JON_SPAIN

This website is entirely my own creation and has nothing to do with any former employers. Not only do I accept all responsibility but also I assert all rights over site content. Nothing on this website constitutes "advice"... Although I am using this site as a portal for other sites, I have decided to include my "long term mantra" briefly. The longer version is at discount rates... In the context of UK pension schemes ("final salary" or "career average"), I strongly believe that the "mark to market" funding approach is fatally flawed, leading to huge economic damage. The capital required has, unnecessarily, weakened many firms of all sizes and too many people have lost their pension expectations. My primary emphasis had been on final salary pension schemes valuations. More recently, however, I have realised that the true problem is as basic as the discount rate. Quite simply, discounting future cashflows over very long periods is pointless if we can't adequately estimate what rate(s)..