Milliman brings clarity, experience, and insight to trustees, employers, and labor unions making decisions regarding their multiemployer retirement plans. We use modeling, visual tools, and relevant examples of real-world scenarios that clearly demonstrate how current decisions affect the future funding of plans and minimize the stress and uncertainty of those decisions. This is why we frequently hear our clients say, “Now we understand.”

PPA 2006: new demands, new opportunities

Our models incorporate new federal funding requirements under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA 2006) and help trustees evaluate and choose among the myriad options now available. We not only evaluate current status, but use modeling that allows us to look 20 years into the future to help our clients develop long-term strategies and plan designs to avoid endangered or critical status.

Among our services to multiemployer clients, we:

• provide unfunded vested benefit liability for withdrawal liability assessments
• design retirement and health and welfare plans
• assist plan administrators and the trustees to accurately and efficiently administer the plan
• provide recordkeeping for supplemental/annuity and 401(k) plans
• educate participants about their benefits through customized communications and educational meetings
• advise trustees on investment strategies and evaluating the results of fund managers

Unbiased advice meets clients’ best interests

Milliman does not sell financial products or insurance, nor do we rely on standardized formulas or solutions. We develop a deep understanding of each client’s organizational history, strategy, and actuarial intricacies before providing tailored advice.

Client example: correcting investment strategy

After the equity markets weakened in the early 2000’s, we helped our clients navigate their actuarial options for rebalancing their plans. For a multiemployer plan in the maritime industry, we changed the actuarial cost method and asset method to smooth out the effect of investment losses. Then we provided asset-liability modeling to assist the board's selection of a more diverse and less volatile asset allocation and help it make changes to the future benefit structure. Finally, we sent letters to participants and held meetings to ensure they understood how they would benefit from the changes. We also provided Q&A documents for trustees so they could easily address any questions that arose.

We guided this client through every step of the difficult process to both support and validate the decisions made by the board and make results clear to the plan’s participants, employers, and union officials.