Papers and reports

The 1993 Jubilee Lecture considered two fundamental questions addressed in the report of the Pension Law Review Committee: when an employee joins an occupational pension scheme, what should the law consider to be the fundamental pension promise; and how should that promise be protected? The factors affecting the employee’s expectations are examined in the light of the pension promise, and the conclusion drawn that certain expectations relating to accrued rights should be protected by law, although the employer should be able to control its financial commitments as to future service.

The paper proposes a new way of assessing an investment manager's skill in the day-to-day management of portfolios. The authors argue that traditional investment performance measurement techniques, whilst appropriate for many purposes, do not provide the insights necessary to judge the skill of investment managers. To judge manager skill, it is necessary to consider the activity within the portfolio in terms of the purchases, sales and trades, and to determine the value added by that activity.

One of the major purposes of this paper is to consider how pension benefits might be dealt with in a divorce settlement, both in the context of the Scottish law as it currently stands and more generally if it were possible to change the current divorce or pensions law. Our prime emphasis is on final salary pension schemes; similar principles can be applied to money purchase schemes. It became clear in writing this paper that it is necessary to consider also State benefits, both pension and means tested benefits.

This paper is concerned with the current and future financing of long-term care (LTC). This is defined as the provision of nursing and care services to those adults who are incapable, to some degree, of looking after themselves, but excluding short-term convalescent care. The current position is summarised, covering the demand and supply of LTC, how it is currently financed, new developments and consumer attitudes. The paper then goes on to consider future developments. Possible patterns of future demand, covering likely needs and costs are given.

The working party was required to establish what actuarial information is needed by the financial world for the proper evaluation of a bid for a quoted insurance company, and, in the light of these findings, to consider what may be required in the way of guidance to actuaries. The report considers the issues which occur when life insurance companies are subject to takeovers and to other changes of ownership.

This paper deals with the development of unitised with-profits business in the United Kingdom. The authors trace the recent history of these products and comment on the main reasons for their development. They also deal with corporate issues, including implications for policyholders and shareholders of different fund structures and different types of life office. Pricing and product development issues are also covered. Reserving issues including the range of valuation methods, statutory requirements and policyholders’ reasonable expectations are explored.