Washington, D.C., September 26 — The World Bank, The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and Dutch financial services group, ING have agreed to join forces in a new research partnership to study how privatized pension systems have performed in a wide range of developing and transition economies during the past twenty years. 
Initialing their new agreement at the World Bank in Washington this morning, the three groups agreed to evaluate the performance and efficiency of funded pension arrangements in these countries, and seek explanations for their different experiences. During the past two decades, many countries have fully or partially privatized the management of their systems that provide income and financial support in retirement. Many others are actively considering proposals to move in this direction. Though there is wide international consensus about the importance of privately managed funded pensions, the way these systems are best organized and operated is still under discussion. The first project within the scope of the research agreement will focus on the "Financial performance of private pension funds." Despite the growing role of the private sector in retirement provision, there have been few comparisons of the performance of these private systems. By gathering and comparing detailed data from a number of emerging economies and some mature countries, the three partners will make an analysis of the performance of privately managed pension funds. The results of the research will be shared through open conferences, workshops and widely available publications. “When you consider that trillions of dollars are now managed by the private pensions industry, it’s extremely important to know how well they have performed in providing high rates of return, secure and reliable benefits and constraining costs. These continue to be among the most hotly debated pension policy questions in virtually all countries worldwide,” says Robert Holzmann, Director of Social Protection at the World Bank, which advises developing and middle-income countries on pension reform as part of its mission to reduce poverty in its developing and middle-income client countries. “This new research group formed by the World Bank, the OECD, and ING marshals the knowledge and experience of major international policy and research institutions with the practical expertise and resources of the private sector, to provide a thorough examination of just how well these new systems have performed.” 
“Financial institutions in the private pensions business have a strong interest in supporting objective research on the results from our industry,” says Jan Nijssen, Global Head Pensions for ING, one of the largest private retirement services providers in the world with pension assets in excess of EUR 200 billion, offering pension products in 30 mature and emerging economies. “ING is pleased to have played a major role in initiating this cooperation with respected international organizations like the World Bank and the OECD. As one of the largest global providers of retirement services, it makes sense for us to support this partnership since it amplifies our belief that caring for people and their communities can go hand in hand with long-term sustainable business development.” “The collection of data on performance indicators and their analysis are key to the assessment of the adequacy of private pensions systems and the development of related policy tools by governments around the world. By liaising with the World Bank, ING and, hopefully, other private partners, this project is expected to deliver high quality research and to complement our current work on global data collection and regulatory policy guidelines,” says André Laboul, Head of the OECD Financial Affairs Division. The OECD, with 30 member states, works on economic and social issues such as macroeconomics, finance, trade, education, development, science and innovation. It is intensively involved in policy formulation and research related to retirement savings. The partnership welcomes additional membership from other major financial institutions able to take part in current and future studies, and through contributing resources. Public institutions with a significant interest in the issues are also invited to join. To learn more about this initiative, please see the following documents:  Memorandum of Understanding (801kb pdf). This Memorandum of Understanding between the World Bank, OECD and ING Groep N.V. establishes the framework for collaboration in the achievement of common objectives regarding research and analysis of pension and retirement savings issues with an emphasis on the pre-funding and management of market based systems and their role in reform of pension systems.
Information for Potential New Partners (30kb pdf). This document presents background information on the three origional partners, the purpose of the partnership and its governance and operation. It also outlines the comparative performance analysis of privately managed pension fund assets study and provides information on how to join. Interested parties should contact Richard Hinz at the World Bank (rhinz@worldbank.org) for further information. Media Contacts:
For World Bank in Washington, D.C:
Phil Hay: (202) 473-1796 or (202) 409-2909 cell
phay@worldbank.org For OECD in Paris:
Nicholas Bray: +33 1 45 24 80 90
or Juan Yermo: +33 1 45 24 96 62
nicolas.bray@oecd.org
juan.yermo@oecd.org For ING in Amsterdam:
Debbie Brand, Media Relations Officer,
telephone +31 20 541 54 69
debbie.brand@ing.com For further information on the pensions work of each of the three partners, please visit: World Bank: www.worldbank.org/pensions
ING: www.ing.com/group
OECD: www.oecd.org/daf/pensions |
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