The Determinants of the Intermediary Spread: Evidence from Australian, UK and USA-based International Equity Funds

This paper develops and tests a new measure of mutual fund performance, based on Brennan's (1993a) equilibrium model of the pricing of retail financial products, which assumes that search costs of investors are non-trivial and cause the demand for mutual funds to be inelastic, thus creating an intermediary spread. This implies that the marginal costs of the intermediary spread in the form of expenses and sales load must be explicitly traded off against the marginal benefits in terms of the fund's return relative to a benchmark. The measure is used to evaluate the performance of twelve USA, eight UK and five Australian-based internationally diversified equity funds over the period 1982–95, and provides new insights into their performance in ways that are not revealed by the Jensen measure.     

The Role of the Auditor in Modern Society: An Exploratory Essay

This paper examines competing proprietary and political cost arguments for incentives facing managers of different types of Australian and UK pension fund, to voluntarily disclose pension liability information in annual reports sent to their participants. For Australian defined benefit pension funds, the disclosure reveals the fund's actuarial surplus or deficit, which conveys information to participants about the pension fund's ability to generate future cash flows. Tests are conducted on the voluntary reporting practices of a sample of 119 Australian and 100 UK pension funds, using variables which prior research suggests affects their financial valuation and performance. The empirical results support predictions that managerial discretionary disclosure carries proprietary cost implications for Australian defined benefit pension funds, as proxied by their investment risk and funding ratio, and political cost implications for Australian defined contribution and UK defined benefit pension funds, as proxied by their size.     

金融危机对拉美国家私营养老金的影响及经验启示

2008年爆发的金融危机对全球经济产生了重要影响,也对拉美国家私营养老金制度的发展产生了巨大冲击。文章介绍了拉美国家私营养老金制度的改革路径和养老基金概况,从养老金资产价值、投资收益率、投资组合、雇员、制度覆盖面和缴费密度方面切入,分析了金融危机对拉美私营养老金制度的影响。在现状分析的基础上,得出了要保障私营养老金制度可持续运行的一些经验启示:构建多元化的混合型养老金体系,增强退休和养老金支付的灵活性,积极运用生命周期投资策略,实施多元化和分散化投资,以养老金长期收益作为投资目标,建立社会风险应急储备基金和政府担保机制,以及加强员工退休教育。     

FINANCIAL LITERACY AND PENSION INVESTMENT DECISIONS

The call for enhanced financial literacy amongst consumers is a global phenomenon, driven by the growing complexity of financial markets and products, and government concerns about the affordability of supporting an ageing population. Worldwide, defined benefit pensions are giving way to the risk and uncertainty of defined contribution superannuation/pension funds where fund members now make choices and decisions that were once made on their behalf. An important prerequisite for informed financial decision‐making is adequate financial knowledge and skills to make competent investment decisions. This paper reports the findings of an online survey of the members of a large Australian public sector‐based superannuation fund and shows that although respondents generally understand basic financial matters, on average, their understanding of investments concepts, such as the relationship between risk and returns, is inadequate. These results highlight the need for education programs focusing specifically on developing fund members’ investment knowledge and skills to facilitate informed retirement savings decisions.     

Die Abgrenzung beitragsbezogener Pensionspläne aus Sicht des Asset-Liability-Managements

As a first step towards establishing models for the asset liability management (ALM) of contribution based pension plans of German pension funds it is important to characterize the essential properties of such plans. It is shown that it is not appropriate to assume an equivalence between such plans and a ?Beitragszusage mit Mindestleistung” (contribution based pension plan with investment guarantee). Although the plans under consideration grant the participation in the asset returns generated by the pension fund, they also guarantee a benefit level. This shows clearly that it is impossible to apply traditional ALM models for defined contribution plans — which in general provide no minimum benefit guarantee — to German pension funds without substantial alterations.     

基于“三支柱”视角的吉林省养老保障筹资问题再思考

随着我国人口老龄化的发展,养老保障资金支出规模逐渐扩大。从"三支柱"角度分析吉林省养老保险资金筹措的现状,发现吉林省养老保险资金结构不尽合理,第一支柱中的财政投入能力有限,第二、三支柱对养老保险资金的支持力度尚未显现,养老保险资金缺乏可持续性的积累机制。结合国外发达国家养老保险资金筹措的先进经验,在财政支付能力有限的情况下,筹措养老保险资金的渠道应向第二、三支柱拓展,发展企业年金和商业养老保险,从多渠道筹措养老保险资金,以缓解养老保险资金短缺的状况,实现养老保险资金的保值和增值。     

Shareholder activism of public pension funds: The political facet

This paper studies the political incentive of public pension funds in shareholder activism. Using a sample of shareholder proposals from 1993 to 2013 and a hand-collected data set of the political variables of public pension funds, we document evidence consistent with the “political attention hypothesis.” We find that the number of politicians on public pension fund boards is significantly positively related to the frequency with which portfolio firms are targeted. Moreover, the frequency of social-responsibility proposals by public pension funds increases significantly, as the funds have a greater number of board members running for election to public office. However the frequency of corporate governance proposals is not related to the number of board members running for elections to public office. Furthermore, we document that political connection between a portfolio firm and a public pension fund mitigates the firm’s likelihood of being targeted by the fund with social-responsibility proposals. This result supports the “political contribution hypothesis.” The paper provides direct evidence that public pension-fund board members employ shareholder proposals to enhance their political capital.     

Valuation of Contingent Pension Liabilities and Guarantees Under Sponsor Default Risk

This article analyzes the relationship between a pension fund with contingently indexed defined benefit liabilities and its sponsor, using contingent claims analysis. As pension funds generally choose to run a mismatch risk, future surpluses and deficits will occur. Surpluses are divided between beneficiaries and sponsor through contingent indexation of the benefits and refunding. Covering a deficit at the pension fund level is a function of the sponsor's financial ability to do so. This article suggests that this system creates an asymmetric allocation of the residual risk between sponsor and beneficiaries. The optimal investment policy for the pension fund in this context can be found by reverse engineering option valuation formulas. The main conclusion is that sponsor default risk negatively impacts the optimum risk profile and thereby the market value of contingent pension liabilities.     

The cross-section of mutual fund fee dispersion

In this paper, we empirically analyze the factors affecting the cross section of mutual fund fee dispersion. In the context of equity mutual funds, fee dispersion stems primarily from the heterogeneity of products, clienteles and production functions. However, the relevant theory predicts that search costs can also generate fee dispersion. By controlling for observable sources of heterogeneity, we find that fee dispersion decreases with fund size and age, as well as with the amount of assets under management of the investment company. In addition, we find lower levels of fee dispersion for funds that charge marketing and distribution fees. Although we cannot rule out the possibility that these factors are a proxy for some unobserved source of heterogeneity, our results are also consistent with the theoretical prediction that search costs positively affect fee dispersion.     

HEDGE FUNDS: WHAT DO WE KNOW?

Hedge funds are attracting increased attention because of their reputation for earning superior (risk-adjusted) returns. Hedge Fund Research Inc. estimates that in 2001 there were about 7,000 hedge funds with investor capital of about $600 billion. And yet the diversity of hedge funds, combined with a general lack of transparency, makes the hedge fund industry something of a "black box."
This article provides an overview of the legal structure of hedge funds, the various fund investment strategies, and the existing research on overall hedge fund performance. Without uniform and comprehensive reporting requirements, it is difficult to ascertain the size and scope of hedge fund investments. Nonetheless, current research provides persuasive evidence that hedge funds earn positive risk-adjusted returns, on average, in contrast to their counterparts in the mutual fund industry. In an attempt to explain these higher returns, the authors begin by noting that hedge funds are subject to considerably less regulation than other investment institutions because their client base is limited to wealthy individuals and institutions. Hedge funds can thus employ investment strategies that mutual funds and pension funds are prohibited from pursuing, such as short selling, high leverage, derivatives, concentrated holdings, and limited redemptions. As a result, the funds may be able to earn excess returns by operating in illiquid and specialized markets where there is a shortage of arbitrage capital. At the same time, and perhaps even more important, hedge funds are in a better position than conventional mutual funds to attract skilled managers because of their use of performance-based incentive fee structures.     

What determines corporate pension fund risk-taking strategy?

Corporate sponsors of defined benefit pension plans generally assume low investment risk when they have low funding ratios and high default risk, consistent with the risk management hypothesis. However, for financially distressed sponsors and sponsors that freeze, terminate, or convert defined benefit to defined contribution plans, the risk-shifting incentive (moral hazard) dominates. Pension fund risk-taking is also affected by labor unionization and sponsor incentives to maximize tax benefits, restore financial slack, and justify the accounting choices of pension assumptions. Sponsors shift toward an aggressive risk strategy when their pension plans emerge from underfunding, bankruptcy risk is reduced, or marginal tax rate decreases. Overall, we show that corporate sponsors adopt a dynamic risk-taking strategy in their pension fund investments.     

The Asset Management Industry in Asia: Dynamics of Growth,Structure, and Performance

We examine the industrial organization and institutional development of the asset management industry in Asian developing economies—specifically in China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand. We focus on the size and growth of the buy‐side of the respective financial markets, asset allocation, the regulatory environment, and the state of internationalization of the fund management industry in its key components—mutual funds, pension funds, and asset management for high net worth individuals. We link the evolution of professional asset management in these environments to the development of the respective capital markets and to the evolution of corporate governance. We find that the fund management industry occupies a very small niche in domestic financial systems that are dominated by banks. At the same time, we find that its growth has been very rapid in the early 2000s and we suggest that this is likely to persist as the demand for professional management of financial wealth in the region develops and as the pension fund sectors of the respective economies are liberalized to allow larger portions of assets to be invested in collective investment schemes.     

美国养老金保值增值的法律保障及其经验借鉴

2007年,肇始于美国的次贷危机此后逐步演化成为席卷全球的金融危机。由于法律、法规的缺失,我国结余数万亿元的五项社会保险基金因大量存在银行而面临贬值风险,企业年金和全国社保战略储备基金也面临增值的挑战。金融市场发达的美国在此次席卷全球的金融危机中,由于有《社会保障法案》、《信托法》、《雇员退休收入保障法案》、《税法》等法律的保护,较好地解决了养老金保值增值的问题。我国应当借鉴美国社保基金保值增值的法律治理架构,规范相关法规、规章的立法步伐,以确保我国养老金的保值增值。本文试图从养老金保值增值的法律保障视角,来发掘处于金融危机飓风"风眼"中的美国法律是如何规避养老金风险的,作为中国之借鉴。     

Smart defaults: Determining the number of default funds in a pension scheme

We propose a new methodology for the smart design of the default investment fund(s) in occupational defined contribution pension schemes based on the observable characteristics of scheme members. Using a unique dataset of member risk attitudes and characteristics from a survey of a large UK pension scheme, we apply factor analysis to identify single factors for risk aversion, risk capacity and ethical investment preferences, and then apply cluster analysis to these factors to identify two distinct groups of members across age cohorts. We find membership of these clusters depends on a number of personal characteristics, with the principal differentiating feature being that one group had previously engaged with the pension scheme, while the other had not. These identified characteristics can be utilised in the design of smart default funds, including appropriate engagement strategies.     

Automatic balancing mechanisms for notional defined contribution accounts in the presence of uncertainty

The notional defined contribution model combines pay-as-you-go financing and a defined contribution pension formula. This paper aims to demonstrate the extent to which liquidity and solvency indicators are affected by fluctuations in economic and demographic conditions and to explore the introduction of an automatic balancing mechanism (ABM) into the pension scheme. We demonstrate that the introduction of an ABM reduces the volatility of the buffer fund and that, in most cases, the automatic mechanism that re-establishes solvency produces the highest value of the risk-adjusted notional factor.     

Optimal Control of DC Pension Plan Management under Two Incentive Schemes

Since the late 1990s, a performance fee arrangement has been approved as a managerial incentive in direction contribution (DC) pension plan management to motivate managers. However, the fact that managers may take undue risk for the larger performance fees and thus reduce members’ utility has been a subject of debate. As such, this study investigates the optimal risk-taking policies of DC pension fund managers under both the single management fee scheme and a mixed scheme with a lower management fee, as well as an additional performance fee. The analytical solutions are derived by using the duality method and concavification techniques in a singular optimization problem. The results show the complex risk-taking structures of fund managers and recognize the win-win situation of implementing performance-based incentives in DC pension plan management. Under the setting of geometric Brownian motion asset price dynamics and constant relative risk aversion utility, the optimal risk investment proportion shows a peak-valley pattern under the mixed scheme. Further, the manager gambles for gain when fund wealth is low and time to maturity is short. As opposed to the existing literature, this study found that the risk-taking policy is more conservative when fund wealth is relatively large. Furthermore, the utilities of the manager and members could both be improved by appropriately choosing the performance fee rate.     

国外养老基金投资规则与绩效的比较

由于政治和人口老龄化对传统的现收现付体制带来的财政压力，养老基金制度改革已经成为一个全球性课题。在一些国家，由于对部分或全部基金型养老基金投资限制的改革，不仅使养老基金行业受益，而且对资本市场发展也产生了积极的影响。本文通过对不同投资监管制度下养老基金投资绩效差异和对资本市场不同影响的分析，探讨中国养老基金投资监管制度的改革方向和政策选择。     

加快推动我国养老基金通过PPP模式投资基础设施项目

党的十八届三中全会提出建立更加公平可持续的社会保障制度,开展市场化、专业化、多元化的养老基金投资运营是其中一项必不可少的重要内容。我国养老基金投资需求与社会基础设施建设的融资需求有极高的匹配度。一方面,随着近年来我国人口出生率的下降和预期寿命延长,人口老龄化程度不断加剧,养老基金给付压力不断加大,基金财务可持续性受到严峻挑战,保值增值压力突出;另一方面,随着我国城镇化进程推进,当前以政府融资建设为主的项目融资方式已不能满足需要。近年来,党中央、国务院多次研究部署加大重点领域有效投资,特别是注重推广政府和社会资本合作模式(PPP模式),汇聚全社会力量扩大公共产品及服务供给。拓展以养老基金为代表的长期资金投资基础设施的渠道,既能够满足我国庞大基础设施建设的资金需求,又可以同时满足养老基金长期稳定收益及保值增值的需求。     

Explaining the size of the mutual fund industry around the world

This paper studies the mutual fund industry in 56 countries and examines where this financial innovation has flourished. The fund industry is larger in countries with stronger rules, laws, and regulations, and specifically where mutual fund investors’ rights are better protected. The industry is also larger in countries with wealthier and more educated populations, where the industry is older, trading costs are lower and in which defined contribution pension plans are more prevalent. The industry is smaller in countries where barriers to entry are higher. These results indicate that laws and regulations, supply-side and demand-side factors simultaneously affect the size of the fund industry.     

Trends and determinants of Australian managed fund transaction costs

The present paper examines the often-overlooked managed fund fee that is incurred when investors enter and exit managed fund products. The present paper documents that transaction costs for investors, measured by the application-redemption spread, are above stock market brokerage rates although they have declined since 1995. The study analyses the relationship between this transaction fee and several variables. In summary, retail fund transaction costs are positively related to retail funds’ assets under management, whilst this relationship is negative for larger wholesale funds, consistent with economies of scale. Direct entry and exit fees and initial commissions are positively related to transaction costs which raises the possibility that the commissions are used to levy soft-dollar payments. The paper also documents a relationship between transaction costs and fund flows which differs between retail and wholesale funds. Overall, the findings are consistent with the proposition that the various fees are used by managers as interchangeable and the different fee regimes reflect different products and markets.