%0 Journal Article %A Ronald J. Ryan %T Liabilities %B The True Objective %D 1999 %R 10.3905/joi.1999.319431 %J The Journal of Investing %P 31-37 %V 8 %N 4 %X The objective of most institutions is some type of liability (I.e., debt service, lottery, medical, pension, etc.). Assets should be managed to meet the objective. However, the liability objective is seldom used in any of the asset side functions: asset allocations, asset management, performance management, and risk management. As a result, the liability objective is in jeopardy of not being met due to the wrong objective (I.e., generic market indexes) being used instead. In the words of the great philosopher Confucius given the wrong index, the wrong risk/reward behavior will result. This is truly the financial dilemma of America. %U https://joi.pm-research.com/content/iijinvest/8/4/31.full.pdf