Objectives and methods of funding defined benefit pension schemes

1987 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. D. McLeish ◽  
C. M. Stewart

The Objective of Funding1.1. As every actuarial student is taught:‘Pay-as-you-go is acceptable for a State pension scheme because the State is, for practical purposes, assured of a continuing existence.’However:‘The position is quite different in the case of an occupational scheme, since an employer's business may cease to exist.’1.2. It seems to us to follow, therefore, that the prime purpose of funding an occupational pension scheme must be to secure the accrued benefits, whatever they might be, in the event of the employer being unable or unwilling to continue to pay at some time in the future. To that end, the contributions would have to be sufficient both to pay the benefits as they fell due for as long as the scheme continued, and also to establish and maintain a fund which would be sufficient to secure the accrued benefits in the event of contributions ceasing and the scheme being discontinued, whenever that might occur.

1985 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 338-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. D. McLeish ◽  
C. M. Stewart

1.1. As every actuarial student is taught:“Pay-as-you-go is acceptable for a State pension scheme because the State is, for practical purposes, assured of a continuing existence”.However:“The position is quite different in the case of an occupational scheme, since an employer's business may cease to exist”.


1987 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 181-198
Author(s):  
C. D. Daykin ◽  
A. G. Young

In September 1974 Barbara Castle published her proposals for a new earnings-related State pension scheme in her White Paper “Better Pensions”. This followed a succession of attempts by previous Secretaries of State for Social Services to change State pension arrangements radically. Unlike the ill-fated Crossman and Joseph schemes, however, the Castle scheme succeeded both in reaching the statute book and in coming into operation. A Bill was introduced in February 1975 and on 7 August 1975 the Social Security Pensions Act 1975 received the Royal Assent. The State earnings-related pension scheme (SERPS) came into operation on 6 April 1978. It provided State pensions related to earnings, but also offered to employers with good occupational pension schemes the possibility of ‘contracting-out’ and providing equivalent or better earnings-related benefits through their own scheme.


1973 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 533-594
Author(s):  
A. J. Low ◽  
P. E. Felton

SynopsisThe paper considers the role which the State should play in the provision of pensions to the retired population. The role of occupational schemes is also considered with particular reference to the restrictions placed on that role by the authorities through the requirements for approval for tax purposes and the cost and level of State pensions. The main features of various State pension schemes which have been proposed in successive White Papers are discussed together with their shortcomings and advantages. The White Paper “Better Pensions” and its implications for the pensions industry are then considered in greater detail.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. M. S. Sutcliffe

ABSTRACTThe conditions under which pension schemes merge is an important issue which has been under-researched. Mergers can affect the strength of the sponsor's covenant and the balance of power between the trustees and the sponsor, as well as the deficit or the surplus of the receiving scheme and its funding ratio. This paper sets out two financial criteria to be met by any pension scheme merger: no profit or loss on merging with another scheme; and no dilution of the funding ratio. After defining a merger basis for valuing the assets and liabilities, and allowing for adjustments to the funding ratio via side receipts and payments; it is shown that, whether or not these criteria are met, depends on the state of the financial markets.


1990 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 71-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. O'Regan ◽  
J. Weeder

This paper is about actuarial methods of funding pension schemes and follows on from the report of the Working Party of the Pensions Standards Joint Committee on Terminology of Pension Funding Methods (The Terminology Report) published in 1984. It looks at the basic structure of the main methods and at how they behave. We then discuss the question of the suitability of the methods under various conditions. The reader may find it useful to have a copy of the Terminology Report to hand.The paper is written against a background of uncertainty, as regards the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme, and of great debate and legislative activity as regards Occupational Pension Schemes. This activity and debate makes it more important than ever before that the actuarial profession explains its methods and approaches to those in the pensions industry who are not actuaries, but who nevertheless rely on actuarial advice.


2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 471-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRUCE T PORTEOUS ◽  
PRADIP TAPADAR ◽  
WEI YANG

AbstractThis article considers the amount of economic capital that defined benefit (DB) pension schemes potentially need to cover the risks they are running. A real open scheme, the Universities Superannuation Scheme, is modelled and used to illustrate our results and, as expected, economic capital requirements are large. We discuss the appropriateness of these results and what they mean for the DB pension scheme industry and their sponsors. The article is particularly pertinent following the recent European Commission Green Paper on the future of European pensions systems, its call for advice on reviewing the Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision Directive and the introduction of the Basel 2 and Solvency 2 risk-based regulatory regimes for banking and insurance, respectively.


1966 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 299-385
Author(s):  
C. S. S. Lyon

SynopsisSocial security in the United Kingdom is at a crossroads. Should it become more selective, and if so, what form should the selectivity take ? Should the traditional methods of finance be changed ? What is to be done about the pockets of poverty which still exist ?Occupational pension schemes, too, are coming increasingly under public scrutiny. Are they fulfilling their role adequately ? In what ways do they need to be improved ?The Government is expected to announce next year its proposals for a new State pension scheme. These seem likely to include a change in the financing of National Insurance benefits generally. They may contain features which could set the State scheme and occupational schemes on a collision course.The paper examines some of the issues involved and indicates lines along which future developments might take place. It concludes by describing a way in which State and occupational schemes could continue to work in partnership.


2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-303
Author(s):  
Erik Nijhof

From an international perspective, the Dutch system of old age provisions stands out for its wide coverage, fixed benefits, and an overall actuarial soundness that seem to make this system more shock proof to demographic shifts and economic adversities than those in other “Western” countries. Its actual foundation is a compulsory old age insurance for all citizens, enforced by law and implemented by the state; this insurance is supplemented by fully funded pension schemes for workers and employees, operating under legal control; and finally there is a variety of additional and noncompulsory pension benefits and individual insurance arrangements. The main impetus to the genesis of this system came from employers who, with different agendas, created various pension funds; eventually it was the state, which set a decisive example with a funded pension fund for its civil servants. This became the standard to all corporate pension schemes and provoked innovations like branch funds. These initiatives were supported and regulated by legislation that made these arrangements compulsory and guaranteed their juridical independence and actuarial soundness. Only after this legally promoted maturation of private funds, the state set out to create public arrangements on a “pay-as-you-go” basis for all citizens. This delicate interplay between private and public pension arrangements is highly characteristic of the Dutch variety of capitalism in a broader context. In the polarity between liberal and coordinated market economies, as developed by Soskice and Hall, the Dutch system of old age provisions has played a prominent role in ranking this country more firmly into the latter category. However, within this range of countries the Dutch system of old age provisions is also a bit atypical: private corporate and branch arrangements were encouraged and at the same time embedded in a legal framework. The role of the state was also remarkable: a supervisor of the private funds, a collector and distributor in a universal insurance system, and an employer with an exemplary pension scheme.


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