Ryan ALM
Blog
ARPA Update as of May 16, 2025
We are pleased to provide the weekly update on the ARPA legislation and the PBGC's implementation of this critically important pension rescue. The prior week's activity was relatively muted. There were no applications submitted to the PBGC, as the eFiling...
Bonds Aren't performance Instruments - Part Deux!
On Tuesday, I produced a post titled "Bonds Are Not Performance Instruments". I mentioned that fixed income allocations have been a tremendous drag on pension plans and their ability to hit the ROA target. I also mentioned that bonds should...
Bonds Are NOT Performance Instruments
As we wrote a year ago this past April, it is time to Bag the Agg . For public pension plan sponsors and their advisors who are so focused on achieving the return on asset (ROA) assumption, any exposure to...
My Wish List as a Pension Trustee
I’ve been a trustee for a non-profit’s foundation fund. I haven’t been a Trustee for a defined benefit pension plan, but I’ve spent nearly 44-years in the pension industry as both a consultant and investment advisor working with many plan...
ARPA Update as of May 9, 2025
Happy belated Mother's Day to all the Moms. We hope that you had a special day. Pleased to report that the PBGC had a very productive week ending last Friday. There were several actions taken including the filing of three...
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...
Improved Corporate Pension Funding - Milliman
Milliman released the results of its 2025 Corporate Pension Funding Study (PFS). The study analyzes pension data for the 100 U.S. public companies with the largest defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Unlike the monthly updates provided by Milliman, this study...
Source Ryan - Question of the Day.
We often get comments and questions following the posting of a blog. We welcome the opportunity to exchange ideas with interested readers. Here is a recent comment/question from a LinkedIn.com exchange. Question: In reviewing the countless reports, reading past agendas,...
ARPA Update as of May 2, 2025
I think someone forgot that the calendar flipped from April to May. The April showers have been followed by the May monsoons in New Jersey. The May flowers may be washed out to see! Regarding the ARPA implementation by the...
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...