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Policy Action in Private Occupational Pensions in Japan since the Economic Crisis of the 1990s

Autor: Sakamoto, Junichi
Año: 2010
Resumen: The public pension system of Japan provides coverage for all, irrespective of occupation and income. Corporate pension plans provide additional benefits over the public pension in order to meet the diversified financial needs in retirement and play a key role in enriching people‘s life after retirement. The majority of corporate pensions in Japan are defined-benefit type. Consequently, a great amount of attention is paid to benefit rights. Nevertheless, in order to avoid the discontinuation of pension plans due to over-emphasis on benefit rights, Japan introduced a measure under the stagnant economy during the 1990s allowing pension plans to reduce accrued benefits under certain strict conditions, only when the government acknowledges that the sponsoring company will go bankrupt if employers are forced to continue to contribute to the pension plans to the same extent. At the same time, Japan introduced another measure allowing pension plans to use smoothing for valuing its assets in order to avoid temporary market fluctuations. As a result, corporate pension plans in Japan became manageable from a long-term perspective and able to adopt a flexible plan design whilst still ensuring benefit rights.

Fuente: Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE)
Clasificación: Seguridad Social y Sistemas de Pensiones
Tipo de Publicación: Documentos de Trabajo
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Managing Investment Risk in Defined Benefit Pension Funds

Autor: Franzen, Dorothee
Año: 2010
Resumen: This paper inquires into the forces that drive the practice of risk management at defined benefit (DB) pension funds in Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States in the aftermath of the perfect pension storm. First, pension funds‘ risk management is grounded in the context of the development of modern risk management in the financial industry more general. Second, focusing solely on single-employer sponsored DB pension funds this research critically examines the impact of recent changes in the regulatory and accounting environment for pension funds and their sponsors thereby explicitly taking into account the specific governance context in which pension funds are situated. The aim of this research is, first, to provide a better understanding of the investment risk management of DB pension funds thereby contributing to the theory of financial decision-making. Second, by conducting this analysis on a cross-country basis, this research aims at contributing to the comparative analysis of pension funds. This paper argues that the risk-taking capacity is a central element of DB pension funds. The empirical results suggest that in general risk management has become much more sophisticated but that it is often driven more by regulatory and accounting issues than by the pension fund‘s specific risk profile. Furthermore, changes to the regulatory and accounting standards increasingly impede the risk-taking capacity of DB pension funds. This research draws on in-depth interviews with market participants within the pension fund industry and their advisers.

Fuente: Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económico (OCDE)
Clasificación: Regulación y Supervisión
Tipo de Publicación: Documentos de Trabajo
Idioma:

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Los fondos de pensiones promueven mejores estándares de gobierno corporativo

Autor: Federación Internacional de Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (FIAP)
Año: 2010
Resumen: El gobierno corporativo (GC) es un conjunto de normas, prácticas y procedimientos que determinan y regulan las acciones al interior de una empresa, estableciendo derechos y obligaciones a las distintas partes involucradas, contemplando los incentivos a fin de proteger el interés de la compañía y sus accionistas y así maximizar su valor en el largo plazo

Fuente: Federación Internacional de Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (FIAP)
Clasificación: Regulación y Supervisión
Tipo de Publicación: Notas de Pensiones
Idioma:

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A Summary and Update of Developing Annuities Markets: The Experience of Chile

Autor: Rocha, Roberto; Rudolph, Heinz P.
Año: 2010
Resumen: The rapid growth of the market for retirement products in Chile has its origins in the pension reform that was implemented in 1981. But the successful development of an active annuity market also reflects many other factors. This paper summarizes and updates an earlier longer study on the development of the Chilean annuity market. The update focuses on the numerous changes that were introduced in 2008. The most striking aspect of the Chilean experience is the very high rate of annuitization. This has been linked to the restrictions that have been applied to lump-sum withdrawals, the offer of inflation-protected annuities, and the robust prudential regulation of providers. But the level of annuitization has also been supported by the annuitization incentives provided to early retirees and the influence of brokers and sales agents. The recent regulatory changes have weakened the impact of the last two factors, while strengthening the demand for annuities at normal retirement. The rapid growth of the market for retirement products in Chile has its origins in the pension reform that was implemented in 1981. But the successful development of an active annuity market also reflects many other factors. This paper summarizes and updates an earlier longer study on the development of the Chilean annuity market. The update focuses on the numerous changes that were introduced in 2008. The most striking aspect of the Chilean experience is the very high rate of annuitization. This has been linked to the restrictions that have been applied to lump-sum withdrawals, the offer of inflation-protected annuities, and the robust prudential regulation of providers. But the level of annuitization has also been supported by the annuitization incentives provided to early retirees and the influence of brokers and sales agents. The recent regulatory changes have weakened the impact of the last two factors, while strengthening the demand for annuities at normal retirement.

Fuente: Banco Mundial
Clasificación: Fondos de Inversión
Tipo de Publicación: Documentos de Trabajo
Idioma:

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Social Protection in Latin America : Achievements and Limitations

Autor: Ferreira, Francisco H.G.; Robalino, David.
Año: 2010
Resumen: Social protection systems in Latin America have been transformed in the past two decades. Until the 1980s, those who were not covered by the social security arrangements available primarily in the urban formal sector received little public assistance beyond universal subsidies for some food or fuel purchases. Since the 1990s, the introduction of non-contributory social insurance programs (including "social pensions") and conditional cash transfers has substantially extended the coverage and improved the incidence of social assistance. However, the organic growth of subsidized social assistance in parallel to the older social insurance system, financed largely out of taxes on formal sector employment, has led to a dual system that is neither properly equitable nor efficient. The twin challenges that now face social protection in Latin America are to better integrate those two halves of the system, and to develop programs that promote sustainable self-reliance, by moving from "safety nets" to "opportunity ropes."

Fuente: Banco Mundial
Clasificación: Seguridad Social y Sistemas de Pensiones
Tipo de Publicación: Documentos de Trabajo
Idioma:

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