IMPACT OF THE ECONOMY AND REGULATION ON PENSION RISK TRANSFERSingh, Pragya actuarialpensionspension risk transferActuarial ScienceB SWith the changing culture of financial security and risk aversion in America, insurance companies must be more innovative now than ever. Major life insurance companies are looking towards new business tactics on which to rely, now that Americans are shifting away from purchasing traditional life insurance policies. One such opportunity is pension risk transfer (PRT) activity. That is when a defined benefit pension provider offloads some or all of the plan’s risk. Currently, around three trillion dollars is tied up in pension promises, of which only 5% has been de-risked thus far. This provides a lucrative opportunity for life insurance companies to apply de-risking strategies in giant, multi-billion dollar pension risk transfer deals. This paper will examine the potential growth of the PRT business in light of trends in market conditions, and the regulatory and reporting landscape for pension plans. It also discusses what the future for PRT holds in terms of opportunities and challenges, as well as the implications PRT activity has on plan participants.Ron Gebhardtsbauer, Thesis SupervisorRon Gebhardtsbauer, Thesis Honors AdvisorZhongyi Yuan, Faculty Readeropen_access2018-04-10T23:06:44Zhttps://honors.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/5268pps5058