Introduction

Authors

John Evans, University of WollongongFollow
Michael Orszag, Watson Wyatt
John Piggott, University of New South Wales

RIS ID

98095

Publication Details

Evans, J., Orszag, M. & Piggott, J. (2008). Introduction. In J. Evans, M. Orszag & J. Piggott (Eds.), Pension fund governance: a global perspective on financial regulation (pp. 1-5). United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Abstract

Global pension fund assets amounted to over US$23 billion in 2007, and that is before the substantial amount of pension savings in insurance vehicles is taken into account. T here are few markets across the major developed economies in which pension and life insurance assets combined do not represent more than half of all financial assets; in some countries they comprise more than four-fifths of all assets under management. Corporate and government pension funds often do not have assets on hand to meet all their liabilities, so assetbased measures potentially understate the importance of pensions and pension funds to economies.