The Society of Actuaries has released its latest U.S. mortality assumptions for pension plans, which were last updated in 2000.

The new tables show that the average 65-year-old U.S. male is expected to live to be 86.6, and the average 65-year-old female is expected to live to be 88.8 years of age.

That’s an increase of 2.0 years for men, and 2.4 for women. The SOA said that could translate to a 4 percent to 8 percent cost in private plan defined benefit liabilities, depending on the design and demographic profile of each plan. Previous mortality tables were published in 2000.

Rick Jones, a senior partner in the national retirement practice at Aon Hewitt, said the increase in life expectancy is likely to accelerate the trend of de-risking private sector defined benefit plans.

“It’s a big number, and it’s going to have real consequences on sponsors’ pension liabilities,” said Jones.

Jones said that Aon expects the new mortality rates to add an average of 7 percent to sponsors’ liability predictions, assuming they were working off of the SOA’s 2000 estimates.

Based in Chicago, Aon’s national retirement practice represents plan sponsors and plan trustees in brokering de-risking contracts with insurance companies. Jones said that they are never paid by insurance companies, but are compensated on a fee-for-service basis from the plan sponsor.

As increased life spans potentially motivate more sponsors to de-risk their pension liabilities, two prominent lawmakers have called for greater regulation over how sponsors, and insurance companies, execute de-risking transactions and communicate risks to participants.

In a letter to top regulators, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Committee on Health, Labor, Education and Pensions, claimed there is a “lack of clear and specific rules to protect participants and retirees” in pension de-risking schemes.

From his vantage at Aon, Jones doesn’t foresee a regulatory standoff over de-risking anytime soon.

“Our clients take very seriously their fiduciary obligations when they execute these transactions. They need to know from a fiduciary standpoint whether or not they can stand behind the decision to de-risk,” he explained.

“At the end of the day, private pensions are voluntary agreements made by sponsors. Any movement against de-risking is going to be hard-pressed to garner support.”

As de-risking becomes a growing part of overall portfolios, insurance companies are tending to make separate accounts for each acquired plan. Jones said this means insurance companies can focus a specific investment strategy for each plan, providing greater security for the assets, and greater assurance of insurance companies’ ability to meet future obligations.

The SOA’s estimates relate solely to private pension plans. For this year’s report, they requested information from three major public plans and found the mortality experience of public plan workers to be substantially different from private plan workers.

The data from each of the three public plans was also so disparate that it “would not be appropriate to develop separate public plan retiree mortality tables” based on available public plan data, according to the SOA.

Instant Insights /

Increasing life expectancy may accelerate de-risking

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