Starting KCS in August 2011 provided me with an opportunity to return to my consulting roots, but it also gave me so much more. By not having to commute into NYC each day, which I'd done since I was 18,...

Are liabilities interest rate sensitive? YES, the present value of pension liabilities is extremely interest rate sensitive if you use market interest rates as discount rates. This is certainly true for private pensions under FASB (ASC 715) accounting regulations. Unfortunately,...

Two troubling items crossed my desk this morning that conflict with the tremendous gains that we've been witnessing from the U.S. equity markets. Bankrate has once again conducted their survey on the financial health of the American family, and the...

There is much discussion related to the impact of technology on the future of jobs in America, and rightly so, but the magnitude is still to be realized. What hasn't been discussed to the extent that it should have been...

Since the firm's inception, we, at KCS, have been encouraging for a variety of reasons plan sponsors and their asset consultants to embrace greater transparency of the defined benefit plan's liabilities. We still believe that with a greater transparency plan...

As Promised, we will be posting answers to the questions that we posed in our most recent Fireside Chat, "Your Liability-Aware Cheat Sheet" during the next couple of weeks. Let's begin: Is the primary pension objective an absolute return (ROA)...

We are pleased to share with you the latest edition of the KCS Fireside Chat series. This article, titled, "Your Liability-Aware Cheat Sheet", encourages plan sponsors/trustees to have more on-going conversations regarding their plans specific liabilities. We share with our...

The WSJ published an article on Sunday that questions return assumptions by America's pension plan sponsors and their consultants. The author, Jason Zweig, is particularly concerned given that U.S. stocks are currently at all-time highs. Zweig references a study by...

Yesterday the WSJ published an article highlighting the fact that several (they estimated roughly 12) corporations have announced plans to increase company matches into their 401(k) as a result of the benefits from the recent corporate tax changes. We are...

As if this winter's weather hasn't been cold enough, the freeze announced by the corporate giant, Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, will surely chill its employees to the bone! Continuing a trend which began decades ago within the private sector, Alcoa announced...