Ryan ALM
Blog
Trouble Paying the Bills?
“The worst thing that can happen,” Andrew Junkin, CIO, Virginia Retirement System says, “is that you’re a forced seller in any market.” That quote appeared in a Chief Investment Officer article from March 4, 2026. We couldn't agree more with...
A Peer Group?
Got an email today that got my heart rate up a little. The gist of the article was related to a particular public pension fund that eclipsed its "benchmark" return for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025. Good job!...
Problem/Solution: Asset Allocation
By: Ronald J. Ryan, CFA, Chairman, Ryan ALM, Inc. In this post, Ron continues with his series on identifying solutions to various pension-related problems. This one addresses the issue of asset allocation being driven exclusively from an asset perspective. Most,...
Ryan ALM: Problem/Solution
By: Ronald J. Ryan, CFA, Chairman, Ryan ALM, Inc. Problem: Pension Liabilities… MIA Solution: Cash Flow Matching (CFM) The true objective of a pension is to secure and fully fund benefits (and expenses) in a cost-efficient manner with prudent risk....
The Benefits of Using Multiple Discount Rates in a Public Pension Plan
Public pension plan sponsors frequently ask us about the impact of investing in a cash flow matching (CFM) strategy on the fund's ability to achieve the ROA, which is also the discount rate used to value the plan's liabilities under...
Enhancing the Probability of Achieving the ROA
We are often confronted by plan sponsors and their advisors with the objection of using cash flow matching (CFM) because the "expected return" is lower than the plan's return on asset assumption (ROA). Given that objection, we often point out...
Pension ROA - Trick or Treat?
By: Ronald J. Ryan, CFA, CEO, Ryan ALM, Inc. Ron brings to you today a Halloween Special titled, Pension ROA - Trick or Treat? In this research piece, Ron explores how the return on asset assumption (ROA) is calculated and...
Must We Continue to Just Shift Deck Chairs on the Titanic?
By: Russ Kamp, Managing Director, Ryan ALM, Inc. You may not have been following Ryan ALM’s blog through the many years that I have been producing posts in which I’ve touched on this subject. We at Ryan ALM continue to...