Synopsis
Mandatory defined contribution pension markets are present in a growing number of countries around the world. But despite their popularity, policymakers continue to struggle with two key policy concerns. On the one hand, a number of design shortcomings encourages pension firms to charge high administrative fees. On the other hand, the global crisis that started in 2007 has reignited the debate on whether pension participants bear excessive investment risk. Both are valid policy concerns as their incidence can imply higher than expected levels of poverty among old age individuals. Both concerns have the same root problem---the limited capacity of individuals to choose what is best for them. This, in turn, stems from a combination of inadequate financial education, bounded rationality and the use of simplistic 'rules of thumb' that produce systematic biases in the decision making process of individuals. While improving financial education is an obvious avenue to pursue, this book is more concerned with design features that can exploit these systematic biases to protect consumers from themselves. 'New Policies for Mandatory Defined Contribution Pensions: Industrial Organization Models and Investment Products' (i) discusses the main implications for the functioning of mandatory defined contribution pensions of consumers’ inability to make rational choices; (ii) describes how jurisdictions have tried to address these problems through ad hoc policy interventions; and (iii) proposes new policy directions in the areas of industrial organization models and investment products to address these concerns more effectively. Written for practitioners and researchers around the world, this book provides access to new thinking on mandatory defined contribution pension systems and it makes an important contribution to the on-going policy debate on how to best structure mandatory defined contribution pillars.
Review
Against the backdrop of the global financial crisis, this volume takes a much-needed look at how the market for defined contribution pensions has evolved and how it can be strengthened, with careful attention to tradeoffs between risk and return, fees, bundling of services, and the ultimate outcome -- retirement security. Policymakers and pension design analysts around the world will find this book essential in charting a path that balances equity, efficiency, and transparency in the pension marketplace. --Olivia S. Mitchell, Executive Director of the Pension Research Council, Wharton School
Though Defined Contribution pension systems have addressed fiscal, intergenerational and financial issues, the limited involvement of consumers in this market, caused strong market power, excessive marketing expenses, and high administrative fees by pension firms. Essential to understand the pending challenges of recent pension reforms, this book succeeds in disentangling microeconomic and industrial organization predicaments, while proposing innovative alternatives to address these concerns. A must read for policy makers and academics working in the area of pension fund administration. --Moisés J. Schwartz, President of CONSAR, MexicoA?s National Commission for Retirement Savings
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