Investment fund selection techniques from the perspective of Brazilian pension funds

ABSTRACT The aim of this article was to evaluate the effectiveness of investment fund selection techniques from the perspective of Brazilian pension funds. Asset liability management (ALM) and liability driven investment (LDI) strategies are usually adopted to guide pension fund managers in relation to strategic allocation in asset classes that should compose their investment portfolios and to the liquidity needed in each period, but not specifying in which assets to allocate resources from among the infinity of assets available in the financial market. This article contributes to tactical management in the fixed income and stock segments outsourced via funds and demonstrates that adopting simple indicators can increase investment performance. The article broadens the knowledge on pension fund investment decisions and creates confidence in the adoption of the Sharpe ratio as a technique for choosing investment funds. We analyzed the returns obtained by hypothetical portfolios built using the following techniques: (i) the Sharpe ratio; (ii) the alpha of a multifactor model; (iii) data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficiency; and (iv) the different combinations of these techniques. We considered information on 369 funds from 2013 to 2018, adopting 12 temporal windows for choosing and re-evaluating the portfolios. The returns obtained were compared with the mean actuarial goal of the benefits plans administered by the pension funds, by means of the unplanned divergence (UD). When outsourcing pension fund investments in fixed income and stock investment funds it was verified that the Sharpe ratio contributes significantly to pension fund performance, compared with other indicators and techniques or a combination of them.

Pension Participants’ Attitudes, Beliefs, and Emotional Responses to the New Dutch Pension System

As of 2022, the Dutch pension system will be overhauled. The success of this as well as other pension reforms also depends on how participants react to and accept such changes. We therefore studied participants’ attitudes, beliefs, and emotions toward the new pension system. We composed a text to inform them about the new system and qualitatively analyzed their responses. We investigated which beliefs and attitudes prevail among different age groups. The results show that many participants base their comments on previous experiences, misconceptions and (sometimes false) interpretations of the information in the text. Moreover, we find that young people are more optimistic, whilst older participants tend to feel victimized. Since the new Dutch pension rules have yet to be introduced, the results of our study contain valuable information for policymakers and pension funds who should acknowledge and address the oftentimes intense emotions, beliefs, and attitudes that influence the way that intentionally neutral information is perceived and accepted. A diversified communication strategy, mindful of different beliefs, emotions and attitudes among participants should help to empower citizens to get insight in their financial situation after retirement and to make informed choices.

Impact Assessment for Sustainable Project Management And Pension Funds Projects Performance In Kenya

Sustainability is an evolving area of research and is grabbing the attention of corporations, research communities, and regulatory bodies worldwide which had enhanced its implementation. The prevailing trend towards economic growth in developing countries has resulted in a huge demand for delivering construction projects which in turn has overshadowed sustainability concerns. Consequently, project managers in developing countries are lagging in embracing the concept of sustainability in managing projects. Specific focus has been given to construction projects in the pension industry in Kenya. To address this challenge, the paper explored sustainable project management based on a comprehensive literature review through a desk review of numerous academic journal articles to evaluate pension funds projects performance. Three theories were used to provide a foundation for the sustainable project management practices: stakeholder theory, the Triple Bottom Line (3BL) concept which captures the essence of sustainability and theory of risk management. The study established that current project management practices of Kenyan Pension Funds do not always ensure project success that secure desired market returns on these investments. As the pension schemes are also expected to continue to invest in alternative assets given the broadening of the allowable investment categories and to take advantage of the public infrastructural projects under the big four agenda (RBA, 2021), it becomes paramount to identify and implement sustainable project management practices for performance of the pension funds projects. The outcome of this research showed that sustainability goals and environmental and social impact assessment contribute towards pension funds projects performance. The moderating effect of the regulatory framework was determined to be supportive towards sustainable pension funds projects performance.

Comparing the Performance and Management Style of Retirement Pension Funds before and after the Private Pension Activation Plan

We analyzed and compared the performance and management style of retirement pension funds before and after the private pension activation plan (PPAP). First, we found that retirement-pension funds showed better performance than public funds before the PPAP. However, after the PPAP, the retirement-pension market size increased and the difference in performance disappeared. Second, we found that the difference between top and bottom performance group in the retirement pension fund becomes more significant after the PPAP. Third, we found that various investment strategies such as small-medium size stock investment and sector investment are offered in the retirement-pension fund only to result in the inferior performance. Finally, when we compared the management style, the retirement-pension funds showed a smaller value factor compared to public funds for the period after the PPAP. Therefore, we argue that the fund selection has become a more significant factor in determining the retirement fund performance after the PPAP. However, considering that the average retirement-pension holders’ financial knowledge is rather low, the expansion of fund choices may adversely affect the pension holder’s performance. Therefore, a retirement-pension provider’s role as fund selection authority has become more critical, and it is necessary to establish an institutional device that can manage, supervise, and monitor their activities.

The main priorities of using and managing the funds of the unified accumulative pension fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The purpose of the article is the formation of an optimal model of pension provision of citizens in accordance with the modern market economy on the most important issues arising in the accumulative pension system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, strengthening its theoretical, methodological and legal foundations. The Republic of Kazakhstan was one of the first CIS countries to start pension reform 24 years ago. The main goal is to establish the personal responsibility of each citizen of Kazakhstan for his financial situation when reaching retirement age. In this regard, when implementing the reform, the state policy envisaged a gradual transition from the application of the principle of cooperation between generations to independent savings in pension funds. The pension reform in Kazakhstan was carried out optimally and the World Bank recognized it as one of the most successful reforms. The accumulative pension system plays a significant role in the life of the country, the development of the stock market and the improvement of the national economy, the distribution of long-term investments at the expense of domestic savings to increase the competitiveness of the country. In order to become one of the 30 effectively developed countries of the world, the state has created high standards of living for the citizens of Kazakhstan by improving the level and quality of pension provision. For this, one of the most important components of the economic and social conditions of the population is that accumulative pension funds in Kazakhstan should develop further, and the pension system should be competitive. The main pillar of the accumulative pension system in the country is the improvement of the accumulative pension fund and effective pension provision, which forms the basis of the future population. In the conditions of modern globalization and rapid development of financial markets, the financial position of the accumulative pension fund, a participant in the financial market, and its effective functioning are in the first place.

Development of the taxation of retirement products in Bulgaria

Retirement products are long-term savings products. It is widespread government to encourage the saving via tax incentives. Bulgaria follows favourable taxation of saving in voluntary pension funds. The paper is searching answer whether the applied tax policy of personal retirement products in Bulgaria is efficient. The research is focused on three main areas: the nature of the tax incentives in the country; the development of the taxation of pensions across European Union and the areas for improvements of the tax policy taking into account the characteristics of the Bulgarian socio-economic environment. The efficiency of the tax advantages often is under doubt in the literature. These studies omit the fact that without tax reliefs the coverage and the efficiency of saving in personal pension plans will be low. One of the conclusions of the current research is that the tax incentives for personal retirement products have to be a part of the design of the plans and these reliefs need to be adapted to the changing economic environment. The paper reaches the conclusion that evolution of the taxation of pensions in the country is needed. The positive changes will increase the trust in the personal retirement products and will improve the adequacy and sustainability of the overall pension system in Bulgaria. This evolution can be done through set of measures that will encourage people to save and will be factor for improving the results from the saving in personal pension plans.

Quality of Life among Older Adults Covered by Various Pension Funds, Tabriz, Iran

Introduction: Quality of life (QoL) is known to be one of the main challenges of the present century in the growing heterogeneous elder population. Therefore, determining the affecting factors of QoL among older people could be imperative. The present study aims at the comparative investigation of the QoL the old people covered by the various pension funds in the city of Tabriz, Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 212 older people in Tabriz, Iran. All of the participants were selected based on a stratified sampling considering the study population’s preliminary distribution in three kinds of funds (the State, Armed forces, and Social security). A reliable Iranian LEIPAD questionnaire was used in a comparative investigation of the older adult’s QoL. Data were analyzed with SPSS 21 using t-test, ANOVA, person corellation tests and multiple linear regression. Results: The majority of the participants were male (84.4%) and married (94.8%). One-third of older people possessed academic qualifications. The average age of pensioners in the State fund was 8 years older than other funds. Social security pensioners received the lowest wages (i.e. 0.76 of State and 0.71 of Armed forces pensioners). The total mean score of QoL was 65.63 ± 12.27 (range: 0-93). The relationship between QoL and education level (β = 0.30) and marital status (β = 0.22) was positive and significant. Moreover, a significant difference was observed between scores of QoL and type of pension funds, marital status, education level (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Pension funds can improve the QoL among older people by increasing the pension amount, quality of services and payment benefits of those covered retirees.