The Academy's Pension Committee Chairperson Jim Verlautz was quoted in a cover story on top executive's retirement plans. Some companies have used lower interest rate assumptions to compensate executives, who will face a higher tax bill, with larger lump sums. Verlautz joined critics who say the tax claim is overstated and that executives will have large tax bills regardless. He said executive who take a lump sum will face a bigger tax expense but that it does not justify cutting the interest rate assumptions from six percent to three percent.

The Academy's Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco said that "relatively few people lose benefits in a plan termination" because the benefits are protected by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

The Academy's Risk Management and Financial Reporting Vice President James Rech, in written testimony submitted to a congressional subcommittee, said that the Academy supports the establishment of a systemic risk regulator.

The Academy's Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco said IRS Notice 2009-22 delivered welcomed news to plan sponsors, who will be allowed to change valuation methods in 2009 without applying for approval. Plan sponsors will be permitted to change valuation methods to take advantage of new asset smoothing rules in the Worker, Retiree and Employer Recovery Act of 2008.

The Academy's Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco discussed the recently released Federal Reserve Flow of Funds report. He said that all three retirement systems—both corporate and public defined benefit pension plans as well as private define contribution plans—took hits in 2008 as a result of the economic downturn and are in deficit relative to the amount of promised benefits or beneficiaries' retirement needs.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Life Risk-Based Capital Working Group announced during the NAIC's spring meeting that it would expose for comment a proposal by the Academy's C3 Life and Annuity Capital Work Group. The proposal outlines a single C3 framework that covers interest rate risk and market risk for life insurance.

The Academy's Public Plans Subcommittee Chairperson Ken Kent discussed the pros and cons of public pension plan consolidation.

The Academy's Senior Pension Fellow Frank Todisco was quoted in a report on what could happen to automaker pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. if any of the biggest U.S. auto manufacturers file for bankruptcy.