Managing Pension Plans A Comprehensive Guide to Improving Plan Performance

by Logue, Dennis E.; Rader, Jack S.

• ISBN13: 9780875847917
• ISBN10: 0875847919
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-10-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Pension funds are big business. They are important to employers, employees, governments, and society at large. With the increasing concern over dwindling retirement benefits and the effect on public awareness of recent pension fund crises, managing pension plans has never been more critical--and the pressure on those who are responsible for them has only intensified. Destined to become the classic resource on pension plan management, Managing Pension Plans explains everything you need to know for successful management of any pension plan--from how pension plans help sponsors manage their workforces to the latest in investment and risk management. With concise and practical guidance on ways for achieving optimal finance performance, Managing Pensions Plans is an indispensable resource for pension fund trustees, boards of directors, managers, and administrators of both public and private pension plans as well as for the money management firms, consultants, actuaries, and accountants who serve the pension fund industry. Logue and Rader, two of the world's leading experts on the subject, explain all the financial, legal, economic, accounting, and managerial issues that those who make pension fund decisions must juggle--in language that non-financial managers can understand, yet with sufficient depth to be useful to financial managers as well. The authors synthesize the latest in capital market and financial economics research to help those involved in pension management improve their decision-making in all the critical areas, including: choosing the optimal form of pension plan, formulating and implementing the plan's investment strategy, selecting and monitoring pension plan managers, measuring the plan's performance, and managing financial risk. In addition, the book describes in detail the responsibilities of fiduciaries, revealing how to be both a prudent fiduciary and a capable decision maker. Additionally, Managing Pension Plans offers candid advice on how pension managers can improve fund performance by being more effective shareholders. As pension fund management and performance increasingly affect the success of organizations as a whole, this book will be indispensable to anyone--from fund analysts to board members--who influences pension fund decisions.

Author Biography

Dennis E. Logue is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College Jack S. Rader is the executive director of the Financial Management Association in Tampa, Florida

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Context of Pension Plan Management	vii
Chapter 1: Why Have Pension Plans at All?	1	(14)
Chapter 2: Choosing the Best Pension Plan	15	(24)
Chapter 3: The Prudent Pension Fiduciary: A Pragmatic View	39	(30)
Chapter 4: Establishing Pension Investment Policy	69	(36)
Chapter 5: The Asset Allocation Decision	105	(22)
Chapter 6: Setting the Strategic Asset Allocation	127	(32)
Chapter 7: Measuring the Investment Performance of Pension Funds	159	(24)
Chapter 8: Improving Pension Fund Investment Performance	183	(18)
Chapter 9: Managing Pension Fund Risk	201	(24)
Chapter 10: Risk Management Strategies Using Derivative Securities	225	(28)
Chapter 11: Managing Managers and the Costs of Investing	253	(24)
Chapter 12: Decision Making and Accounting for Pensions	277	(24)
Chapter 13: The Pension Plan as Shareholder	301	(14)
Chapter 14: The Path to Better Pension Plan Management	315	(12)
Appendix A: Employee Stock Ownership Plans	327	(4)
Appendix B: An Example of a Multi-Employer Hybrid Pension Plan	331	(1)
Appendix C: Global Investing for Pension Funds	332	(8)
Appendix D: Measuring Returns	340	(8)
Appendix E: Adjusting for Risk	348	(3)
Appendix F: Example of an Equity Swap Hedge	351	(2)
Appendix G: Manager Selection	353	(6)
Appendix H: Issues for Corporations with Multinational Pension Obligations	359	(5)
Appendix I: A Guide for the Prudent Fiduciary	364	(3)
Glossary of Pension and Related Terms	367	(16)
References	383	(16)
Index	399	(10)
About the Authors	409