SEI Investments Releases Research for Pension Accounting Disclosures

SEI Investments a leading global provider of asset management and investment technology solutions, today announced the release of a new research paper outlining actuarial assumption ranges to be used for Financial Accounting Standards No. 87 (FAS 87).

The 2005 commentary and ranges provide assistance and guidance for plan sponsors and corporate officers at a time when scrutiny around pension-related accounting assumptions is at an all-time high.

The paper, the latest in the SEI's Pension Research Series, helps plan sponsors and corporations by examining:

• The areas in which discount rate affects pension expense.
• What FAS 87 discount rate plan sponsors should use for 2005.
• Ways to determine whether or not current return on asset (ROA) assumptions are reasonable.
• What FAS 87 ROA assumption plan sponsors should use for 2005.

"A number of major corporations have recently experienced some level of inquiry around their pension accounting practices and whether or not their assumptions are in line with FAS 87," said Jim Morris, Senior Vice President of SEI's Retirement Solutions. "With this backdrop, it is easy to accept that the 2004 disclosure assumptions will need to be selected with as much care as ever before. SEI's deep expertise in defined benefit accounting and specific understanding of FAS 87 allows us to complete this type of research."

Data in the paper is derived from the 2004 SEI Plan Sponsor Accounting Database, which consists of data from Standard & Poor's Institutional Market Services database as well as proprietary analysis created by the SEI Retirement Solutions and Advisory Team. To request a copy of the research or to learn more about some of the assumptions outlined in the report, you can contact SEI at survey@seic.com [1]