Managing Pension Plans:: A Comprehensive Guide to Improving Plan Performance

Pension funds are big business. They are important to employers, employees, governments, and society at large. With the increasing concern over dwindling retirement benefits and the effect on public awareness of recent pension fund crises, managing pension plans has never been more critical--and the pressure on those who are responsible for them has only intensified. Destined to become the classic resource on pension plan management, Managing Pension Plans explains everything you need to know for successful management of any pension plan--from how pension plans help sponsors manage their workforces to the latest in investment and risk management. With concise and practical guidance on ways for achieving optimal finance performance, Managing Pensions Plans is an indispensable resource for pension fund trustees, boards of directors, managers, and administrators of both public and private pension plans as well as for the money management firms, consultants, actuaries, and accountants who serve the pension fund industry. Logue and Rader, two of the world's leading experts on the subject, explain all the financial, legal, economic, accounting, and managerial issues that those who make pension fund decisions must juggle--in language that non-financial managers can understand, yet with sufficient depth to be useful to financial managers as well. The authors synthesize the latest in capital market and financial economics research to help those involved in pension management improve their decision-making in all the critical areas, including: choosing the optimal form of pension plan, formulating and implementing the plan's investment strategy, selecting and monitoring pension plan managers, measuring the plan's performance, and managing financial risk. In addition, the book describes in detail the responsibilities of fiduciaries, revealing how to be both a prudent fiduciary and a capable decision maker. Additionally, Managing Pension Plans offers candid advice on how pension managers can improve fund performance by being more effective shareholders. As pension fund management and performance increasingly affect the success of organizations as a whole, this book will be indispensable to anyone--from fund analysts to board members--who influences pension fund decisions.

Dennis E. Logue is at Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, Dartmouth College. Jack S. Rader is at Financial Management Association.