Tuesday, March 16, 2021
For many years there has been concern that when pension plans collapse, it may in part be attributable to the failure of employer plan sponsors to conduct the selection and monitoring of actuarial assumptions in a prudent, objective manner. This is because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) only requires the use of “reasonable” assumptions and “actuarial equivalents”; and because these terms are not defined in the statute, they could mean different things to different people, particularly to different actuaries.
Most recently, there have been challenges to the use of pension plan mortality assumptions and, in particular, claims alleging that the use of older mortality tables in connection with the calculation of joint and survivor benefits violates ERISA’s anti-cutback rule. These cases generally are settled, since winning a motion to dismiss is difficult when alleged violations depend on the meaning of the term “actuarial equivalent,” the definition of which is far from clear, and courts normally conclude that discovery is necessary before ruling on the merits of the claim.