The March 2017 issue of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) Social Insurance and Public Finance newsletter, In the Public Interest, features an article written by Lance Weiss, Senior Consultant at Gabriel, Roeder, Smith & Company (GRS), titled “Funding Public Pension Plans—Show me the money!”

According to Mr. Weiss, “the real critical issue facing public pension plans today [is] the need for improved public pension plan funding…the public would receive more value if, instead of just focusing on the very narrow issue of what is the “right” measure of pension liabilities, we all, instead, focus on actions that should be taken to encourage actuarially-based funding of public pension plans. This is the issue on which we all should be spending our time and knowledge—in order to provide our hard working public employees with a sound and secure retirement benefit.”  He adds, “actuaries must provide advice that is accurate, meets the actuarial standards of practice and is clear and appropriate to the circumstances and its intended audience—not advice tailored or massaged to the financial and/or political constraints of our clients or the plan sponsors of our clients.”

The article is available here.