Developed countries apply different security mechanisms in regulation to protect defined pension benefits: solvency requirements, a pension guarantee fund, and sponsor support. We test the performance of these mechanisms in terms of the protection offered to pension benefits in relation to the...

Quantitative easing (QE) aims to lower long term interest rates and stimulate economic growth via the portfolio rebalancing channel. One of the assumptions for QE to work is that there are investors with strong preferences to hold long term bonds, i.e. so called preferred habitat investors. This...

Using a comprehensive dataset on issuances and holdings of contingent convertible debt instruments (CoCos) issued by European banks we investigate who invests in European CoCos. The results indicate that most European CoCos are not directly held by euro area investors. Foreign investors outside...

We investigate whether the quantitative frame used to communicate future pension income to plan members matters for perceived pension income adequacy. We allocate plan members randomly to one of four pension income framing conditions: annual pension income, monthly pension income, pension income...

Between 2004 and 2016, we elicited individuals' subjective expectations of stock market returns in a Dutch internet panel at bi-annual intervals. In this paper, we develop a panel data model with a finite mixture of expectation types who differ in how they use past stock market returns to form...

In this paper we show empirically how international investment positions are determined by investor heterogeneity and individual security characteristics. We do so by estimating a gravity model with newly available data that contains both domestic and international holdings of individual sectors...

Counter cyclical long-term investment strategies of insurance companies and pension funds (ICPFs) can support the stability of the financial system. Yet there is limited understanding of how ICPFs invest during market shocks, such as the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt...

This paper uses unique and detailed transaction data to analyse herding behavior among pension funds. We distinguish between weak, semi strong and strong herding behaviour. Weak herding occurs if pension funds have similar rebalancing strategies. Semi strong herding arises when pension funds...

We investigate the extent to which investors exhibit carbon home bias: disproportionate investment in carbon-intensive firms from the home market. We utilize a comprehensive stock-level holdings dataset of European investors to understand the relationship between carbon home bias, divestment and...

In recent years, the green bond market has seen significant growth as a means of financing environmentally friendly projects. However, while much research has focused on pricing, little attention has been given to the investors who hold these bonds. This paper uses a preferred habitat framework...