Pension Savings: The Real Return 2015 Edition

Evolution of supplementary old-age pension systems in selected CEE countries

“…The level of exposure differs depending on the risk-profile of a pension plan and it is substantially lower in conservative pension products (bond funds and bank accounts). No country implemented any guarantee of the investment returns that could reduce some risks for savers 4 . Unlike regulations in the second mandatory funded pillars of pension systems, no minimum returns or assuredness to keep the real value of the accumulated funds are offered in the third supplementary part of the pension security.…”

“…The coverage in Romania amounts to 3% meaning that only 0,3 million individuals have supplementary pension security, while in Poland the participation rate is 2,4-5,5% depending on the type of a supplementary plan. 4 Except for no-loss guarantees in transformed funds in the Czech Republic that have been created when supplementary pension insurance was changed into transformed funds. Transform funds do not accept any new members.…”

Deficiencies in the Supplementary Pension Market in Poland From the Perspective of Regulatory Policy

“…Previous studies on the functioning of the supplementary pension system in Poland have focused on detailed analysis of the pension system architecture, participation rates and the amount of contributions paid, accumulated funds and projected benefit levels [Adamska-Mieruszewska andMosionek-Schweda 2015, Jedynak 2017]. Some analyses also refer to the characteristics and effects of tax incentives [Rutecka 2014, Rutecka-Góra 2019a, costliness [Han and Stańko 2020] and the efficiency of products [Berthon et al 2014, Marcinkiewicz 2015, Szczepański and Brzęczek 2016, Dopierała 2017, Šebo and Voicu 2018, Sołdek and Stachnio 2018. However, there are no analyses assessing the impact of the regulations applied on the proper functioning of supplementary pensions, especially from the point of view of savers.…”

Raising well-being in Germany's ageing society

“…Operating costs in the occupational pension funds are low, amounting to 0.2% of assets under management in 2012 (OECD, 2013i). One reason is that occupational, unlike individual, pension plans are negotiated for a group (Berthon et al, 2014).…”

“…It is substantially higher if calculated at current market interest rates, given that regulatory discount rates are still above the currently low market interest rates. One reason for the popularity of book reserve schemes is that they benefit from higher tax advantages than funds invested outside the firm (Berthon et al, 2014). Also, externally invested funds face higher costs due to regulatory solvency and liquidity requirements for external providers.…”