Letter from COPA President

Letter from COPA President Ed Burrows - September 30, 2005

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COPA has been moving very rapidly to establish itself as a significant player in the pension actuarial scene. Many participants on this list-serve are familiar with most of the things we have already accomplished. Nevertheless, I thought it would be appropriate to update everyone on our activities:

We are well into development of our first two-day actuarial conference, scheduled for August, 2006, in Chicago, Illinois. The dates aren't cast in stone yet, but they will probably be Friday the 17th and Saturday the 18, with a reception on the evening of the 16th. We expect that attendees will earn at least 16 hours of JBEA continuing education credit on subjects that matter to actuaries.

Our list-serve has been recognized as an important tool for sharing knowledge and
facilitating exchanges among pension actuaries. The list-serve now handles about 60 messages weekly and volume is increasing regularly.

We have dispatched comment letters on such regulatory proposals as the relative value regulations and the revised 415 regulations. It appears these comment letters are among the most comprehensive and relevant responses of any actuarial organization. In addition to writing comments, we testified in Washington, DC on the proposed 415 regulations and provided valuable insight on the legislative history to the regulators.

We are preparing comments on the revisions to the Actuarial Standards of Practice Opinion Number 4.

We have reviewed and discussed pension legislative proposals for their impact on the plans we serve.

We have several active committees that give our members a chance to influence the future of the actuarial profession. We encourage all of our members to take an active role in the profession.

We have incorporated the College, legally, as a not for profit organization (College of Pension Actuaries NFP) with a mailing address (PO Box 5262, Oak Brook Ill 60523-2108), a telephone number (630-242-5679), and a unique e-mail domain. You may contact me at President [at] pensionactuaries [dot] org

Each officer has a similar address. You may contact the entire board at COPA-BoardOfDirectors [at] pensionactuaries [dot] org

Directors also have their own addresses. If you would like a list, please just ask.

We are constructing a web site (CollegeOfPensionActuaries.org) on which we expect to post comments to regulators, our mission statement, listings of our officers and directors, and similar material.

At the moment, our finances constitute a priority item for us. Rick Block, the Chair of our Membership Committee, posted a message last week inviting everyone on the list-serve to become a Charter Member by completing an application form and sending in a dues check. The future of COPA depends importantly on the success of Rick's membership drive. We need your
participation.

EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1, 2005, OUR LIST-SERVE WILL REMAIN OPEN ONLY TO COPA
MEMBERS WHOSE DUES ARE UP TO DATE. But, we believe this should not be your most
important reason for officially joining COPA. A more important reason is to help assure the future of COPA AS THE ONLY ORGANIZATION DEVOTED EXCLUSIVELY TO THE NEEDS OF PENSION ACTUARIES.

If you have not already done so, please help by completing a form and mailing your check today.

Sincerely,
Ed Burrows
President