New Publication: Benefit at Risk for Lifetime Pension Pools

The Society of Actuaries Research Institute and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries have jointly published a new research report titled Benefit at Risk for Lifetime Pension Pools. Lifetime pension pools are longevity risk sharing arrangements that can be used within defined contribution (DC) plans, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and similar retirement savings accounts.

"Several modern retirement arrangements, including lifetime pension pools, allow retirees to convert a single premium into income for life that varies with investment and mortality experience. To assess how much risk members bear in these arrangements, this report introduces a collection of new risk measures — called benefit at risk, or BaR for short — to be used in the context of varying benefits." ~Jean-François Bégin and Barbara Sanders

Richard Fullmer served as an expert reviewer of this important research. Keep in mind that lifetime pension pools deliver higher income streams than annuities or any type of non-pooled investment. Different designs offer different features, the key features include:

• Assured lifetime income

• Longevity credits that grow over time (on top of investment returns)

• Low cost

• Flexible investment choice

• The ability to change investments when and as desired

• Flexible payout options

• No third-party insurer

• No guarantor counterparty risk

• No expensive guarantee charges

• Payouts are always fully funded

• Actuarially fair to all investors at all times

• Ability to incorporate payout smoothing

• Assets remain in investor's name, allowing financial advisors to continue advising on them

Nuova Longevità has many years of experience developing stochastic methods for projecting longevity risk pool payouts. Our sister company, Nuovalo, offers these models and more as part of its technology platform for the design and administration of longevity risk pools.