Retirement & Pension Management

Retirement & Pension Management

Brief Excerpt from Industry Overview Chapter:

Entities in this industry include funds, plans, and other programs that provide retirement income benefits for an organization's employees or members. Major retirement plans include the California Public Employees' Retirement System, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, the Federal Retirement Thrift Savings Plan, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund (all US-based). Outside the US, major funds include the Central Provident Fund (Singapore), Government Employees Pension Fund (South Africa), Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Canada), and Stichting Pensioenfonds (Netherlands).

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand is affected by the global economic conditions and demographic trends. The profitability of individual companies depends on investment expertise. Large companies have economies of scale in operations. Small companies can compete effectively by specializing in desirable sectors and by producing higher investment returns.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Major retirement products include defined benefit (DB) plans and defined contribution (DC) plans. In a DB plan, an employer guarantees an employee will receive a fixed payout once retired. In a DC plan, the employer does not guarantee any benefits. A pension is a type of DB plan. Popular types of DC plans include the 401(k)and the IRA (Individual Retirement Account). As of December 2023, 401(k) plans held over $7.4 trillion in assets in more than 710,000 plans, on behalf of about 70 million active participants and millions of former employees and retirees, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI).