Where Will the ‘Silver Money’ Go?

Abstract

Using international country‐level data, this paper shows that demographic ageing is likely to significantly expand the insurance industry. This expansion is driven by the increased need to secure earnings for post‐retirement consumption, the desire to hedge against risks associated with increasing age, and the older generations risk aversion increasing the demand for safer assets such as insurance and pension products. Moreover, such an expansion of the insurance industry is particularly apparent in financially liberalised countries. This is because risk and asset management associated with insurance and pension products could be facilitated and more effective in liberalised financial markets.