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Tom Terry JPMorgan Compensation and Benefit Strategies April 15, 2008. Pensions in the US How are pension plans holding up?. Looking Back …. The Insurance Era De-regulation Re-regulation (ERISA) Reform (PPA). The Insurance Era. 1915 to 1945 Pensions were highly regulated
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Tom TerryJPMorgan Compensation and Benefit StrategiesApril 15, 2008 Pensions in the US How are pension plans holding up?
Looking Back … • The Insurance Era • De-regulation • Re-regulation (ERISA) • Reform (PPA)
The Insurance Era • 1915 to 1945 • Pensions were highly regulated • Plans were fully funded • Asset and liability matching prevailed
De-regulation of Pensions • 1945 to 1974 • Employers pushed aside the insurance companies • Traditional disciplines were abandoned • No required funding • No solvency standards • No asset-liability matching
Re-Regulation • Early ERISA Era: 1974 to 1988 • Federal government steps in with • Required minimum funding • Required service-based vesting • New reporting and disclosures • New federal insurance program - PBGC
Re-Regulation, Part 2 • Late ERISA Era: 1988 to 2005 • Accelerated minimum funding based on a solvency measure • High hurdles for funding above the minimum • Pension insurance program introduced a mild form of underwriting
Pension Reform • 2006 + • Pension Protection Act (PPA) • Seven year funding of unfunded liabilities • Minimal smoothing • Increased maximum tax deductible contributions • Increased premiums to the PBGC • FASB is mid-stream in revamping accounting
Outlook: Doom and Gloom • Enhanced and newly volatile solvency standards will drive plan sponsors away • FASB stands ready to drive off any remaining DB sponsors
Outlook: Better Days Ahead • Elimination of actuarial opacity is a good thing • PPA did not introduce any new risks • PPA actually opens up the door for level, rational funding policies
Emerging Dramas • The PBGC deficit remains • What will happen to frozen plans? • Public pension plan regulation is lacking • Social Security imbalances not yet addressed