WEB CHAPTER 29—PENSION PLAN MANAGEMENT
TRUE/FALSE
1. Under a defined contribution plan, employees agree to contribute some percentage of their salaries, up
to 20 percent, to the firm’s pension fund.
2. If employees have a right to receive pension benefits even if they leave the company prior to
retirement, their pension rights are said to be vested.
3. From a pure cost standpoint, a firm with a defined contribution plan would be more likely to hire older
workers than a firm with a defined benefit plan.
4. The performance measurement of stock portfolio managers must recognize the risk inherent in the
investment portfolio. One way to incorporate risk into performance measurement is to examine the
portfolio’s alpha, which measures the vertical distance of the portfolio’s return above or below the
Security Market Line.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
5. Which of the following statements about pension plans if any, is incorrect?
a.
Under a defined benefit plan, the employer agrees to give retirees a specifically defined
benefit, such as $500 per month or 50 percent of the employee’s final salary.
b.
A portable pension plan is one that an employee can carry from one employer to another.
c.
An employer’s obligation is satisfied under a defined contribution plan when it makes the
required contributions to the plan. The risk of inadequate investment returns is borne by
the employee.
d.
If assets exceed the present value of benefits, the pension plan is fully funded.
e.
A defined contribution plan is, in effect, a savings plan that is funded by employers,
although many plans also permit additional contributions by employees.
6. Which of the following statements about defined contribution plans is incorrect?
a.
In general, employees can choose the investment vehicle under a defined contribution
plan. Thus, highly risk-averse employees can choose low-risk investments, while more
risk-tolerant employees can choose high-risk investments.
b.
In a defined contribution plan, the employer must make larger-than-average contributions
to the pension plan when investment returns have been below expectations.
c.
Defined benefit plans are used more often by large corporations than by small companies.
d.
The PBGC insures a portion of pension benefits.
e.
A defined contribution plan places the risk of poor pension portfolio performance on the
employee.
7. Which of the following statements about pension plan portfolio performance is incorrect?
a.
Alpha analysis, which relies on the Capital Asset Pricing Model, considers the risk of the
portfolio when measuring performance.
b.
Peer comparison examines the relative performance of portfolio managers with similar
investment objectives.
c.
A portfolio annual return of 12 percent from one investment advisor is not necessarily
better than a return of 10 percent from another advisor.
d.
In managing the retiree portfolio, fund managers often use immunization techniques such
as alpha analysis to eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, the risk associated with
changing interest rates.
e.
Pension fund sponsors must evaluate the performance of their portfolio managers
periodically as a basis for future asset allocations.
8. Ms. Lloyd, who is 25 and expects to retire at age 60, has just been hired by the Chambers Corporation.
Ms. Lloyd’s current salary is $30,000 per year, but her wages are expected to increase by 5 percent
annually over the next 35 years. Chambers has a defined benefit pension plan in which workers receive
2 percent of their final year’s wages for each year of employment. Assume a world of certainty.
Further, assume that all payments occur at year-end. What is Ms. Lloyd’s expected annual retirement
benefit, rounded to the nearest thousands of dollars?
a.
$35,000
b.
$57,000
c.
$89,000
d.
$116,000
e.
$132,000
9. Kumar Consulting operates several stock investment portfolios that are used by firms for investment of
pension plan assets. Last year, one portfolio had a realized return of 12.6 percent and a beta coefficient
of 1.15. The average T-bond rate was 7 percent and the realized rate of return on the S&P 500 was 12
percent. What was the portfolio’s alpha?
a.
−0.75%
b.
−0.15%
c.
0%
d.
0.15%
e.
0.75%
10. Arnold Rossiter is a 40-year-old employee of the Barrington Company who will retire at age 60 and
expects to live to age 75. The firm has promised a retirement income of $20,000 at the end of each
year following retirement until death. The firm’s pension fund is expected to earn 7 percent annually
on its assets and the firm uses 7% to discount pension benefits. What is Barrington’s annual pension
contribution to the nearest dollar for Mr. Rossiter? (Assume certainty and end-of-year cash flows.)
a.
$2,756
b.
$3,642
c.
$4,443
d.
$4,967
e.
$5,491
