PBGC Shares PIMS with Actuaries

October 12, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has agreed to share its principal modeling tool, the Pension Insurance Modeling System (PIMS), with the Society of Actuaries (SOA).

A PBGC news release said under the agreement, the PBGC has delivered to the SOA a copy of the PIMS source code, the PIMS database, and related model documentation. The SOA will use PIMS to produce its own research and analysis for reports and other external communications.

According to the news release, PBGC research staff developed PIMS to project the pension insurer’s future financial condition and better understand its exposure to risk.  The system produces thousands of projections and generates a range of possible outcomes for pension plans and for the PBGC. 

“This agreement is important,” said PBGC Director Joshua Gotbaum in the news release. “It helps the PBGC ensure the quality of its work by giving experts open access to our models.  And it helps the broader community by giving actuaries a more powerful tool for their research.”

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