News

The Society of Actuaries in Ireland has published a research report on the Financial Sustainability of the State Pension in Ireland.  The report, produced by Milliman, was commissioned by the Society and PublicPolicy.ie, with a view to informing debate and public policy decisions.

Key findings:

The OECD has published Pensions at a Glance 2015. The paper highlights the pension reforms undertaken by OECD and G20 countries over the last two years. It provides an in depth review of the first layer of protection of the elderly, first-tier pension schemes across countries and assesses the impact of short or interrupted careers, due to late entry into employment, childcare or unemployment, on pension entitlements. The paper also analyses the sensitivity of long-term pension replacement rates to parametric changes.

On the 6th of October, the Pensions Authority published a synopsis of the main points made in submissions it received in response to its consultation paper on draft codes of governance for defined contribution schemes.

In 2013, the Pensions Authority commenced the DC consultation process that set out the Authority’s views on the future of DC provision and sought responses to specific questions including minimum standards for trustee knowledge, understanding and behaviour.

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has published a Good Practices Report on transferability of supplementary pension rights. With this Report, EIOPA identifies the main impediments to cross-border and national transfers as well as a number of good practices to overcome these. This would create more transparency in the interest of consumers and facilitate the internal market for supplementary pension rights.

EIOPA outlines three key areas which – if addressed – could significantly facilitate the transferability of supplementary pension rights:

The Demography Committee has prepared a report and recommendations following a review of the mortality assumptions used in converting a retirement fund into an annuity as prescribed in the following Actuarial Standards of Practice:

The DC consultation process conducted by the Pensions Authority in late 2013 set out the Authority’s views on the future of DC provision and sought responses to specific questions raised. In relation to pension scheme governance the Authority indicated that it would publish a code of governance that would provide trustees with a central reference point for the key areas of a DC scheme.

On 22nd May 2015, the Pensions Authority published financial management guidelines for defined benefit schemes.
The guidelines set out what the Authority sees as good practice for trustees to follow in order to understand and manage the funding and investment of their defined benefit scheme
The provisions are divided into four parts:

1. Data about the scheme that the trustees should have available to them
2. Governance practices relevant to financial management
3. Processes that the trustees should follow
4. Analysis that the trustees should undertake

In April 2015, the Universal Retirement Savings Group (URSG) initiated consultation with stakeholders on developing a roadmap and timeline for the introduction of a new, universal, supplementary workplace retirement saving scheme.

The Society welcomes the opportunity to submit a response to the URSG consultation on the potential parameters of a universal retirement savings system.

The DC consultation process conducted by the Pensions Authority in late 2013 set out the Authority’s views on the future of DC provision and sought responses to specific questions raised. In relation to pension scheme governance the Authority indicated that it would publish a code of governance that would provide trustees with a central reference point for the key areas of a DC scheme.

The Society of Actuaries in Ireland has published a sample risk register and sample risk overview statement to help pension scheme trustees and sponsoring employers, with the assistance of their actuarial advisers, to identify the various risks inherent in pension schemes and to manage these risks effectively. 

Scheme Actuaries, in particular, are encouraged to use the sample risk register to engage with their clients on the broad spectrum of risks, from financial to operational, that pension schemes face.