06.04.15
by

Let Kamp Consulting Solutions Be Your DB Plan Advocate

Since KCS’s founding in August 2011, we have worked tirelessly to preserve defined benefit plans as the retirement vehicle of choice for both employees and employers.  Now, more than ever, our effort is needed.  With each passing day, week, month and year, it is becoming increasingly obvious that defined contribution plans are nothing more than glorified savings accounts, at best!

The Federal Reserve’s Household survey, released earlier this week, highlights the challenges facing or employees in trying to save and manage their retirements, as a significant portion of our labor force have accumulated nothing for retirement.  As we’ve stated on numerous occasions, there will be profound social and economic consequences for the US if we can’t manage its workforce through a dignified retirement.

The US economy is still only muddling through 6+ years following the great financial crisis. Much of the “credit” for the muted recovery and lower demand for goods and services can be attributable to weak wage growth.  Importantly, the modest growth in wages doesn’t just impact demand today, but it makes saving for tomorrow that much more challenging.

We need to secure our employee’s retirements through a monthly annuity structure that is best achieved through a DB plan or DB-like structure, such as Double DB. Unfortunately, the elimination of DB plans has been on an accelerated path, and according to the DOL, there are fewer than 25,000 active DB plans today (down from roughly 150,000 in ’86). We’ve seen estimates that the median DC account balance is <$15,000.  An account balance of that size will hardly get one through a year, let alone a retirement.

Furthermore, we shouldn’t be vilifying those employees who are fortunate to be in DB plans, but we should explore opportunities to extend their reach for those that aren’t.  Despite the fact that there are many plans that appear to be dramatically (and maybe unsustainably) underfunded, there are new approaches to the management of DB plans that can be implemented, which will set a plan on a glide path to financial wellness.  We sincerely appreciate that funding volatility can create havoc for both corporate and public entities, but that funding volatility can be mitigated, too.

The last thing that we want to witness is the further erosion in the use of DB plans in favor of DC offerings.  No one is going to win if that occurs. The impact on the employee is obvious, but has corporate America truly assessed the impact from a failed retirement system on the ability of US citizens to remain active members of the economy? KCS has the tools to stabilize and improve the funded status of your DB plans to truly make them viable offerings for the long-term. Let us be your advocate, especially if there is an attempt to freeze or terminate your plan at this time.

06.01.15
by

Where Is The Disconnect? Which Americans?

Americans Feeling Better About Household Finances — Fed Survey

The above is a title from a WSJ article that appeared today. Based on the title, one would think that the average US adult is doing fairly well, and in fact, “a total of 65% of respondents in the Fed’s 2014 Survey of Household Economics and Decision making said they were “living comfortably” or “doing okay,” up from 62% in the 2013 survey, the central bank said Wednesday. In fact, “Some 29% in 2014 said they expected their income to be higher in the next year, up from 21% a year earlier.”

That all sounds rather positive until one pulls back the curtain on the true detail.  “For many Americans, household finances remain fragile: 47% said they wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency expense or would have to borrow money or sell something, and 31% said they went without some form of medical care in the last year because they couldn’t afford it.”  I find it truly outrageous and disconcerting that forty seven percent of responders couldn’t meet an unexpected $400 medical emergency!!  I find it perplexing that 65% can claim that they are doing at least okay if some percent of them couldn’t come up with $400 to meet an unexpected expense.

We continue to read in the financial press how quality jobs are being created and that the unemployment rate is once again nearing “full employment”. But what doesn’t seem to get the same air time is that we have nearly 93 million age-eligible workers on the sidelines.  Among those working, there is a significant % that are forced to work multiple part-time jobs just to get by, and many of our full-time workers are in a position of underemployment given their skill set.

As you know, we are not going to see a strong economic recovery without getting an increase in demand for goods and services.  However, with this much potential demand on the sidelines, we aren’t going to see our corporations investing in plant, equipment, and inventory, likely reducing further employment gains.

Lastly, it was reported that 31% of non-retirees said they had no retirement savings or pension.  If we want to be able to manage our workforce through a normal life cycle, we need to once again find retirement vehicles that actually help employees save so that they can retire. Defined contribution plans are glorified savings vehicles. DB like plans need to be re-introduced so that we can actually retire our employees with the financial means to remain active participants in our economy.

I am outraged, by the results from this survey, and you should be, too. We are creating an environment that continues to favor only a select few, and they certainly don’t have the ability to prop everyone up.  There will be grave economic and social consequences as a result of our inability to get everyone participating in this economy!

06.01.15
by

KCS’s June 2015 Fireside Chat – Exploring Closed-End Funds

We are pleased to share with you the latest edition (#35) in the KCS Fireside Chat series. In this article we explore closed-end funds, and specifically, how they differ from their more common open-end mutual funds.  We hope that you enjoy.

Click to access KCSFCJun15.pdf

IMG_1237

05.26.15
by

The Wrong Objective Gets One The Wrong Outcome!

The financial press continues to focus on the wrong benchmark for DB plans.  Here is an example of what gets reported all the time: “Utah Retirement Systems returned 7.52% in calendar year 2014, surpassing its benchmark return by 151 basis points and meeting its actuarial assumed rate of return.”

What’s the issue? DB plans only have one true benchmark – their liabilities! A DB plan only exists to meet a promised benefit. In addition, the plan’s liabilities don’t grow at the return on asset (ROA) assumption. The liabilities grow or diminish in value with changes in interest rates.

2014 was a bad year for DB plans, as liability growth far outpaced asset growth.  Utah’s 7.52% may look good relative to some hybrid asset benchmark, but I suspect that the funded ratio and funded status once again deteriorated.

Let’s stop focusing exclusively on assets. If plan sponsors and their consultants had focused more on their specific liabilities, I believe that DB plans wouldn’t have had to rethink their benefit formulas or worse frozen and terminated plans at the rate that they have been.  The US economy cannot afford to have everyone’s retirement be dependent on accumulated balances in defined contribution plans.

05.20.15
by

Double DB® – Answers To Your Questions

Earlier this week we shared with you the virtues of Double DB® and encouraged you to reach out with any questions.  I am very pleased with the response that we’ve gotten.

As a reminder, a group of us have confronted two important pension issues: pension cost volatility and resultant perilous pension indebtedness due to prior underfunding (see Illinois, NJ, and a host of other plans).

We have developed an over-arching, patent pending answer to all of it – Double DB®, which;
(1) Provides pensions, not “employee accessible” cash.
(2) Is “percentage of payroll” financed.
(3) Easily “manages” debt from past underfunding.

Here are some of your questions.

Q: How do you manage debt from past underfunding of a traditional DB plan?

Have the plan actuary determine the percentage of payroll expected to finance the plan debt in 30 years based on the actuary’s estimate of the rate of growth in the underlying payroll and the estimate of the rate of growth of the debt. Plan to allocate this percentage of payroll to debt financing every year. If it turns out that more or less than 30 years is required, simply accept the longer or shorter term or adjust the allocated percentage of payroll along the way.

Q: How do you fund and manage Double DB®?

Have the actuary determine the percentage of payroll needed to finance future service benefits of the plan. Plan to pay this percentage of payroll in every future year. In the first year, plan to place one half into a trust fund identified as DB1 and the other half into a trust fund identified as DB2. In the second and each future year, place the then actuarial cost of half of the future service benefit cost into DB1 and the remainder into DB2. Accordingly, one half of the future costs of the plan will always be financed on an actuarially sound basis within DB1, while DB2 will have assets reflecting the extent that experience is more favorable or less favorable than expected at the outset.

Q: What benefit can the employee expect to receive?

In each year of retirement a pensioner will receive one half the scheduled plan benefit from DB1 and an experience modified variation of the scheduled plan benefit from DB2. If an entering plan participant would prefer to have a level benefit rather than the two-part benefit as described, he/she may elect an option to receive, say, 90% of DB1 benefits from DB2 and thereby receiving 95% of the benefit value to which he/she is entitled in retirement. Accordingly, the DB2 component of the plan will be provided a 10% “fee” for taking the risk of paying a larger benefit than the benefit to which the pensioner was entitled over the years of retirement. The 90% component can be more than 90% if the actuary for the plan is satisfied that a higher percentage is justified based on his/her appraisal of the risk.

We thank you for your continued interest.  Please don’t hesitate to bring additional questions to our attention.

05.18.15
by

Double DB® – The Answer to a DB Plan’s Funding Volatility and More

Level cost, as a percentage of payroll, is the preferred basis for financing any retirement plan obligation, which is why 401(k) type defined contribution systems have become the nation’s most prevalent retirement vehicle.

Aware of this development and concerned about pre-retirement spending of accumulating funds by participating employees (loans, premature withdrawals), a group of us have confronted the culprit issues: pension cost volatility and resultant perilous pension indebtedness due to prior underfunding (see Illinois, NJ, and a host of other plans).

We have developed an over-arching, patent pending answer to all of it – Double DB®, which;
(1) Provides pensions, not “employee accessible” cash.
(2) Is “percentage of payroll” financed.
(3) Easily “manages” debt from past underfunding.

While accomplishing the above tasks, Double DB also removes the individual from having to manage these retirement assets.

If you would like to have a conversation about how a conversion of a current defined benefit plan to a Double DB® plan might work, please ask and we can send illustrative language or provide contact with our attorney / actuary.

Finally, It may be of interest to note that Chief Counsel’s Office of IRS regards the Double DB® concept favorably.

05.08.15
by

Another Unintended Consequence?

Today, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down pension reform law as unconstitutional.  The December 2013 law was designed to lift retirement age, cap pensionable salaries, and reduce cost-of-living increases.  On the surface this will be viewed as a victory for the DB participants, but is it truly?  The law’s intent was to help municipalities manage more appropriately contributions into the system.  Through this appeal process “victory”, I fear that Illinois public systems will come under greater scrutiny, likely leading to more pressure to freeze or terminate DB plans for both existing and future employees.  Instead of helping to secure a longer life for DB plans, which we feel is an absolute necessity, this court action may be the death knell.

Any movement to reduce participation in DB plans, while forcing future employees into DC-like programs, will further exacerbate a retirement crisis that is quickly unfolding in the US. We’ve discussed at great length the pitfalls of an employee-lead retirement program, so we won’t cover that here, but would encourage you to go to the KCS website at http://www.kampconsultingsolutions.com to view the many articles in our Fireside Chat series.

Lastly, if a DB system is not likely to be sustained, we would encourage both plan sponsors and board trustees to explore the benefits of alternative DB-like structures (hybrids), including Double DB, a fixed-cost retirement plan design, before migrating your employees to a DC plan.  Asking an untrained employee to manage a very difficult assignment is just not fair, and the financial outcome will likely fall far short from what the participant would have experienced if they’d remained in a DB plan with a monthly annuity feature.

05.01.15
by

KCS May 2015 Fireside Chat – Do You Know The Answer?

We are pleased to share with you the latest edition of the KCS Fireside Chat series.

Click to access KCSFCMay2015.pdf

This article is the 34th in our series.  In this piece we explore whether or not the US Federal Reserve is likely to raise interest rates in the near-term – the $64,000 question.

The uncertainty surrounding this action continues to challenge DB plan asset allocation decisions.  Level to falling US rates will continue to harm DB plan funded ratios.

We hope that you find our insights thought provoking.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with any comments and / or questions, or if we can be of any assistance to you.

04.22.15
by

What is Consulting PLUS?

During the last decade or so, the rage within fixed income investing has been for plan sponsors to seek or investment managers to offer Core Plus fixed income capability. The investment thesis put forward is that a fixed income manager with multiple capabilities can enhance the risk / reward behavior of a single core capability.  The enhancements may be in the form of exposure to such instruments as high yield, international / emerging debt, bank loans, secured debt, etc.  One of the thoughts supporting this concept is that managers should be able to do a better job, on average, than committees in timing exposures and implementing asset shifts.  We agree that by providing a manager with greater investment freedom and breadth the investment process should see an improvement in its risk / return characteristics.

Given the troubles that continue to plague traditional defined benefit plans, especially as it relates to funding them, we, at KCS, feel that this idea should be expanded to other aspects of pension management, including asset consulting.  It seems to us that the asset consulting industry needs to rethink its approach from one focused exclusively on the asset side of the equation to one that rightly focuses on the plan’s liabilities, too.

We’ve written numerous times on the benefits of measuring a plan’s liabilities through the creation of a custom liability index.  Importantly, the output from this exercise helps one better understand their plan’s liability growth rate, term structure and interest rate sensitivity.  Without this insight, how does one allocate assets?  Since every plan’s liabilities are unique, it doesn’t make sense that a generic 8% return (ROA) target could adequately and effectively guide one’s asset allocation.

The seven senior members of KCS’s team have well over 200 years of combined, relevant investment experience. In addition, our senior talent have worked with and consulted to many of our industry’s largest plan sponsors. We understand the asset side of the equation as well as any other firm, while also understanding its limitations, especially in the short-term. Importantly, with KCS you get the PLUS. We are unique in our ability to measure and monitor liabilities, and to use the output to drive asset allocation and our risk-reducing glide path toward full funding.

Why settle for just asset consulting when you can have Consulting PLUS through a firm that knows both ASSETS and LIABILITIES!  If providing greater breadth in fixed income enhances the risk / reward characteristics just wait until you see how adding liability insights enhances your traditional consulting relationship.

04.22.15
by

KCS’s First Quarter 2015 Update

We are pleased to provide you with the KCS First Quarter  2015 Update.

Click to access KCS1Q15.pdf

We live in very interesting times for the global markets, as witnessed during the first quarter’s action. The fall in global interest rates continues to challenge most market observers’ expectations, especially with regard to US rates. The growth in pension liabilities continues to outpace asset growth, putting additional pressure on the funded status of most DB plans.  Just meeting the ROA expectation isn’t enough these days if your plan is in an underfunded state.  Asset growth needs to be focused on eclipsing liability growth by a healthy margin. If not, don’t be surprised to see the plan’s UAAL growing substantially.

But, the decline in long-term interest rates isn’t solely a pension issue, as low rates continue to make it very challenging for retirees to create a monthly income stream without eating into their balances or forcing individuals to assume much more risk.

We are prepared to help you with both your assets and liabilities.

Thank you for your continuing support of KCS.

Sincerely,

Dave, Ivory, Jock, Larry, Lillian, Penn and Russ