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Minimum Funding Ratios for Defined-Benefit Pension Funds

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Author Info
Arjen Siegmann

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Abstract

We compute minimum funding ratios for Defined Benefit (DB) plans based on the expected utility that can be achieved in a Defined Contribution (DC) pension scheme. Using Monte Carlo simulation, expected utility is computed for three different specifications of utility: power utility, mean-shortfall and mean-downside deviation. Depending on risk aversion and the level of sophistication assumed for the DC-scheme, minimum acceptable funding ratios are between 0.87 and 1.20. If the DC-scheme is constrained to a fixed-contribution setup, minimum funding ratios are between 0.87 and 0.98. Furthermore, the attractiveness of the DB plan increases with the expected equity premium and the fraction invested in stocks. We conclude that the expected value of intergenerational solidarity, implicit in the DB pension fund, can be large. Given a pension fund with a funding ratio of 1.30, a participant in a DC plan has to pay a 2.7 to 6.1%-point higher contribution to achieve equal expected utility.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department in its series DNB Working Papers with number 180.

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Date of creation: Sep 2008
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Handle: RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:180

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Related research
Keywords: defined-benefit pension fund; individual efficiency; defined-contribution;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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  2. Dalal, Ardeshir J & Arshanapalli, Bala G, 1993. " Estimating the Demand for Risky Assets via the Indirect Expected Utility Function," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 277-88, June.
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  5. A.H. Siegmann, 2003. "Optimal Investment Policies for Defined Benefit Pension Funds," WO Research Memoranda (discontinued) 728, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Boender, Guus C. E., 1997. "A hybrid simulation/optimisation scenario model for asset/liability management," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 126-135, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Gollier, Christian, 2005. "Optimal Portfolio Management for Individual Pension Plans," IDEI Working Papers 298, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Andrew A. Samwick & Jonathan Skinner, 2004. "How Will 401(k) Pension Plans Affect Retirement Income?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 329-343, March. [Downloadable!]
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