The Pension Committee and Multiemployer Plans Committee responded to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) request for comments regarding the proposed rule on Valuation Assumptions and Methods.

The Pension Committee submitted comments in response to the Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration’s (EBSA) Request for Information on a number of SECURE 2.0 provisions that impact the reporting and disclosure framework of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

The Social Security Committee released an issue brief, Assumptions Used to Evaluate Social Security’s Financial Condition. The issue brief describes the assumptions that must be made in any actuarial projection of the Social Security program’s finances and explains how variations in the assumption values affect the projections.

The Pension Committee released an issue brief, Enhancing Retirement Security Through Changes in Plan Design and Related Requirements, that examines modifications to defined benefit (DB) plans that would make them more attractive for modern employers, and looks at ways to incorporate some of the more desirable attributes of DB plans into the more common defined contribution (DC) options that many employers are currently offering.

An issue brief released by the Pension Committee, Valuing Gender Expansive Data, examines issues pension actuaries may consider when performing an actuarial valuation using sex/gender expansive data—data on sex/gender that is either missing or nonbinary. It also discusses several possible approaches to handling such data and setting reasonable actuarial assumptions.

Academy Senior Life Fellow Nancy Bennett and Paul Navratil, chairperson of the Life Investment and Capital Adequacy Committee, presented to the U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council public meeting on pension risk transfers on July 18. They gave an overview of life insurance regulations focused on the regulatory framework governing solvency requirements, including the establishment of liabilities and required capital for benefit obligations that are the result of a pension risk transfer. Additionally, the Academy submitted the Pension Committee’s recent issue brief, Buy-Out Group Annuity  Purchase Primer, for the meeting record as a resource on “buy-out” annuity contract transactions from a pension actuarial perspective.

The Pension Committee released an issue brief focusing on “buy-out” annuity contract transactions, one of the ways pension plan sponsors transfer pension payment responsibilities and associated risks to other parties.

The Lifetime Income Joint Risk Committee released Experience-Sharing Lifetime Income (ESLI), an issue brief considering a retirement income concept now being used in many other countries, which shares features of both lifetime annuities and structured drawdowns.

The Pension Committee released a practice note, Selecting and Documenting Pension Assumptions Other Than Discount Rate, Investment Return, and Mortality, updating a 2009 practice note, revised to reflect updated actuarial standards of practice (ASOPs), including changes in ASOP Nos. 27 and 35 that are effective for actuarial reports issued on or after Aug. 1, 2021, and when the measurement date in such reports is on or after Aug. 1, 2021.

The Pension Committee, Multiemployer Plans Committee, and Public Plans Committee submitted comments to the Actuarial Standards Board regarding the exposure draft of the proposed revision of Actuarial Standard of Practice (ASOP) No. 27, Selection of Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations and the repeal of ASOP No. 35, Selection of Demographic and Other Noneconomic Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations.

The Social Security Committee released Highlights from the 2023 Social Security Trustees Report, a one-pager detailing the latest annual report on the current and projected financial status of the trust funds.

The Social Security Committee submitted an open letter to Congress introducing the Social Security Challenge, a web-based interactive simulation intended to inform, stimulate, and advance the public dialogue on Social Security solvency and the need for reform.

The Social Security Committee sent a letter to Members of Congress offering insights on the Social Security Challenge.

Intersector Group notes from January 2023 conference call with Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service.

Intersector Group notes from January 2023 conference call with Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.

The Academy has released an Essential Elements paper based on the Social Security Committee’s March 2022 issue brief Raising the Social Security Retirement Age.

The retirement age is a key consideration in addressing Social Security’s long-term financial health.

Essential Elements is a series of concise and informative papers developed by the Academy, designed to provide a quick and easy-to-understand overview of key public policy issues of interest.

The Public Plans Committee published a practice note detailing considerations for working with public defined benefit pension plans that use fixed rate funding.

The Pension Committee updated and finalized a previously exposed draft public policy practice note providing background and ideas about how a pension actuary might comply with ASOP No. 56, Modeling.

The Pension Committee released a public policy practice note Selecting and Documenting Mortality Assumptions for Measuring Pension Obligations, updating a 2015 practice note, revised to reflect updated ASOPs (Actuarial Standards of Practice), including changes in ASOP No. 35 that are effective for actuarial reports issued on or after August 1, 2021, and when the measurement date in such report is on or after August 1, 2021.

The Multiemployer Plans Committee sent a letter to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) advancing ideas about the Special Financial Assistance (SFA) application process, in regard to the expiration of the priority group period on March 11, 2023.