Dana Woolfrey to Serve on Speaker Panel at the 2022 CCA Annual Meeting

Events​

October 18, 2022

Dana Woolfrey to Serve on Speaker Panel at the 2022 CCA Annual Meeting

Dana Woolfrey will participate in a panel discussion on the topic “”What’s My Line?” – Recent Research on Public Sector Plans” at the 2022 Conference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA) Annual Meeting. 

During the session, the panel will discuss and debate the key concepts conveyed in these recently published research papers, Enhancing Sustainability of Public Pensions, NCPERS, January 2022, and Addressing and Avoiding Severe Fiscal Stress in Public Pension Plans, Urban Institute, January 2022.  

The CCA Annual Meeting is being held October 16-19, 2022 in Austin, TX.

Piotr Krekora to Participate on Speaker Panel at the CCA Annual Meeting

Events​

October 18, 2022

Piotr Krekora to Participate on Speaker Panel at the CCA Annual Meeting

Piotr Krekora will serve as a panel speaker for the topic “COVID-19: Impact on Demographic Assumptions” at the 2022 Conference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA) Annual Meeting.

COVID-19 has altered the actuarial landscape as trends in mortality, morbidity, retiree health care costs, turnover, payroll growth, and actuarial experience have shifted.  The panel discussion will cover the impact of these changes on pension and OPEB assumptions and actuarial models.

 The CCA Annual Meeting is being held October 16-19, 2022 in Austin, Texas.

GRS Consultants Present at Fall 2022 MAPERS Conference

Events​

September 19, 2022

GRS Consultants Present at Fall 2022 MAPERS Conference

Judith Kermans and Jamal Adora presented the session “Inflation: The Leak in the Pension Boat” at the  Michigan Association of Public Employees Retirement Systems (MAPERS) Fall 2022 Conference. 

The session covered the effect of inflation on retirement system operation, with an emphasis on the retirement security of current and future retirees. Inflation affects many aspects of retirement, such as investment return, purchasing power, wage increases, and plan provisions for cost-of-living adjustments. Due to inflation’s broad impact on public employee retirement systems, it is important for trustees and current and future retirees to understand the effects of inflation and have a plan for managing its impact.

 

Brian Murphy to Participate on Speaker Panel at the NCTR 100th Annual Conference

Events​

October 10, 2022

Brian Murphy to Serve on Actuarial Panel at the NCTR Annual Conference

Brian Murphy will participate in an actuarial panel at the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) 100th Annual Conference. The session “Looking Ahead: Coping with the Financial Costs of Risk and Uncertainty” will cover ASOP 4 implementation, funding policy, actuarial assumptions and system experience.

The NCTR Conference is being held from October 8-11, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona.

GRS Consultants Present at 2022 Missouri APERS

Events​

July 13, 2022

GRS Consultants Present at 2022 Missouri APERS

Heidi Barry and Jamal Adora presented the session Actuary Hot Topics at the 2022 Missouri Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (MAPERS) annual conference. The session covered topics impacting long and short-term plan design, retirement patterns, and pension risk.

The presentation covered: 1) Inflation: Impact of inflation on benefits and assumptions; 2) Mortality Post-Covid: Overview of possible future mortality scenarios; 3) Retirement and Retention: Retirement patterns, pandemic’s impact on retirement, plan designs to retain employees, and impact on liabilities and contributions; and 4) ASOP 4: What is ASOP 4 and what does it change?

Piotr Krekora Serves on Speaker Panel at NCPERS Chief Officers Summit

Events​

June 28, 2022

Piotr Krekora Participates on Speaker Panel at the NCPERS Chief Officers Summit

Piotr Krekora participated in a panel discussion during the NCPERS Chief Officers Summit for the session “Improving the Benefits of Retirees without Damaging the Plan’s Long-Term Viability.” Session summary: The panel discussion covered approaches to protect purchasing power, such as variable cost of living increases and variable benefit designs, and avoid negative impacts on long-term funding status.  The importance of adopting a sound funding policy and conducting projection-based assessments when contemplating plan design changes was also discussed.

GRS Consultants Present at PAPERS Spring Forum

Events​

May 25, 2022

GRS Consultants Present at the PAPERS Spring Forum

James Anderson and Derek Henning presented the topic “Risk Management in the Face of a Changing Economic Environment” during the 2022 Pennsylvania Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems (PAPERS) Spring Forum.

Session Summary: The session covered key provisions of ASOP 51, sources and measurement of risk, and how retirement systems have managed risk in the past and are currently.  The presenters discussed how funding policy and benefit changes can be addressed in the context of a larger risk management framework, given improved funded status, rising inflation, and the trend towards lower investment assumptions.

James Anderson Participates on Speaker Panel at PAPERS Spring Forum

Events​

May 24, 2022

James Anderson Participates on Speaker Panel at the PAPERS Spring Forum

James Anderson serves as a panel speaker for the session “How Inflation Impacts Public Pension Plan Design, Options & Fixed Income” at the Pennsylvania Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems’ (PAPERS) Spring Forum.

Session Summary:
The high inflation environment is one of the more challenging current trends which has raised uncertainty for investment markets, as well as pension plan design. The discussion will cover various aspects of public pension plan design, operations, and investments that may be affected by elevated inflation. Mr. Anderson will cover plan design and operations, with a focus on the actuarial impact of an inflationary environment.

GRS Presents at Spring MAPERS Conference

Events​

May 23, 2022

GRS Presents at Spring MAPERS Conference

Jamal Adora and Casey Ahlbrandt-Rains will present the session “The Big Question: Where is Social Security, And Where is it Going?” at the 2022 Michigan Association of Public Employee Retirement Systems’ (MAPERS) spring conference. 

The presenters will discuss the underlying design principles of social security, its funding mechanism, the challenges the program faces, and potential changes to the program.  The session will focus on public sector participation and history alongside the law, including a comparison of defined benefit pensions and social security and legislation such as the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and Government Pension Offset (GPO). 

Joseph Newton Participates on ASOP 4 Speaker Panel

Events​

May 4, 2022

Joseph Newton Participates on ASOP 4 Speaker Panel

Joseph Newton participated on a speaker panel at the 2022 Conference of Consulting Actuaries (CCA) Enrolled Actuaries Meeting for the session “Impact of Recent Changes in ASOP 4 for Public Plans.”

ASOP No. 4 provides guidance to actuaries when performing actuarial services with respect to measuring obligations under a defined benefit plan and determining periodic costs or actuarially determined contributions for such plans.