ProVal PS Downloads Technical Support ProVal PS Administrator Login Online Guided Demonstration Arrange an online demonstration with a WinTech representative. ProVal PS System Requirements Find out the minimum system requirements to effectively use ProVal PS. For more information, please contact: Joe Gilbert Vice President, Marketing (203) 861-5514 jgilbert@winklevoss.com

ProVal PS lets the plan sponsor, actuary, and investment advisor work together like never before. You can work interactively to explore the effects of interest rate changes, investment performance, etc. for the next 5 years and beyond. ProVal PS leverages over ten years of research and development in ProVal -- a valuation and projection system for actuaries. It is designed to provide many of the same features of ProVal, yet with very little expert knowledge required. ProVal PS lets the user answer many "what if" questions, including:

Disclosure & Budgeting: What should be budgeted for next year's expense? What should be budgeted for next year's contribution? What will the balance sheet look like under FAS 158? [More...]

Financial Sensitivities: What will future contributions and expense be? What if investment return is poor? What if inflation is higher? What if interest rates change? [More...]

Asset Allocation: What contributions and expense are expected under the plan's current asset mix? What is the potential downside? Are there alternative asset mixes which will better meet the plan's goals? [More...]

Disclosure & Budgeting

The disclosure and budgeting tool lets you quickly determine the likely effect of market changes on the information you will disclose to shareholders at the end of the year. The graph below compares a plan's end of year funded status with its beginning of year funded status.

This tool also provides estimates of next year's accounting expense and funding contribution.

Financial Sensitivities

The Financial Sensitivities tool compares two forecasts (baseline vs. scenario) of a plan using different investment return, inflation, and interest rates. Forecasts can highlight upcoming events and allow you to take action now before they become surprises. For example, a plan on a contribution holiday ($0 contributions) might learn that a contribution might be necessary in the next 5 years if investment return is poor or inflation is high.

The graph below compares a 5 year forecast of contributions with baseline assumptions against an alternative scenario.

Asset Allocation

The plan's asset allocation is one of the most important, if not the most important, decision that the plan sponsor makes. While it is true that alternative actuarial assumptions and cost methods can have a significant impact on current year costs and the incidence of costs over time, they have no permanent impact on the economics of the pension plan. The asset allocation, on the other hand, has a direct impact on such economics. For example, the graph below compares the expected funded ratio of a plan in 5 years under 3 alternative asset mixes.

Choosing an asset allocation, or mix, that is right for your plan can be overwhelming because there are literally an infinite number of choices. However, we can narrow the field by throwing out mixes that are "inefficient." That is, mixes that produce a lower return than another mix with the same risk (or equivalently, mixes that have a higher risk than another mix with the same return). The remaining mixes comprise what is known as the Efficient Frontier. Plotting the efficient mixes by their standard deviation and return, we get something like this: