In this paper, it is investigated to what extent optimal investment policy by Dutch pension funds is affected by changes in regulation. It turns out that a complete market valuation method increases the cost of the defined benefit pension relative to a fixed discount rate method, as high pension premiums are to be payed exactly when expected future returns are the lowest. In practice, this timing problem does not seem to be severe for Dutch pension funds as solvency requirements are only applied to guaranteed pension rights, whereas a major part of pension benefits (indexation) is conditional. Moreover, a fixed interest rate may still be used to calculate pension premiums. Regarding the asset mix, the optimal duration of bonds in portfolio seems higher than currently observed, both under market valuation and under a fixed discount rate method. The new regulatory rules only slightly reduce the attractiveness of equity investment.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department in its series DNB Working Papers with number
063.
Find related papers by JEL classification: H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)