MARKET VALUATION OF CASH BALANCE PENSION BENEFITS

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1 PBSS, 24/June/2013 1/40 MARKET VALUATION OF CASH BALANCE PENSION BENEFITS Mary Hardy, David Saunders, Mike X Zhu University of Waterloo IAA/PBSS Symposium Lyon, June 2013

2 PBSS, 24/June/2013 2/40 Outline 1. Background 2. Framework, assumptions, notation 3. The valuation formulas 4. Some results for April 2013 interest rates 5. Results for past yield curves 6. Other valuation methods

3 PBSS, 24/June/2013 3/40 Cash Balance Pensions Look like DC contribution (% of salary) paid into participant s account account accumulates to retirement lump sum retirement benefit withdrawal benefit =account value (after vesting) Regulated like DB Participant accounts are nominal

4 PBSS, 24/June/2013 4/40 Crediting rates Participant s account accumulates at specified crediting rate. For example Yield on 30-year government bonds Yield on 10-year government bonds Yield on 5-year government bonds + 25bp Yield on 1-year government bonds + 100bp Fixed rate, eg 5% p.y. CPI rate

5 PBSS, 24/June/2013 5/40 Some statistics... In 2010, 12 million CB participants in US Early popularity with sponsors, late 1990s Simple transition from traditional DB to CB Compared with DB to DC transition Tax benefits More transparent (apparently) Less contribution volatility (apparently) With participants.. More portable, more transparent But transition problems for older members

6 PBSS, 24/June/2013 6/40 Framework, assumptions, notation Participant with n years service at valuation date. At valuation t=0. Retires at T with n+t years Ignore exits, annuitization. Value future benefit arising from past contributions Use market valuation methods Generates the cost of transferring the pension liability to capital markets

7 PBSS, 24/June/2013 7/40 Framework, assumptions, notation FF tt denotes the participant s fund at tt ii cc cc (tt), rr (tt) denote the crediting rates at tt rr kk tt denotes the kk-year spot rate at tt rr(tt) denotes the short rate at tt pp(tt, tt + kk) denotes the price at tt of a $1, kk-year zero coupon bond.

8 PBSS, 24/June/2013 8/40 Framework, assumptions, notation Recall that krk( t) (, + ) = ptt k e Using financial valuation principles, we also have t+ k Q p( t, t + k) = E t exp r( s) ds t

9 PBSS, 24/June/2013 9/40 Framework, assumptions, notation Assume continuous crediting, given FF tt T c FT = Ft exp r ( s) ds t This is a random variable unless the crediting rate is constant.

10 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 The Valuation Formula The market value at t=0 of the benefit FF TT is V = E FT e Q 0 0 Q 0 0 T 0 r ( s) ds T T c r ( s) ds r ( s) ds Q 0 0 = FE 0 0 e e = F E T c ( ( ) ( )) 0 e r s r s ds

11 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 The Valuation Formula We let That is T Q c V( t, T ) = Et exp r ( s) r( s) ds t V(t,T) = market value at t of CB benefit at T per $1 of nominal fund at t No exits No future contributions With continuous compounding

12 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Fixed crediting rate Suppose rr cc t is constant, =rr cc, say Then T Q c V(0, T ) = E0 exp r ( s) r( s) ds 0 T c Q = exp( Tr ) E0 exp r( s) ds 0 c = exp( Tr ) p(0, T ) The T-year zcb price p(0,t), is known at t=0

13 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Fixed crediting rate For example, rr cc = log 1.05 Using US yield curve at 1/April/2013 V(0,5) = (1.05) 5 ( ) = V(0,10) = (1.05) 10 ( ) = V(0,20) = (1.05) 20 ( ) = That is, with a 10-year horizon to retirement, every $1 of fund costs $ Every $1 of new contribution costs $ Model-free valuation result.

14 Crediting with the short rate Suppose the crediting rate is the short rate plus a fixed margin mm That is rr cc tt = rr tt + mm, then PBSS, 24/June/ / (0, ) exp ( ) ( ) exp ( ) ( ) T Q c T Q mt V T E r s r s ds E rs m rs ds e = = + =

15 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with the short rate For example, rr cc tt = rr tt + mm, with mm = Then V(0,5) = e 5m = V(0,10) = e 10m = V(0,20) = e 20m = This will be» to the valuation for 3-month T-bill +175bp crediting rates. Model-free

16 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with k-year spot rates Crediting with rr cc tt = rr kk tt + mm We need a market model for rr kk (tt) We use one-factor Hull-White / ext Vasicek model ( θ ) dr() t = a () t r() t dt + σdw t+ k Q ptt (, + k) = Et exp rsds ( ) = exp Att (, + k) Btt (, + k) rt () t Btt (, + k) = 1 e a ak t { } 2 p(0, t + k) σ Att (, + k) = log + rt (0) Btt (, + k) Btt (, + k) 1 e p(0, t) 4a at ( ) 2 2

17 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with k-year spot rates ptt (, + k) = e ( t ) { (, t } exp Att (, + k) Btt+ kr ) ( ) = exp{ kr ( t)} r ( t) = k kr k Bt (, t + k) r() t A(, t t + k) k k T Q V(0, T) = E0 exp rk () t + m r() t dt 0 T Q Btt (, + krt )() Att (, + k) = E0 exp + m r( t) dt 0 k

18 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with k-year spot rates Separate out terms in r(t) T T mt Att (, + k) Q V(0, T) = e exp dt E0 exp γ r() t dt 0 k 0 where ak 1 e γ = 1 ak The second term is evaluated using numerical integration (partly). The third term can be solved analytically similar to the case γ=1...

19 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with k-year spot rates E Q 0 T exp γ r( t) dt = 0 2 at at 2 2aT σγ (1 e )(1 2 γ) (1 e ) + γ(1 e ) exp γ log p(0, T) + + T(1 γ) 2a a 2a We use parameters a = 0.02, σ = For T=5, 10, 20 years r c (t)= 30-yr spot rate 20-yr spot rate 10-yr spot rate 5-yr + 25bp 1-yr + 100bp 0.5-yr+150bp Yield curve from 1/4/13 US treasuries.

20 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with k-year spot rates V(0,T); 2013 YC Crediting Rate T=5 T=10 T=20 30-yr yr yr yr+0.25% yr+1.0% ½-yr+1.5% short+1.75% % fixed

21 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Impact of the starting YC Repeat the valuation for yield curves Plot V(0,T) over time for different r c (t) definitions and for T=5, 10, 20 Same scale

22 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 T=5-years

23 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 T=10-years

24 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 T=20-years

25 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Comments What is the most stable choice for r c? Long rates are more stable than short rates Constant rates are even more stable But long rates and constant rates produce more volatility than short rates.

26 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Comments Has the cost risen since the early transitions in 1998? For fixed rates yes For market based rates it s more complicated Interest rates were high in 1999, r % But the cost is low because short rates were also high. The risk is from the spread, rr kk (tt) rr(tt) not from the absolute values

27 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Crediting with k-year par yields More realistic for k >1 But requires simulation, no analytic results For 1/4/2013 valuation: V(0,T); 2013 YC Crediting Rate T=5 T=10 T=20 30-yr par yr par yr par yr+0.25%

28 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Actuarial valuations Review traditional approaches Consider three CB methods Principles and notation: AL t = actuarial liability = target asset requirement NC t = Normal Contribution = contribution needed to fund the expected increase in AL, t to t+1 Under valuation assumptions, ignoring exits ( ALt + NCt)(1 + it) = AL t + 1

29 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Actuarial valuation for final-salary DB Accruals based Þ past service earned benefits are included in the valuation Accruals methods are PUC and CUC(=TUC) Projected accrued Þ benefits from past service indexed to retirement by salary scale. Current accrued Þ benefits from past service valued assuming no further increases.

30 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 CB Valuation 1: Past service, projected credited interest Past service Þ no allowance for future contributions to participant s fund This is the method used above, with market rates and models AL t NC t = = F V(, t T ) t cs V(, t T ) t

31 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 CB Valuation 2: Past service, current credited interest Past service Þ no allowance for future contributions to participant s fund Current credited interest Þ no allowance for future credited interest v i (s) denotes the valuation discount factor for s-yrs ahead AL t = F t t t t t ( ) ( ) c S (1 i ( t)) (1) 1 NC = cs + F + c + v i

32 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 CB Valuation 3: Full service, projected credited interest, pro-rata accrual Let BB (TT) tt denote the projected final benefit, and let n denote service at the valuation date Deterministic salary growth and crediting rate assumptions AL = B T v T t NC ( ( ) ( )) t t i t = AL n t n n+ T t

33 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Example Olivia 19 years service 1 year to retirement S=$75 000, F= Harriet 10 years service 10 years to retirement S=60 000, F= Beatrice 1 year service 19 years to retirement S=50 000, F=4 000

34 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Example Assume 1/4/2103 market rates for v i (s) Crediting rate = (30-year rate) Future crediting rate assumption (for method 3) i c (s)= Future salary growth assumption 2% p.y. (method 3)

35 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Example: AL t /F t, market rates

36 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Example: NC t /S t, market rates

37 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Example: AL t /F t, i=6%

38 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Example: NC t /S t, i=6%

39 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Comments Valuation by projecting/discounting/pro-rata is more like TUC than PUC Assuming a non-market interest rate generates AL considerably less than fund values Potential for spectacular losses and reputational risk Assuming credited interest for long term may be overly conservative This is the true PUC analogy But not projecting leads to high contribution rates Similar to TUC method

40 PBSS, 24/June/ /40 Conclusions This benefit isn t as simple as we thought This benefit isn t as cheap as we thought/think Underfunding relative to F t should not be permitted CB beginning to gain popularity outside US Is this really desirable? Risk management is for future work Managing the 30-year rate guarantee is not easy

Cash Balance Plans: Valuation and Risk Management Cash Balance Plans: Valuation and Risk Management

w w w. I C A 2 0 1 4. o r g Cash Balance Plans: Valuation and Risk Management Cash Balance Plans: Valuation and Risk Management Mary Hardy, with David Saunders, Mike X Zhu University Mary of Hardy Waterloo