When university lecturers take to the barricades with posters proclaiming ‘value pensions using stochastic models not actuarial discounting rules’ it’s clear that our work is under scrutiny. Indeed Universities UK and the University and College Union are proposing a ‘Joint Expert Panel, comprised of actuarial and academic experts’ to examine the USS funding methodology. But are the two actually different methods for valuing a pension scheme? Or are they two sides of the same coin.

The Work and Pensions Committee has launched an inquiry into the recently issued White Paper ‘Protecting defined benefit pension schemes’, published on 19 March 2018. One question posed by the Committee is:

What should "prudent" and "appropriate" scheme funding mean?

A panel will debate the above, current actuarial funding methodology and its suitability across the spectrum of UK pension schemes.