Joined-Up Pensions Policy in the UK: An Asset-Libility Model for Simultaneously Determining the Asset Allocation and Contribution Rate

The trustees of funded defined benefit pension schemes must make two vital and inter-related decisions - setting the asset allocation and the contribution rate. While these decisions are usually taken separately, it is argued that they are intimately related and should be taken jointly. The objective of funded pension schemes is taken to be the minimization of both the mean and the variance of the contribution rate, where the asset allocation decision is designed to achieve this objective. This is done by splitting the problem into two main steps. First, the Markowitz mean-variance model is generalised to include three types of pension scheme liabilities (actives, deferreds and pensioners), and this model is used to generate the efficient set of asset allocations. Second, for each point on the risk-return efficient set of the asset-liability portfolio model, the mathematical model of Haberman (1992) is used to compute the corresponding mean and variance of the contribution rate and funding ratio. Since the Haberman model assumes that the discount rate for computing the present value of liabilities equals the investment return, it is generalised to avoid this restriction. This generalisation removes the trade-off between contribution rate risk and funding ratio risk for a fixed spread period. Pension schemes need to choose a spread period, and it is shown how this can be set to minimise the variance of the contribution rate. Finally, using the result that the funding ratio follows an inverted gamma distribution, shortfall risk and expected tail loss are computed for funding below the minimum funding requirement, and funding above the taxation limit. This model is then applied to one of the largest UK pension schemes - the Universities Superannuation Scheme

Artificial Insemination in the Human

The idea that impregnation might occur without coitus has aroused interest since ancient times. In the second century A.D., there was recorded a hypothetical discussion concerning a woman who had been inseminated by semen previously deposited in the bath water in which she bathed. In 1322, an Arab used artificial insemination with horses. A wad of wool was introduced into the vagina of a mare and left overnight. It was then held over the nostrils of a stallion, and with this stimulus the stallion ejaculated on a cloth held in readiness. The ejaculated material was then introduced into the vagina of the mare, which foaled after the appropriate length of time

Gynecological Problems of Adolescents

In childhood, prior to adolescence, vaginal bleeding is only rarely a problem. During adolescence, however, vaginal bleeding (or the lack of it) is a common complaint

A False Perception? The relative riskiness of AIM and listed Stocks

This research examines the perception that the AIM market is riskier than the Official List market in comparable stocks. The empirical analysis uses high frequency data for January 2000 to December 2004 on 533 AIM stocks and 264 comparable Official List stocks. Risk is measured in a variety of ways. At a superficial level AIM stocks appear riskier than comparable Official List stocks. However, as the analysis is refined to ensure the comparison focuses purely on the effects of being listed on different markets, the additional AIM risk shrinks and finally disappears. This conclusion concurs with the current market practitioner view that there is no significant risk differential.

Treatment of Amenorrhea: When Pregnancy Is and Is Not Desired

We have had three discussions this afternoon concerning amenorrhea, and most of these have dealt with the diagnosis of causative conditions. I am going to discuss the treatment of these women

A Proposed Plan Of Guidance For Dayton High School, Dayton, Texas

Our elementary and Secondary School system as a whole may be conceived as an institution established and maintained largely for guidance purposes. Entry into a vocation presupposes a definite choice and a decision based on the previous sampling. At present, the social and economic problems are so complex that few parents are competent enough to give needed advice to their boys and girls. Obviously, the best insurance that can be provided against blundering on the part of the individual preparing to take up his burden of work is wise counsel and guidance during the formative period of his life. The vocational guidance movement, so-called, which has developed during the past fifteen years is fundamentally an attempt to co-ordinate every possible constructive influence of the school into a combined educational and vocational guidance program. It demands a personal and at the same time a scientific consideration of each child\u27s individual needs and capacities and an individual education program adopted to those needs and capacities. Guidance involves all the factors which, constitute education. While it has long since been agreed that children should be sufficiently well prepared in the secondary school, if possible, so that they may exercise intelligent judgment in weighing values and in choosing their future courses of study. The purpose of this plan is to provide continuous and systematic guidance with children during their entire school attendance above the sixth grade, as well as training and adjustment periods

[email protected], Request to testify file number s7-13-00, Members of the Securities and Exchange Commission:

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/1718/thumbnail.jp

The standard error of measurement is a more appropriate measure of quality for postgraduate medical assessments than is reliability: an analysis of MRCP(UK) examinations

Background: Cronbach's alpha is widely used as the preferred index of reliability for medical postgraduate examinations. A value of 0.8-0.9 is seen by providers and regulators alike as an adequate demonstration of acceptable reliability for any assessment. Of the other statistical parameters, Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) is mainly seen as useful only in determining the accuracy of a pass mark. However the alpha coefficient depends both on SEM and on the ability range (standard deviation, SD) of candidates taking an exam. This study investigated the extent to which the necessarily narrower ability range in candidates taking the second of the three part MRCP(UK) diploma examinations, biases assessment of reliability and SEM.Methods: a) The interrelationships of standard deviation (SD), SEM and reliability were investigated in a Monte Carlo simulation of 10,000 candidates taking a postgraduate examination. b) Reliability and SEM were studied in the MRCP(UK) Part 1 and Part 2 Written Examinations from 2002 to 2008. c) Reliability and SEM were studied in eight Specialty Certificate Examinations introduced in 2008-9.Results: The Monte Carlo simulation showed, as expected, that restricting the range of an assessment only to those who had already passed it, dramatically reduced the reliability but did not affect the SEM of a simulated assessment. The analysis of the MRCP(UK) Part 1 and Part 2 written examinations showed that the MRCP(UK) Part 2 written examination had a lower reliability than the Part 1 examination, but, despite that lower reliability, the Part 2 examination also had a smaller SEM (indicating a more accurate assessment). The Specialty Certificate Examinations had small Ns, and as a result, wide variability in their reliabilities, but SEMs were comparable with MRCP(UK) Part 2.Conclusions: An emphasis upon assessing the quality of assessments primarily in terms of reliability alone can produce a paradoxical and distorted picture, particularly in the situation where a narrower range of candidate ability is an inevitable consequence of being able to take a second part examination only after passing the first part examination. Reliability also shows problems when numbers of candidates in examinations are low and sampling error affects the range of candidate ability. SEM is not subject to such problems; it is therefore a better measure of the quality of an assessment and is recommended for routine use

Public Accounting: Profession or Business? The Seymour Jones Distinguished Lecture at the Vincent C. Ross Institute of Accounting Research Stern School of Business, New York University (abstract)

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_assoc/1734/thumbnail.jp