The economic downturn is likely to have a lasting impact on the fund management industry and on long term asset allocation strategies of institutional investors. On one hand, in promoting more cautious investment strategies and a greater focus on portfolio risk management in the coming years. On...

The present report focuses on the pre-campaign planning, the design, the delivery, and the monitoring and evaluation of National Pension Communication Campaigns in a range of OECD and non-OECD countries. The research identifies barriers to effective communications and highlights models of good...

This report reviews recent as well as planned changes to accounting and solvency regulations affecting insurers and pension funds and how they may impact long-term investing by these institutions. The review of existing evidence focuses mainly on the impact of risk-based solvency requirements,...

To adapt pension systems to demographic trends, many countries are reducing pay-as-you-go public pension levels and lifting retirement ages. In this context, funded pensions could play a major role to avoid adequacy gaps. Yet, as this paper shows, the coverage of funded private pensions, as...

This paper examines the role of guarantees in DC pension plans, in particular minimum investment return guarantees during the accumulation phase. The main goal is to assess the cost and benefits of different return guarantees. The report uses a stochastic financial market model where guarantee...

A period of protracted low interest rates is a feasible, even if not the most likely, scenario going forward and such a scenario would adversely affect pension funds and insurance companies. Protracted low interest rates affect investment opportunities and have a potentially significant adverse...

Institutional investors in OECD countries held over USD 65 trillion in assets at the end of 2009, and they are growing fast in emerging economies where Sovereign Wealth Funds still predominate as source of long-term capital. Concerns about short-termism and corporate governance have led to calls...

The principal purpose of this article is to analyse the trade-off between the (un)certainty in contributions on the one hand and benefits on the other that is embedded in different pension arrangements. The article employs the funding ratio (ratio of assets to liabilities) and the replacement...