It has been remarked on many occasions that whilst there is a plethora of material which has been contributed to the Institute and the Students' Society on the actuarial valuation of liabilities, the subject of valuation of assets seems to have been consistently overlooked by all save one or two authors. We believe that a compelling reason for this apparent indifference to the subject may be found in the trend of interest rates within the experience of the actuaries who introduced the valuation techniques which a student may now tend to take for granted.

Consider Table 1, compiled from information given in a paper by C. M. Douglas, F.F.A., on ‘The Statistical Groundwork of Investment Policy’. During the period 1833–1912 the average annual rate neither exceeded £3. 11s. od.% nor fell below £2. 9s od.%, and in general the yield drifted slowly downwards.