Organizing individual retirement accounts through the institutional market and with constrained choice could substantially lower administrative costs. The tradeoff: rebidding problems, weaker performance incentives, inflexibility in the face of unforeseen contingencies, and an increased probability of corruption, collusion, and regulatory capture.
Recommended by Nobel Laureate Robert C. Merton, this book offers the world a first-hand opportunity to learn why the Dutch pension system is so often praised and how it operates. The book also discusses aspects of the system that are less favorable, such as implicit value transfers from younger to older generations that limit mobility of labor. Throughout the discussions, the authors provide quantitative evidence to support their assertions.
Pension fund benefits are crucial for pensioners’ welfare and pension fund savings have accumulated to huge amounts, covering a major part of world-wide institutional investments. However, the literature on pension fund economics and finance is rather limited, caused, in part, to limited data availability. This book contributes to this literature and focuses on three important areas. The first is pension fund (in)efficiency, which has a huge impact on final benefits, particularly when annual spoilage accumulates over a lifetime. Scale economies, pension plans complexity and alternative pension saving plans are important issues. The second area is investment behavior and risk-taking. A key question refers to the allocation of investments over high risk/high return and relatively safe assets. Bikker investigates whether pension funds follow the life-cycle hypothesis: more risk and return for pension funds with young participants. Many pension funds are rather limited in size, which may raise the question how financially sophisticated the pension fund decision makers are: rather professionals or closer to unskilled private persons? The third field concerns two regulation issues. How do pension fund respond to shocks such as unexpected investment returns or changes in life expectancy? What are the welfare implications to the beneficiary for different methods of securing pension funding: solvency requirements, a pension guarantee fund, or sponsor support? This groundbreaking book will challenge the way pension fund economics is thought about and practiced.
Provides essential data on assets, investments, membership, and industry structure, and an evaluation of trends in the private pensions industry; comprehensive country profiles; and an analysis of the implications of the financial crisis for pensions policy.
Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Financial Services. Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology
Increasingly ageing populations and a slowing rate of growth in the macroeconomy are forcing advanced countries to reconsider their social security programmes. The need for detailed examination of the possible reforms and initiatives has never been greater.This book brings together internationally-renowned scholars to evaluate the effect of recent
This book provides a description of private pension systems in selected OECD countries as well as information on administrative costs and related policy issues.
