This paper focuses on describing the international practice on the various forms of retirement benefit payment currently allowed in countries throughout the world and the regulatory environment surrounding these different forms of benefit payment. The analysis suggests considerable variance...

This paper provides a comparative analysis of defined contribution (DC) pension systems in Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. There are considerable similarities in the systems which have evolved out of employer sponsored trust-based defined benefit (DB) systems and...

This paper discusses responses to current financial and economic crisis by regulators, supervisors and policy makers in the area of private pensions. These responses are examined in the light of international guidelines, best practices and recommendations to improve the design of private...

This paper presents comparable and standardised data on coverage in voluntary funded pension plans for several OECD countries using household survey data by age, income level, and labour market status for occupational and personal pension plans. The analysis suggests that coverage is unevenly...

Several countries around the globe have established mandatory pension systems based on personal savings accounts. In contrast to the pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financed pensions that these new systems have partly replaced, retirement benefits are the outcome of an investment process. As a result, the...

Defined benefit pension plans can entail one of the biggest liabilities that an exchange-listed company has on its balance-sheet. There exist comprehensive requirements for the reporting of such liabilities. This paper examines the impact that defined benefit pension plans had on the financial...

This paper focuses on the fees that are charged to participants in mandatory, defined contribution pension systems, focusing on the experience of Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Australia, and Sweden. In order to compare fees across countries, this paper looks at the evolution of a...

This paper examines how uncertainty regarding future mortality and life expectancy outcomes, i.e. longevity risk, affects employer-provided defined benefit (DB) private pension plans liabilities. The paper argues that to assess uncertainty and associated risks adequately, a stochastic approach...

As the need for investment in infrastructure continues to grow, private sector financing for infrastructure projects has developed around the world. Given the long-term growth and (potentially) low correlation aspects of infrastructure investments, pension funds have also shown interest in...

The issue of pension benefit security has returned to the foreground of both economic and political debate in many OECD countries - following high profile losses of pension benefits due to plan sponsors becoming bankrupt and leaving underfunded pension schemes. Some countries have dealt with...