Pension Finance

Pensions are a major public policy issue – in most countries, they represent a large portion of government fiscal obligations, a burden forecast to increase yet further as the ‘baby boom’ generation approaches retirement. At the same time, private pensions are a major component of financial markets and an important contributor to savings, investment and economic growth.

As the global pensions crisis looms, it is essential that practitioners and researchers working in and around the pensions industry understand this subject from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Written for everyone currently working or researching in this industry, Pension Finance discusses the financial implications of economic decision making in pension provision, and provides a comprehensive and secure grounding in the theory and practice of finance, including:

• the various types of investment assets
• the allocation of personal wealth to different asset classes
• corporate pension finance
• the financial aspects of defined contribution pension plans during both the accumulation and distribution phases
• the financial aspects of defined benefit pension plans

The book also covers important aspects of the role of pension funds and pension fund management such as performance measurement and attribution, risk management and insurance.

This book provides a secure grounding in the theory and practice of finance insofar as it deals with pension matters. By using it, the reader will understand the various types of investment assets;
* the allocation of personal wealth to different asset classes
* corporate pension finance
* the financial aspects of defined contribution pension plans during both the accumulation and distribution phases
* the financial aspects of defined benefit pension plans
* the role of pension funds and pension fund management
* pension fund performance measurement and attribution
* risk management in pension funds

Dr DAVID BLAKE is Professor of Pension Economics and Director of the Pensions Institute at Cass Business School, London, and Chairman of Square Mile Consultants, a training and research consultancy. He was formerly Director of the Securities Industry Programme at City University Business School, Research Fellow at both the London Business School and the London School of Economics and Professor of Financial Economics at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is consultant to many organisations, including Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Union Bank of Switzerland, Paribas Capital Markets, McKinsey & Co., the Office of Fair Trading, the Office for National Statistics, the Government Actuary’s Department, the National Audit Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the Prime Minister’s Policy Directorate and the World Bank. In June 1996, he established the Pensions Institute, which undertakes high-quality research on all pension-related issues and publishes details of its research activities on the internet (http://www.pensions-institute.org.