Market-Consistent Valuation and Funding of Cash Balance Pensions

M. R. Hardy, D. Saunders and X. Zhu

North American Actuarial Journal, 2014, vol. 18, issue 2, 294-314

Abstract: Cash balance pension benefits are accumulated at guaranteed crediting rates, usually based on yields on government securities. Viewed as a financial liability, the benefit is a form of interest rate derivative, which can be valued using financial models and theory. In this article, we derive the market value for a range of commonly used crediting rates, assuming the accrued benefit liability comprises the past contributions, allowing for full interest credits up to a known future retirement date. We use the Hull-White interest rate model to determine crediting rates and to determine the market value. We explore the risks associated with different crediting rate choices by evaluating the liability using market data from 1998 to 2013. We propose two other approaches to the accrued benefit. The first approach assumes the accrued benefit comprises past contributions with interest up to the valuation date, but no future interest credits. Future credits on past contributions are assumed funded through future contributions. The second method projects all contributions and interest to retirement and assumes equal units of accrual of this projected benefit in each year of service. We compare the three approaches through numerical examples.

Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/10920277.2014.906154 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:uaajxx:v:18:y:2014:i:2:p:294-314

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/uaaj20

DOI: 10.1080/10920277.2014.906154

Access Statistics for this article

North American Actuarial Journal is currently edited by Kathryn Baker

More articles in North American Actuarial Journal from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().