Defined Benefit PlansDuring these financially difficult times, many employers are finding that the skyrocketing costs of funding their pension plans are threatening their viability and ultimate survival.
Death is inevitable. Divorce is not. Despite this difference, both events require careful planning to ensure that an individual's wishes and/or negotiated settlements are achieved.
Is there a better example of how the financial world is changing than the dramatic shift from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution plans?
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has proposed major changes to its rules on "reportable events," which are events that may indicate a need to terminate a PBGC-covered single-employer pension plan.
Although the Senate dropped provisions from its $15 billion jobs bill that would have provided pension funding relief to defined benefit plan sponsors in the private sector, DB plan sponsors appear to be optimistic about managing pension risks.
Defined benefit plans fared slightly better than defined contribution plans as the economy began its decline two years ago, underscoring the importance of rebalancing 401(k) accounts.
The financial status of multiemployer pension plans has dispersed among three zonesgreen, yellow, redin 2009, where the green, or financially healthy zone, has been noticeably deserted by struggling plans.
This question was posed at a recent conference where I spoke. It brought snickers from the crowd, but poignantly captures the widespread view that liability-driven investing lacks penetration, despite the fact that LDI has been around for awhile.
Plan sponsors have seen significant improvements in the funded status of their pension plans over the past 12 months, but these gains could be eroded if market volatility returns, reports Mercer.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. has proposed major changes to its rules on reportable events, which are events that may indicate a need to terminate a PBGC-covered single-employer pension plan.
Managing pension plans is risky business, which means plan sponsors are getting serious about reducing their overall pension risk, according to a recent survey by Hewitt Associates.
A new bill was recently introduced in the House that would extend the time allotted plan sponsors to fund defined-benefit retirement plans.
Despite recent upticks in asset values and regulatory relief from the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. employers will be forced to contribute $89 billion to their defined benefit plans in 2010 and more than $146 billion in 2011 unless they receive funding relief from the federal government, determines Watson Wyatt.
Pension-plan executives are probably spending more time in the office these days because of the current financial markets. Yet a recent poll by SEIs Institutional Group shows that many are putting out administrative fires and monitoring investment managers, instead of focusing on new investment strategies.
Employers are shying away from defined benefit plans because of volatility in the required contributions. Volatility can be managed provided care is taken in establishing an integrated investment, actuarial assumption and contribution policy.