in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Description: The abstract for a paper that talks about the Swedish pension system reform.

Description: This is a report on the Faculty meeting on 21 March regarding the funding of defined benefit pension schemes.

Description: The purpose of this paper is to explore a methodology for choosing among techniques for managing contribution volatility in defined- benefit pension plans. A frequently used – and as often criticized – method for managing contribution volatility is to base actuarial cost on smoothed assets. Our goal in this paper is to develop a methodology for measuring and evaluating the quantitative impact of competing asset smoothing policies. We proceed by investigating a series of basic pension metrics, evaluating the characteristics of each using a simulated pension plan. We then use normalized and weighted combinations of these metrics to determine an optimal smoothing policy.

Description: The methods of pension funding are generally understood, but references in the actuarial literature are rather sparse. This paper attempt, in some measure, to get at least the fundamentals of pension funding into the actuarial literature. From Society of Actuaries 50th Anniversary Monograph, M-AV99-1.

Description: This paper explores the range of contribution policies allowable under various sets of rules, and then proposes that plan sponsors be allowed to contribute the normal cost as a deductible contribution each year. From The Future of Pension Plan Funding and Disclosure Monograph, M-RS05-1.

Description: Discussion of competing theories for valuing public pension liabilities. Emphasis on revised Actuarial Standards of Practice that focus on the purpose of the measurement.

Description: The article outlines a shareholder value framework for pension risk management and applies this framework to pension funding decisions in light of rising PBGC premiums due to 2013’s BBA legislation. The article finds that the new legislation significantly incentivizes plan sponsors to increase pension funding. Moreover, many tax-paying pension plan sponsors can increase shareholder value by increasing pension plan contributions.

Description: This research report, based on Ontario pension plan data, examines differences between going concern and solvency valuations.