Asset Liability Management

Market valuation of assets is a topic that has been discussed for quite some time now, but the valuation of pension contracts including all embedded options is a major challenge for pension fund policy makers. On top of that, pension fund beneficiaries are increasingly demanding more transparency with regard to the exact nature of their pension arrangement, or their pension deal. This article sheds some light on the management of the current and future financial health of a defined-benefit public pension fund. Most funds conduct a so-called Asset Liability Management (ALM) study that investigates the impact of decisions with regard to investment, contribution, and indexation policy on the various stakeholders of the fund (employees, employers, and retired and future generations).