Why does this strategy not need an over funded plan status?
What is the surplus then? I have this concept really wrong i think. I always thought its the excess over the fully funded status.
Surplus = assets - liabilities. Surplus > 0: good 
; surplus < 0: baaaad 
you’re basically optimizing the PV Assets - PV Liabilities whether it’s a surplus or deficit by minimizing that volatility using the MVO framework. Word ‘surplus’ is a little mis-leading because yo can still minimize volatility even if you’re in a deficit. Do remember that this strategy DOES consider a linear correlation with it’s labilities though even though it is a asset-only strategy it does so indirectly. And obviously it’s a single-period and not multi-period framework.