Presented to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in September 2015, this report examines the investment regulations of insurance companies and pension funds, and in particular quantitative investment limits on portfolio allocations.
This chapter from the 2015 OECD Business and Finance Outlook examines the potential impact of an environment of protracted low interest rates on pension systems and life insurance companies. It describes the mechanisms through which prolonged low interest rates can affect the solvency position of these institutions and uses available data to assess potential impacts.
This new Outlook on finance and investment presents unique data, analysis and instruments, looking at what might affect and change, both favourably and unfavourably, tomorrow's world of business, finance and investment. Investment (including foreign direct investment), SME financing, pensions, insurance, corporate governance and competition are among the threads creating the narrative of today's environment and future expectations.
This report examines the potential impact of an environment of protracted low interest rates on pension systems and life insurance companies. It describes the mechanisms through which prolonged low interest rates can affect the solvency position of these institutions and uses available data to assess potential impacts.
The greatest puzzle today is that since the global crisis financial markets see so little risk, with asset prices rising everywhere in response to zero interest rates and quantitative easing, while companies that invest in the real economy appear see so much more risk. What can be happening?
In this issue of "Pension Funds in Figures", preliminary data and early estimates for 2014 show that pension funds’ assets exceeded USD 25 trillion in OECD countries. The largest increases are found in Estonia, Korea, Luxembourg and Turkey, where pension funds’ assets rose by more than 20% compared to...
What are the channels for investment in sustainable energy infrastructure by institutional investors (e.g. pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds) and what factors influence investment decisions? What key policy levers and risk mitigants can governments use to facilitate these types of investments? What emerging channels (such as green bonds, YieldCos and direct project investment) hold significant promise for scaling up institutional investment? This report develops a framework that classifies investments according to different types of financing instruments and investment funds, and highlights the risk mitigants and transaction enablers that intermediaries (such as public green investment banks and other public financial institutions) can use to mobilise institutionally held capital. This framework can also be used to identify where investments are or are not flowing, and focus attention on how governments can support the development of potentially promising investment channels and consider policy interventionsthat can make institutional investment in sustainable energy infrastructure more likely.
Pension funds and annuity providers need to effectively manage the longevity risk they are exposed to. Individuals receiving a lifetime income may live longer than expected or accounted for in the actuarial calculations to provision for these liabilities. Mismanaged longevity risk can deteriorate finances, cause bankruptcy and expose individuals to the risk of losing their retirement income. To safeguard against this risk, pension funds and annuity providers must provision for future improvements in mortality and life expectancy. The regulatory framework can support the effective management of longevity risk. This publication assesses how pension funds, annuity providers such as life insurance companies, and the regulatory framework account for future improvements in mortality and life expectancy. The study then examines the mortality tables commonly used by pension funds and annuity providers against several well-known mortality projection models with the purpose of assessing the potential shortfall in provisions. The final part of the publication identifies best practices and discusses the management of longevity risk, putting forward a set of policy options to encourage and facilitate the management of longevity risk.
This report draws together information on specific factors affecting risk perceptions in Low Income Countries, including different parts of the project preparation and development cycle; identifies practical approaches and initiatives utilized successfully by organizations to mitigate risk, manage information asymmetry, directly address risk in investing in infrastructure in LICs, and change incentives in MDBs.