Featured News and Research

• Funded Status of Fortune 1000 DB Plans Declines in 2011

  In pension plans sponsored by Fortune 1000 companies, assets continued to grow in 2011 — albeit not by much — and asset growth was outpaced by the growth of liabilities. On an aggregate level — total assets divided by total PBO for all 422 firms — we estimate that funded status fell from 84% in 2010 to 78% in 2011.Continue reading...

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  Wellness Programs and In-House Care: How Hospitals Can Lower Employee Health Coverage Costs

  Hospitals, under unprecedented pressure to control costs, are taking a hard look at their escalating budgets for employee health care benefits, which have been rising faster than in most other industries.Continue reading...

• Insights — AG 38 Developments: Industry Responds to Draft Framework

  This Towers Watson Insights article provides life insurers and other interested parties with a better understanding of both the AG 38 Draft Framework and industry comments, as well as our perspectives on this issue’s impact on the industry over the next six to 12 months.Continue reading...

• President Signs Two-Month Doc Fix and Extension of Payroll Tax Holiday

  President Obama signed into law a two-month extension of the 2011 payroll tax reduction for employees — from 6.2% to 4.2% — and another delay for the scheduled 27% reduction in Medicare physician reimbursement rates. The extensions are slated to expire February 29.Continue reading...

• Retirement Income: Risks and Strategies Sets Out a Path to Retirement Security

  In a new book, Retirement Income: Risks and Strategies, Mark Warshawsky and colleagues suggest strategies, plan provisions, products and public policies to help middle-class American retirees, now and in the future, maximize their incomes and reduce their risks.Continue reading...

• Global Pension Fund Assets Hit Record High in 2011

  Global institutional pension fund assets in the 13 major markets grew by 4% during 2011 to reach a new high of US$28 trillion, up from US$26 trillion in 2010 according to Towers Watson’s Global Pension Assets Study released today. The growth is the continuation of a trend which started in 2009 when assets grew 17%, and in sharp contrast to a 21% fall during 2008 which took assets back to 2006 levels. Global pension fund assets have now grown at over 6% on average per annum (in USD) since 2001, when they were valued at US$15 trillion.Continue reading...

• Retirement Planning in a Post-Crisis Economy

  This article is the first in a three-part series based on the 2011 Towers Watson Retirement Attitudes Survey highlighting American workers’ attitudes toward their household finances and retirement readiness. Many Americans have become more financially conservative, cutting back on spending and paying more attention to household finances and retirement planning and saving.Continue reading...

• The Defined Contribution Plans of Fortune 100 Companies for the 2010 Plan Year

  This Towers Watson study analyzes Fortune 100 companies’ 2010 accounting reports for their largest DC plan. It looks at eligibility and vesting rules, employee and employer contributions, and plan investments as well as five-year trends in plan design and practices.Continue reading...

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  2012 Benefit Basics and Reporting & Disclosure Requirements

  This piece provides a handy listing of updated statutory limits, disclosure requirements and deadlines, and related 2011 information for retirement and health and welfare plans in the United States.Continue reading...

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  The New Governance Landscape: Implications From the 2011 Towers Watson U.S. Retirement Plan Governance Survey December 2011

  This Towers Watson survey analyzes the retirement benefit plan governance practices (both DB and DC plans) of over 245 U.S. employers, representing a broad range of industries and sizes.Continue reading...

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  Joining Forces: Forging an HR/Finance Partnership to Shape Employee Rewards for the Future

  More than 300 HR and Finance professionals give their opinion on how Health Care Reform will impact employee rewards programs, cost containment efforts and talent management strategy at U.S.-based organizations.Continue reading...

• TAA Extension Act Includes Health Coverage Provisions

  The TAA Extension Act of 2011 retroactively increases the health coverage tax credit and extends COBRA periods for eligible TAA program participants and certain PBGC payees.Continue reading...

• Raising PBGC Premiums and Reforming DB Plan Funding Rules Remain on Legislative Agenda

  For a while, it looked as if higher PBGC premiums for defined benefit plans would become part of a deal crafted by the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, and plan sponsors had hoped to include proposals to stabilize required contributions to DB plans in the package.Continue reading...

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  Five Stages of Evolution – The Critical Role of Financial Models

  In the second article of a three-part series examining the five stages of evolution of financial reporting functions for life insurers, Towers Watson discusses the importance of model design in moving from the technical or production stage to the analysis stage.Continue reading...

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  Insights: Summary of U.S. Property & Casualty Insurers’ Asbestos Reserves at Year-End 2011

  U.S. P&C insurers’ annual net incurred asbestos losses dropped steeply from 2002 to 2008, but have since increased modestly, and are expected to continue at $1 billion or more, posing a continued drag on earnings.Continue reading...

• The NAIC ORSA — The Evolutionary Process Continues

  This article is the latest Towers Watson's update on the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s (NAIC’s) Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) requirement.Continue reading...

• Supreme Court Asked to Rule on Health Care Reform

  Twenty-six states, various business groups and the Department of Justice have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that the individual mandate in the health care reform law is unconstitutional.Continue reading...

• A Look at Defined Contribution Match Reinstatements

  During the recent financial crisis, many employers took cost-cutting measures to preserve their cash. Some employers scaled back retirement benefits, and this analysis looks at 260 companies that either reduced or suspended their 401(k) plan matching contribution after 2008 to see what happened next.Continue reading...

• The ERM Bar Is Raised Again

  As U.S. insurers make their 2012 business plans and set their risk management priorities, companies will need to more deliberately consider the emerging enterprise risk management (ERM) requirements of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and A.M. Best.Continue reading...

• Asset Allocations of Corporate Pension Plans as of Year-End 2010

  This is Towers Watson’s second detailed analysis of the asset allocations of Fortune 1000 pension plan sponsors. Once again, we look at allocations by asset class and valuation level on both an aggregate and average-sponsor basis, as well as by plan size, plan status (closed, frozen or active) and funded status.Continue reading...