IOPS Meetings and International Seminar on Pension Supervision and Regulation 2018

Working sessions at the IOPS meetings were conducted on the following subject matters: application of ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors in supervision of pension fund investment; the investment behaviour of pension funds; the solvency of defined benefit pension funds; and the adequacy of defined contribution retirement benefits in current financial environment.

The international seminar focused on automatic enrolment programmes, decumulation phase, fees and value for money in private pension systems. It was highlighted that certain jurisdictions face challenges linked to the self-employed who are least likely to have access to a workplace savings plan. Other jurisdictions have to deal with inadequacy of savings which does not guarantee a decent pension in retirement. The main concern about the decumulation phase in funded private pension systems is how to get one’s pensions pot to last in retirement. And efforts to reduce costs are related mainly to the investment process and the administration and operation of pension funds.