Acronym Definitions

All | A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W
There are currently 297 names in this directory
AAA
American Academy of Actuaries

AAL
Actuarial Accrued Liability

AARP
American Association of Retired Persons

ABO
Accumulated Benefit Obligation

ABS
Asset Backed Securities

ACD
Automated Call Distribution

ACWI
All Country World Index

ADA
Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)

ADEA
Age Discrimination in Employment Act

ADR
American Depository Receipt

AFL-CIO
American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations

AFSCME
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

AFT
American Federation of Teachers (AFL-CIO)

AICPA
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

AIME
Average Indexed Monthly Earnings

AL
Accrued Liability

ALEC
American Legislative Exchange Council

AMEX
American Stock Exchange

APC
Annual Pension Cost

APRSC
Administrative Policy Regarding Self Correction

APV
Actuarial Present Value

ARC
Actuarially Required Contribution

ARC*
Annual Required Contribution

ASA
Associate, Society of Actuaries

ASAE
American Society of Association Executives

ASB
Actuarial Standards Board

ASEC
American Savings Education Council

ASOP
Actuarial Standards of Practice

AUM
Assets Under Management

AVA
Actuarial Value of Assets

AYP
Adequate Yearly Progress [part of the NCLB Act]

BAFO
Best And Final Offer

BIC
Bank Investment Contract

BLS
Bureau of Labor Statistics

BPR
Business Process Improvement

BPS
Basis Points

BRIC
Brazil, Russia, India, China [fast-growing Third-World economies]

BRIMC
Same as BRIC, but with Mexico included

CAE
Certified Association Executive

CAFR
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report

CAN
California Association of Nonprofits

CAPPP
Certificate of Achievement in Public Plan Policy

CASE
Conference of Allied Society Executives

CBO
Collateralized bond obligation

CBO*
Congressional Budget Office

CCM
Certified Cash Manager

CD
Certificate of Deposit

CDO
Collateralized debt obligation

CFA
Chartered Financial Analyst

CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission

CII
Council of Institutional Investors

CIPS
Corporate Inflation-Protected Securities

CMBS
Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities

CMS
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

COBRA
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

COLA
Cost of Living Adjustment

COLI
Corporate Owned Life Insurance

COP
Congressional Oversight Panel (for the TARP)

CORBA
GFOA’s Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration

CPI
Consumer Price Index

CPRS
Coalition to Preserve Retirement Security

CRS
Congressional Research Service

CSG
Council of State Governments

D&E
Directors and Officers (insurance)

DB
Plan Defined Benefit Plan

DC
Plan Define Contribution Plan

DJIA
Dow Jones Industrial Average

DOL
Department of Labor

DRIP
Dividend Reinvestment Plan

DRO
Domestic Relations Order

DROP
Deferred Retirement Option Plans [see PLOP and WAR, too]

E&O
Errors and Omissions (insurance)

EA
Enrolled Actuary

EAFE
Europe Australia and Far East [Index]

EBITDA
Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization

EBRI
Employee Benefit Research Institute

EDGAR
Electronic Gathering Analysis and Retrieveal System

EEOC
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

EGTRRA or EGATRRA
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act

ELSA
Earnings Limitation Savings Account

EM
Emerging Market

EMBI
Emerging Markets Bond Index

EMF
Emerging Markets Free [from Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI)]

EMPE
Emerging Markets Private Equity

EPCRS
Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (IRS)

EPS
Earnings Per Share

ERIC
The ERISA Industry Committee

ERISA
Employee Retirement Income Security Act

ETF
Exchange Traded Fund

ETI
Economically Targeted Investment

EU
European Union

EV
Earned Value

FAC
Final Average Compensation

FAS
Final Average Salary

FASB
Financial Accounting Standards Board

FCA
Fellow of the Conference of Consulting Actuaries

FDI
Foreign Direct Investment

FDIC
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FE
Financial Economics

FE*
Foreign Exchange

FHA
Federal Housing Authority

FHLMC
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)

FICA
Federal Insurance Contributions Act

FINRA
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

FLSA
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938

FMLA
Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993

FNMA
Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae)

FoF
Fund of Funds

FOIA
Freedom of Information Act

FPE
Federation of Public Employees

FRAs
Forward Rate Agreements

FSA
Fellow of the Society of Actuaries

FSLG
Federal, State, & Local Governments office of IRS Tax Exempt/Government Entities Division

FTSE
Financial Times (and London) Stock Exchange [UK Stock Index] (“Footsie”)

FY
Fiscal Year

GAO
Government Accountability Office

GASAC
Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council

GASB
Government Accounting Standards Board

GDP
Gross Domestic Product

GFOA
Government Finance Officers Association

GIC
Guaranteed Investment Contract

GNMA
Government National Mortgage Association (ginnie mae)

GOLI
Government Owned Life Insurance

GP
General Partner

GPO
Government Pension Offset

HC
Health Care

HDHP
High Deductible Health Plan

HEART Act
Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax ActHELPS Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety

HF
Hedge Funds

HHS
US Department of Health and Human Services

HI
Health Insurance

HIPAA
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

HIT
Health Information Technology

HMO
Health Maintenance Organization

HR
Human Resources

HRA
Health Reimbursement Arrangement

HSA
Health Savings Account

IAP
Individual Account Program

ICE
IntercontinentalExchange

ICMA
International City/County Management Association

IDB
Industrial Development Bond

IEP
Individualized Education Program

IFEBP
International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

IPO
Initial Public Offering

IRA
Individual Retirement Account

IRC
Internal Revenue Code

IRS
Internal Revenue Service

IT
Information Technology

KISS
Keep It Short and Simple

LBO
Leveraged Buy-Out

LDI
Liability Driven Investing

LIBOR
London Inter- bank Offered Rate [Rate of interest London banks are willing to pay for U.S. deposits]

LLC
Limited Liability Company

LOB
Line-Of-Business

LP
Limited Partner

LTC
Long-Term Care

LWOP
Leave WithOut Pay

MA-PD
Medicare Advantage—Prescription Drug [Plan]

MA-PFFS
Medicare Advantage—Private Fee-for-Service [Plan]

MAAA
Member, American Academy of Actuaries

MBS
Mortgage-backed securities

MMA
Medicare Modernization Act [2003]

MPT
Modern Portfolio Theory

MSA
Medical Savings Account

MSCI
Morgan Stanley Capital International Indices

MVA
Market Value of Assets

MVL
Market Value Liability

NACo
National Association of Counties

NAFTA
North American Free Trade Agreement

NAGDCA
National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators

NAPPA
National Association of Public Pension Attorneys

NARFE
National Association of Retired Federal Employees

NASACT
National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers

NASBO
National Association of State Budget Officers

NASD
National Association of Securities Dealers

NASDAQ
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotation [System]

NASIO
National Association of State Investment Officers

NASRA
National Association of State Retirement Administrators

NAST
National Association of State Treasurers

NCHC
National Coalition on Health Care

NCLB
No Child Left Behind [Act]

NCPERS
National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems

NCREIF
National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries

NCSL
National Conference of State Legislatures

NCTQ
National Council on Teacher Quality

NCTR
National Council on Teacher Retirement

NEA
National Education Association

NGA
National Governors Association

NGO
Non-Governmental Organization

NIRS
National Institute on Retirement Security

NLC
National League of Cities

NOO
Net OPEB Obligation

NPAS
New Pension Administration System

NPEA
National Pre-Retirement Education Association

NPO
Net Pension Obligation

NRA
Normal Retirement Age

NRSRO
Nationally recognized statistical rating organization

NRTA AARP’s
Educator Community (formerly National Retired Teachers Association)

NYSE
New York Stock Exchange

OASDI
Old-Age, Survivors, & Disability Insurance [US Social Security]

OBRA
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act

OECD
Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development

OMB
Office of Management and Budget

OOP
Out-Of-Pocket

OPEB
Other Post Employment Benefits

OPEBOB
Other Post Employment Benefits Obligation Bond

OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Act

OTC
Over the Counter

OWBPA
Older Workers Benefit Protection Act of 1990

P/E
Price Earning Rato

PA
Public Agency

PADRO
Plan Approved Domestic Relations Order

PAYGO
Pay As You Go

PBGC
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation

PCAOB
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board

PDP
Prescription Drug Plan

PE
Private Equity; also Price-to-Earnings (ratio)

PEPPRA
Public Employee Pension Plan Reporting and Accountability Act

PERISA
Public Employee Retirement Income Security Act

PERS
Public Employee Retirement System

PLOP
Partial Lump-Sum Option Plans [see DROP and WAR, too]

PLR
Prime Lending Rate

PLSO
Partial Lump Sum Option

PMO
Project Management Office

POB
Pension Obligation Bond

POP
Public Offering Price

POS
Point of Service Plan

PPA
Pension Protection Act

PPCC
Public Pension Coordinating Council

PPN
Public Pension Network

PPO
Preferred Provider Organization

PREA
Pension Real Estate Association

PSAG
(World Bank’s) Private Sector Advisory Group

PSC
Purchases of Service Credit

PSLRA
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

QDRO
Qualified Domestic Relations Order

QEBA
Qualified Excess Benefit Arrangement

QJSA
Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity

QPSA
Qualified Pre Retirement Survivor Annuity

RE
Real Estate

REIT
Real Estate Investment Trust

RFI
Request For Information

RFP
Request for proposal

RMBS
Residential mortgage-backed securities

RMT
Retiree Medical Trust

ROA
Return on Asset Assumption

ROI
Return on Investment; also Rate of Interest

ROIC
Return on Invested Capital

S&P500
Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Price Index

SARSEP
Salary Reduction Simplified Employee Pension Plan

SBJPA
Small Business Job Protection Act

SCHIP
State Children’s Health Insurance Program

SEC
Securities and Exchange Commission

SEIU
Service Employees International Union

SEP
Simplified Employee Pension Plan

SEP-IRA
Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account

SIMPLE IRA
Simple Incentive Match Plan for Employees

SIV
Structured Investment Vehicle

SLG
State and Local Governments

SLMA
Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae)

SME
Subject Matter Expert

SOE
State-Owned Enterprises

SOX
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

SPD
Summary Plan Description

SPDA
Single Premium Deferred Annuity

SSA
Social Security Administration

SSDI
Social Security Disability Insurance

SSI
Supplemental Security Income

STAND
Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (student anti-genocide coalition group)

STIF
Short Term Investment Fund

STRIPS
Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities

STRS
State Teachers Retirement System

T-BILL
Treasury Bill

T-BOND
Treasury bond

T-NOTE
Treasury note

TARP
Troubled Assets Relief Program

TE/GE
Tax Exempt & Government Entities Division of the IRS

TIAA-CREF
Teachers Insurance Annuity Association–College Retirement Equities Fund

TIPS
Treasury Inflation Protection Securities

TPA
Third Party Administrator

TROOP
True Out-Of-Pocket

TVC
Tax Sheltered Annuity Voluntary Corrections Program

UAAL
Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability

UAL
Unfunded Actuarial Liability

UBIT
Unrelated Business Income Tax

UCR
Usual, Customary and Reasonable Fees

UMPERSA
Uniform Management of Public Employee Retirement Systems Act

UPIA
Uniform Prudent Investor Act

UPMIFA
Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act

USCM
US Conference of Mayors

USERRA
Uniformed Services Employment & Reemployment Rights Act (1994)

VA
Veterans Administration

VAR
Value at Risk

VCR
Voluntary Compliance Resolution

VEBA
Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association

WAR
Work After Retirement [see DROP and PLOP, too]

WEP
Windfall Elimination Provision
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