Managing Pension and Retirement Plans A Guide for Employers, Administrators, and Other Fiduciaries

by Baker, August J.; Logue, Dennis E.; Rader, Jack S.

• ISBN13: 9780195165906
• ISBN10: 019516590X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

As the U.S. Population ages, retirement is becoming an increasingly important life stage. Pension and retirement plans are crucial to the financial well-being of older citizens and key determinants of their standard of living. Many varieties of pension plans are currently offered, andemployers have an interest in these plans because a good pension plan can help an employer attract, retain, and motivate a competent workforce. In some cases, the employer's financial health can depend significantly on the financial health of its pension plan. When employers make decisionsregarding pension and retirement plans, they are making decisions that have high stakes for both their employees and the employer itself. Poor decisions can lead to intense scrutiny, sometimes by the media or in the courtroom. Good pension decision making can provide a secure future for theemployer and its employees. Managing Pension and Retirement Plans: A Guide for Employers, Administrators and Other Fiduciaries covers the essential financial issues surrounding pension plans. It discusses investment policy and strategy, performance measurement, fiduciary responsibilities, and labor market issues, among othertopics. Anyone responsible for any aspect of pension plan management will profit from reading this book.

Table of Contents

PART I Fundamentals
1 An Introduction to Pension Plans	3	(6)
2 What Pension Plans Do	9	(6)
3 Designing the Best Pension Plan	15	(11)
4 The Prudent Pension Fiduciary: A Pragmatic View	26	(15)
5 An Overview of Compliance for Pension Plans	41	(8)
6 Establishing Pension Investment Policy	49	(10)
7 The Asset Allocation Decision	59	(12)
PART II Defined Benefit Plans
8 The Integrated Approach to Managing Defined Benefit Plans	71	(14)
9 Asset Allocation for Defined Benefit Plans	85	(27)
10 Accounting for Defined Benefit Plans	112	(19)
PART III Defined Contribution and Hybrid Plans
11 Investment Policy and Asset Allocation for Defined Contribution Plans	131	(14)
12 Employee Stock Ownership Plans and Company Stock	145	(6)
13 Hybrid Plans	151	(10)
PART IV Measuring, Evaluating, and Improving Investment Performance
14 Evaluating Investment Performance	161	(19)
15 Improving Pension Fund Investment Performance	180	(14)
16 Managing Pension Fund Risk	194	(19)
17 Risk Management Strategies Using Derivative Securities	213	(24)
PART V Management Issues: Decisions, Strategies, and People
18 Selecting and Managing Asset Managers	237	(11)
19 Managing Costs	248	(8)
20 People and the Psychology of Pension Fund Decisions	256	(11)
21 The Pension Plan as Shareholder	267	(11)
22 The Path to Better Pension Plan Management	278	(11)
Appendix A A Guide for the Prudent Fiduciary	289	(2)
Appendix B Global Investing for Pension Funds	291	(5)
Appendix C Example of a Multiemployer Hybrid Pension Plan	296	(1)
Appendix D Measuring Returns	297	(8)
Appendix E Adjusting for Risk	305	(2)
Appendix F An Example of an Equity Swap Hedge	307	(2)
Appendix G Manager Selection	309	(6)
Notes	315	(10)
Works Cited	325	(12)
Index	337