It is with, some diffidence that we venture to submit to the Institute a paper on the subject of Pension Funds; indeed, after again perusing the masterly essays on this important subject which Mr. Manly and Mr. King have given to us it appears almost presumptuous to add anything further. Valuable papers have also been contributed by other members of our Institute. Thus Mr. James McGowan in vol. xxxvii of the Journal dealt with the subject of Pension Funds more or less generally, and supplied us with a very large number of formulæ. Mr. James Bacon in vol. xlii dealt with the construction of Salary Scales, whilst Mr. E. C. Thomas and Mr. Thomas Tinner (see J.I.A., vols. xlviii and xliv) both supplied formulæ intended to meet difficulties arising in certain events. With regard to benefit societies, Sir Alfred Watson's paper (J.I.A., vol. xliv) on this important branch of the subject may be taken as a text book.

In this note 1 submit for discussion two questions in connection with limited-payment policies: (1) by what method should the office premiums be calculated, and (2) how should the policies be valued. Neither of these questions appears to have been brought—except incidentally—before the Institute; both are of some practical importance in view of the large amount of limited-payment business transacted in the United Kingdom; and in regard to both there seem to be greater differences in practice than would be justified by theory. The following remarks refer more particularly to participating policies of the kind issued by the majority of British companies—that is to say, policies entitled throughout their currency to the same reversionary bonuses as similar ordinary whole-life policies—but similar considerations would apply to non-participating policies.

In turning over the pages of the Journal, one is struck by the number of papers which would have been rendered far more valuable if more detailed data of the actual expenses of management had been available. Probably less is known about expenses than about any other factor involved in our daily actuarial work; and this comparative ignorance is the more remarkable when we remember the immense amount of thought and research which has been expended on the subjects of Mortality and Interest.

Perhaps good reasons existed in the past for this comparative neglect; but it appears to me that the time is approaching—if it has not already arrived—when it will be absolutely necessary to investigate the subject of expenses to the fullest possible extent. To mention only one aspect of the subject, there is a general impression that expenses are tending to increase, and hence it becomes important for each office to ascertain whether this impression is correct in its own case, and if so, the causes of the increase. These questions can only be answered by a full analysis; but if this is possible any increase will be robbed of much of its force, even if its cause cannot be removed. Certainly expenses are at least as worthy of investigation as mortality, and will probably yield more valuable results, since they, at least, are susceptible of regulation.

In the course of the past summer I visited Canada, partly with a view to investigating upon the spot the opportunities which the Dominion might afford for mortgage investments, and partly in order to gain, at first hand, knowledge of the general financial conditions of the country.

The subject is one of great importance, and although the outbreak of war may have rendered all questions of new investments of purely academic interest for the moment, yet I hope that the following notes will be of interest to the Institute, and may be turned to some practical use in a not distant future.

The Council invited me to open at a Sessional Meeting a discussion on the new National Life Tables, and I was glad of the opportunity thus given to set forth in a little more detail than heretofore the objects which had to be kept in view in preparing the tables, and the bearing of these objects on selecting a method of construction. At first I had intended to open the discussion by an unwritten speech, but on looking at the subject from this point of view it was found that a mere speech would hardly meet the necessities of the case, and that it would be better to write an informal paper. This I have now the honour to submit.