Ryan ALM
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Pension Plan Sponsor: "I Wish that I could..."
In October, I will celebrate my 45th year in the pension/investment industry. I've been truly blessed, but also frustrated by activities that I deem detrimental to the successful management of DB pension plans. First and foremost, I believe that a...
March Proves Challenging for Core Fixed Income
March was a difficult month for active core fixed income managers, as the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index fell -1.8%. Uncertainty related to the impact of the Iran War on oil prices and subsequently inflation, pushed rates higher across the Treasury...
What is My Funded Ratio? Who Cares!
The funded ratio of a DB pension plan gets a lot of attention, especially if it is perceived to be weak. But does the funded ratio truly tell you the whole story as to the financial health of a DB...
DB Pension Plan "Absolute Truths" Revisited
This post may be familiar to some of you, as I originally published it in October 2024. Given today's great uncertainty related to geopolitics, markets, and the economy, I thought it relevant to share once again. Please don't hesitate to...
Eliminate the Uncertainty
There are many benefits to using Cash Flow Matching (CFM) for your pension plan, endowment or foundation. The obvious benefit is the liquidity that is created to meet ongoing expenditures, whether benefit payments or grants. That liquidity comes at a...
“Everybody’s looking under every rock.” Jay Kloepfer
Institutional Investor's James Comtois has recently published an article that quoted several industry members on the near-term (10-years) return forecast for both public and private markets, which according to those asked are looking anemic. No one should be surprised by...
How Does One Secure A Benefit?
We hope that you'll agree that going to Chicago in January demonstrates the lengths that Ryan ALM personnel will go to help plan sponsors and their advisors protect and preserve DB pension plans. We are just thankful that we left...
FV Benefits Reduced by -56.1% - Really!
I truly relish getting feedback related to my blog posts. I wasn't surprised that there was more activity, and a little skepticism, related to my recent post that discussed the output from a current project. You may recall the post...
Something Has Got to Give
Not surprisingly, the U.S. Federal Reserve's FOMC lowered rates another 25 bps today. The new target is 3.75%-4.0%, down from 4.5%-4.75% during the last 3 meetings. Currently, the 10-year Treasury yield (4.145% at 3:21 pm EST) is only marginally greater...
Remember: NO Free Lunch!
In 1938, journalist Walter Morrow, Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, wrote the phrase "there ain't no such thing as a free lunch" . The pension community would be well-served by remembering what Mr. Morrow produced more than eight decades ago. Morrow's story...