New York, July 02, 2012 -- Moody's Investors Service is requesting comment from market participants
on its plan to implement several adjustments to pension liability,
asset, and cost information reported by US state and local governments
and their pension plans.
Moody's expects the proposed pension adjustments to result in rating
actions for local governments where the effect is outsized relative to
their rating category, but no state rating changes are expected
solely as a result of pursuing the adjustments now under consideration.
"Pension liabilities are widely acknowledged to be understated,"
said Moody's Managing Director Timothy Blake, who teamed with
Vice President and Senior Analyst Marcia Van Wagner on a report outlining
the rating agency's plans, "Adjustments to US State
and Local Government Reported Pension Data."
"Our proposed adjustments will improve the comparability and transparency
of pension information across governments, enhancing our approach
to rating state and local government debt," said Blake.
"These adjustments build on our current approach to rating state
and local government debt that includes an analysis of pension obligations
based on reported data and examination of key underlying assumptions."
Growth of reported unfunded pension liabilities over the past decade and
the associated budgetary burden of pension contributions have increased
the importance of pensions to state and local government credit,
according to Moody's, which treats pension liabilities similar
to debt in order to better analyze the long-term liabilities of
government entities.
Moody's-adjusted fiscal 2010 state and local unfunded pension
liabilities total more than $2 trillion -- about three times
the total reported by governments.
"Moody's view on pension-related exposure has been
reflected in a number of recent downgrades and negative outlooks,
including for the states of Illinois, New Jersey and Rhode Island,
and the cities of Chicago and Providence," said Blake.
With its data collection now completed for 8,500 local governments
and over 14,000 individual pension plans, the rating agency
plans four principal adjustments to reported pension information,
including:
-- Multiple-employer cost-sharing plan liabilities
will be allocated to specific government employers based on proportionate
shares of total plan contributions;
-- Accrued actuarial liabilities will be adjusted based
on a high-grade long-term corporate bond index discount
rate (5.5% for 2010 and 2011);
-- Where possible, asset smoothing will be eliminated
in favor of market or fair value as of the actuarial reporting date;
-- Annual pension contributions will be adjusted to reflect
the foregoing changes as well as a common amortization period.
"Although Moody's has actively monitored pension pressures,
the cost-sharing plan adjustments may change our view of the long-term
pension liabilities facing certain local governments," said
Van Wagner. "New data regarding sector medians and averages
may reveal some unexpected outliers."
The overall expected effect on ratings would reflect the fact that pensions
are only one of several factors in the agency's rating methodology.
Moody's invites market participants to provide feedback on its proposal
by sending comments by August 31 to cpc@moodys.com.
Moody's subscribers can access the report at http://www.moodys.com/researchdocumentcontentpage.aspx?docid=PBM_PBM143254.
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Marcia J Van Wagner
Vice President - Senior Analyst
Public Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
SUBSCRIBERS: 212-553-1653
Timothy Blake
Senior Vice President
Public Finance Group
JOURNALISTS: 212-553-0376
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Releasing Office:
Moody's Investors Service, Inc.
250 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10007
U.S.A.
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Moody's proposes adjustments to US public sector pension data