Preface 3

Foreword 4

Executive summary 8

1 Pension markets in focus 11

  1.1. A global growth in pension assets 12

  1.2. How pension assets grow 17

  1.3. Contributions have grown in most jurisdictions 22

  1.4. Investment income to asset-backed pension plans has grown 28

  1.5. Pension benefit payments and other outflows have also grown 35

  1.6. How pension assets may evolve 39

  References 40

  Annex 1.A. Statistical annex 42

  Annex 1.B. Methodological notes 43

  Notes 44

2 Ensuring sufficiently high contributions to achieve retirement income objectives 47

  2.1. Contribution gaps in OECD countries 49

  2.2. Are voluntary contributions sufficient to close the gap? 54

  2.3. Policies to steer individuals towards contribution levels allowing them to reach their retirement income objective 63

  2.4. Conclusion and policy guidance 75

  References 80

  Notes 91

3 Pension and insurance investors’ integration of sustainability risks into investment processes 95

  3.1. Measures relevant for pension and insurance investors to incorporate risks affecting the long-term sustainability of their portfolios into their investment processes 96

  3.2. Drivers of the integration of risks affecting the sustainability of portfolios in investment processes 100

  3.3. Institutional and governance frameworks 110

  3.4. The integration of risks impacting the long-term sustainability of portfolios 113

  3.5. Looking forward 132

  References 133

  Notes 137

4 Balancing the trade-offs in the regulation of financial advice for retirement 139

  4.1. Financial advice can provide numerous benefits to consumers 140

  4.2. Biases can undermine the benefits of advice 143

  4.3. Measures to address adviser bias and improve the quality of advice can be effective but come with challenges 144

  4.4. The regulatory framework can impact structural barriers to seeking advice, but consumer barriers are just as significant 152

  4.5. Other measures can promote suitable products and good outcomes for those not able or willing to access financial advice 154

  4.6. Policy implications 157

  References 161

  Notes 169

5 Asset-backed pensions and the taxation of death-related payments 171

  5.1. Forms of death-related payments 172

  5.2. Tax treatment of death-related payments 176

  5.3. Policy considerations for taxing death-related payments 182

  5.4. Conclusion 187

  References 189

  Notes 190