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Profile: Ady

Ady is a strategic communications professional who helps people tell their stories, share their data, and connect with audiences. She oversees PensionDialog on Twitter and the blog of the same name. In addition to focusing on issues concerning public retirement plans, Ady has written about first response, health care, community planning, information technology, and education. Ady also holds an appointment as an adjunct associate professor at the University of Maryland University College teaching communications, business writing, and public speaking. She has a bachelor of science in education from Virginia Tech and a master's in public administration from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.


 

What's New at NASRA: Public Pension Investment Return Assumption Brief Updated

NASRA’s latest update to standing issue briefs, Public Pension Plan Investment Return Assumptions underscores the critical role the investment return assumption plays in the financial health of public pension plans. Of all actuarial assumptions, it has the greatest impact on plan funding levels and cost. This brief traces how a decade of low interest rates and inflation, beginning in 2009, prompted many plans to reduce their long-term expected returns in line with more modest capital market projections. However, since inflation began rising in early 2021, the trend toward lowering return assumptions has largely paused. While reducing a plan’s assumed return can increase both costs and unfunded liabilities, setting this assumption is a careful, thorough process. It draws on expert input from actuaries and investment professionals and is guided by actuarial standards of practice.