"An increase of 100 basis points (bps) in interest rates reduces pension liabilities on average by 12% to 15%.... Looking at year-to-date movements through July 31, 2022 ... pension liabilities are down nearly 20%.... This article explores some strategies that plan sponsors should consider now, even if a plan's funding situation is not ideal, to avoid missing out on what might be a 'golden' opportunity."

"While both techniques allow a plan sponsor to get a sense of the risk -- that is, the volatility of outputs -- that is otherwise opaque in the traditional single deterministic model, stochastic modeling provides some advantage in that the individual economic scenarios are not manually selected.... Stochastic models are particularly useful in forecasting ... The output of the model will show not only the underlying riskiness of an output variable -- for example, funded status or contribution requirements -- but also how the risks may change over time."

"[In] the 2000s, ... plan features began changing. Some plans, more in tune with the financial risks than most, started cutting back in the 1990s already, or even sooner.... Public plans are now within shouting distance of solvency, if not already there.... This report looks at some of the common ways in which this outcome was achieved, and which were most commonly used, by whom."

"The MBTA's largest union is challenging an independent arbitrator's decision that would reshape the rules of the authority's $1.66 billion retirement system, including slashing the pensions of those who retire before the age of 65.... As of the end of last year, the fund's unfunded liability hovered at more than $1.3 billion[.]"

"Plan sponsors using the spot rate will realize the recent rise in interest rates. Plan sponsors using the alternative method may not fully capture the rise in interest rates because the 24-month average will be brought down by the lower interest rates of 2021. So, each calculation can come away with very different rates and resulting premiums."

"Public pension funds are already reporting big losses in 2022. Things are likely to get uglier. That is because the funds, which manage around $5 trillion in retirement savings for the nation's teachers, firefighters and other public workers, haven't yet factored in second-quarter returns on private equity and other illiquid investments."

"During August, the Milliman 100 PPFI funded ratio declined from 77.3% at the end of July to 75.0% as of August 31. Public plans saw, in aggregate, investment losses of 2.6% for the month, which erased much of the short-term recovery experienced in July. Individual plans' estimated returns ranged from -4.1% to -0.9% for the period. The combined plans lost market value of approximately $118 billion, on top of a net negative cash flow of approximately $8 billion."

"This notice provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates ... and the 24-month average segment rates ... [as well as] the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities ... as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate[.]"

"During August 2022, average accounting discount rates increased by 43 basis points (bps), while competitive annuity purchase rates increased by 58 bps. This caused the estimated competitive retiree buyout cost as a percentage of accounting liability to decrease from 98.0% to 96.9%."

"The average Annuity Purchase Interest rates jumped this past month, with the average duration 7 rate at 4.24% and average duration 15 rate at 4.25%.... Annuity Purchase costs ... dropped significantly this past month, the lowest ... observed year to date. Average annuity purchase rates have increased over 240 basis points in the last twelve months."

"This article discusses: [1] The origins of the Segal Blend; [2] The purpose of withdrawal liability; [3] What's blended in Segal Blend; [4] The impact of the Segal Blend; [5] Arbitration and litigation about the Segal Blend; [6] The future for the Segal Blend."

"Cashing out participants from the plan has several cost and risk mitigation advantages, including reducing PBGC premiums and shrinking the risk profile of the plan. Lower lump-sum values may present plan sponsors with opportunities to cash out more participants than in a typical year. Here are some opportunities to explore."

"The gradually increasing burden of retirement costs on districts isn't a new phenomenon. But the latest analysis is a good reminder of how pensions act as the third rail of district and state school finance -- even if the average educator, parent, and principal doesn't know a ton about their complexities."

"The fourth quarter 2022 interest assumptions will be 3.90 percent for the first 20 years following the valuation date and 3.65 percent thereafter. In comparison with the interest assumptions in effect for the third quarter of 2022, these interest assumptions represent no change in the select period (the period during which the select rate (the initial rate) applies), an increase of 1.09 percent in the select rate, and an increase of 0.71 percent in the ultimate rate (the final rate)."

"[The Final Rule] clarifies that a condition on the receipt of SFA is that a [multiemployer plan] may not accept a collective bargaining agreement that allows for a reduction in the contribution rate, or a change in the basis on which the contributions are made that would yield a contribution obligation reduction, from what was set forth in a collective bargaining agreement as of March 11, 2021, including agreed-to contribution increases in those agreements."

"Historically, 65 to 75% of PRT transactions occur in the second half of the year, but so far in 2022, Q1 and Q2 have both broken records for PRT activity, with $5.3 billion and $12.5 billion in sales, respectively. This is already 47% of the record $38.1 billion total in 2021. And it does not look like the momentum is expected to slow down. This article will explore the continued surge in the PRT market."

63 pages. "PBGC's Multiemployer Program is likely to remain solvent to a point more than 40 years out. This is an improvement over last year's report, in which half of projected scenarios resulted in insolvency by the end of FY 2055. However, both reports show a high degree of uncertainty, with the most pessimistic downside scenarios continuing to show a risk of insolvency in the mid-2030s.... The Single-Employer Program's financial status has evolved from recent deficits to a positive net financial position projected to grow over the next 10 years. None of the projected scenarios result in PBGC's Single-Employer Program running out of money within the next 10 years."

"Corporate pension plans saw mixed results in funded status in August amid rising discount rates and falling equities.... Total-return plans outpaced LDI allocated plans due to a lower hedge of rising discount rates as Treasury rates rose and credit spreads were little changed."

"The WTW Pension Index declined slightly in August 2022, remaining at a level comparable to last month's, and well above June's. This month's change was due to negative investment returns, almost completely offset by decreases in liabilities. The end-of-August index level of 96.9 reflects a decrease of 0.1% for the month."

"During August, the Milliman 100 PFI funded ratio climbed from 104.8% on July 31, 2022, to 106.4% as of August 31. The funded ratio improvement was driven by a 36-basis point increase in the monthly discount rate. The PFI projected benefit obligation (PBO) lessened by $65 billion as discount rates rose from 4.25% to 4.61% for the month. Meanwhile the market value of assets fell by $46 billion because of August's 2.47% investment loss."

"Pension finances were mixed during August, as higher interest rates offset the impact of falling stock markets. Both model plans ... were close to even last month: Plan A improved less than 1% and is now up almost 5% for the year, while the more conservative Plan B lost a fraction of 1% in August and is now down 1% through the first eight months of 2022."

"Overall, the same lesson that has been mentioned previously this year still holds true: if you are only looking at the asset side of the ledger, you would assume performance is terrible. However, the results here show most plans actually have improved their funded position during 2022 as higher interest rates should reduce pension liabilities."

"The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 created funding relief for single-employer defined benefit pension funds by extending the amortization period for shortfalls and stabilizing the interest rates used to calculate their funded level."

An unofficial monthly report of the Moody"s Daily Long-term Corporate Bond Yield Averages and Moody"s Daily Treasury Yield Averages (used as benchmarks by some corporate pension plans).

"Defined benefit plan sponsors that [1] are currently using the alternative (24-month average) method to determine unfunded vested benefits (UVBs) for purposes of calculating [PBGC] variable-rate premiums, and who [2] have the ability to elect to switch to the standard (spot-rate) method, may want to consider electing to switch to the standard method for 2022 ... While that election will generally not have a significant effect on 2022 variable-rate premiums, it is likely that it will reduce 2023 premiums significantly. And there are some 'pros and cons' to making that election this year."