http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
putting the risks and costs of defined benefit plans back under your control
1 online resource (xxxiv, 288 pages) : illustrations.
"Defined benefit pension plans are in a severe crisis. With nearly a $4 trillion deficit in the U.S. alone, Canada, the UK, Japan, and Holland also suffer from unfunded liabilities. In short, the pension crisis is nearly global in proportion, and there is little likelihood that plan sponsors will be able to come up with the funds to repair the damage. One of the major problems behind the crisis is the approach: pension plans use actuarial science as the basis of assumptions but are subject to the laws of economic finance in terms of their returns. In short, there is a gap between the world presumed by actuaries who determine funding levels and the world as it come to be as determined by market performance and investment outcomes. Waring tackles this thorny issue head on. Well versed in both economic and actuarial science, he walks professionals through the differences and shows why plan sponsors need to focus on the economic account perspective to meaningfully measure present values. Complete coverage of credit risk and the discount rate to determine liability values is examined, contribution levels are then presented based on this revised approach to actuarial accounting. Pension plan sponsors and their employee representatives must face the economics - and adjust their accounting and actuarial view - to gain a true perspective on achieving sustainable benefit levels. Waring is one of the first investment professionals to tackle this controversial topic head on to present realistic solutions to potentially catastrophic problems looming in the very near term"--
Achieving Long Term Health for Pension Plans Using Improved Managerial Accounting Tools -- Today's Conventional Pension Finance Practices -- Measuring Meaningful Present Values -- The Full Economic Liability: The Off-Book Starting Point for Management of Pension Costs -- Core Principles of Pension Accounting: The Full Economic Liability Meets Accrual Accounting and Normal Costs -- Credit Risk and the Discount Rate -- Paying for the Plan -- Investment Strategy I: Liability-Relative Optimization -- Investment Strategy II: Managing Risks to the Plan's Surplus, to Pension Expense, and to Contributions Using the Liability-Matching Asset Portfolio -- Investment Strategy III: Risk Tolerance and the Decision to Hold Risky Assets Over and Above the Liability-Matching Asset Portfolio -- Investment Strategy IV: Asset/Liability Studies: The Conventional Approach -- A Retirement Party for the Required Rate of Return -- The Fully Generalized Pension Budget Identity -- Tough Love: Saving the Underfunded Pension Plan -- Public Policy Suggestions: Revising Accounting and Actuarial Standards for Pensions -- Beyond the Crisis: Making Better Management Decisions and Managing Plans at Lower Risk -- Variables and Terms Used in the Book -- Implicit Options in the Pension Plan -- Use of Protective Put Options in the Investment Strategy -- References -- About the Author.
Includes bibliographical references and index.