The purpose of this study is to empirically test the hypothesis that the aggregate activity of pension funds in the Canadian equity market has created a segmentation of that market. It is possible that this aggregate activity has a measurable impact on the market price of the stocks purchased. If it can be shown that pension funds do command a relatively strong position in the market for Canadian equities then a study of this nature would be justified. The importance of pension funds in recent years will be discussed and any trends of significance to the development of the Canadian equity market identified. The empirical study will cover the period 1964-72 and will determine whether the concentration of pension fund investments in a small number of Canadian common stocks has in fact had a measurable impact on the market prices of these stocks. If pension fund activity was bidding up the market price of these stocks one would expect this to be indicated in a significantly different rate of return for these stocks in comparison with other non-pension stocks. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

Pension funds have been part of the private sector since the 1850’s. Defined Benefit pension plans [DB], where a company promises to make regular contributions to investment accounts held for participating employees in order to pay a promised lifelong annuity, are significant capital markets participants, amounting to 2.3 trillion dollars in 2010 (Federal Reserve Board, 2013). In 2006, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No.158 (SFAS 158), Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postemployment Plans, shifted information concerning funding status and pension asset/liability composition from disclosure in the footnotes to recognition in the financial statements. I add to the literature by being the first to examine the effect of recent pension reform during the financial crisis of 2008-09. This dissertation is comprised of three related essays. In my first essay, I investigate whether investors assign different pricing multiples to the various classes of pension assets when valuing firms. The pricing multiples on all classes of assets are significantly different from each other, but only investments in bonds and equities were value-relevant during the recent financial crisis. Consistent with investors viewing pension liabilities as liabilities of the firm, the pricing multiples on pension liabilities are significantly larger than those on non-pension liabilities. The only pension costs significantly associated with firm value are actual rate of return and interest expense. In my second essay, I investigate the role of accruals in predicting future cash flows, extending the Barth et al. (2001a) model of the accrual process. Using market value of equity as a proxy for cash flows, the results of this study suggest that aggregate accounting amounts mask how the components of earnings affect investors’ ability to predict future cash flows. Disaggregating pension earnings components and accruals results in an increase in predictive power. During the 2008-2009 financial crisis, however, investors placed a greater (and negative) weight on the incremental information contained in the individual components of accruals. The inferences are robust to alternative specifications of accruals. Finally, in my third essay I investigate how investors view under-funded plans. On average, investors: view deficits arising from under-funded plans as belonging to the firm; reward firms with fully or over-funded pension plans; and encourage those funds with unfunded pension plans to become funded. Investors also encourage conservative pension asset allocations to mitigate firm risk, and smaller firms are perceived as being better able to handle the risk associated with underfunded plans. During the financial crisis of 2008-2009 underfunded status had a lower negative association with market value. In all three models, there are significant differences in pre- and post- SFAS 158 periods. These results are robust to various scenarios of the timing of the financial crisis and an alternative measure of funding.

No description available.

No description available.

D.Com. (Economics) / The objective of this dissertation was to examine the economic relevance of the actuarial. practice of investment Performance measurement and the valuation of the assets and liabilities of the South African private pension funds. South Africans are great contractual savers.

Thesis (LLM. (Labour Law)) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / This mini-dissertation deals with the adjudication and conciliation of the pension fund complaints as regulated by the Pension Funds, Act, 24 of 1956 (the Act). Section 30E of the Act gives the Pension Funds Adjudicator powers to investigate any complaint that has been lodged within the period of 3 years as prescribed by the law. This mini-dissertation further discusses the powers of the Adjudicator and the way the Office of the Pension Funds Adjudicator was established. The research further discusses the determinations issued by the Adjudicator which are ground-breaking which interpret the Act.

Considering the problems of the fast aging of population and the heavy burden of the next generation to raise the elder people, the ¡§Implementation Rules of the Labor Pension Act¡¨ law was put into practice in July 1st, 2005 to release the heavy load of the next generation. The law changed the older system ¡§defined benefit pension plan¡¨ into a new system ¡§defined contribution pension plan¡¨ to slow down the problems of aging of population. Nevertheless, there were so many controversial issues about the enactment not passing the draft plan of setting up the supervisory committee of the Fund of the Labor Pension. The amount of the Labor Pension one can obtain when retiring is related to the operation of the Fund of the Labor Pension. However, now the money is putting in the bank and not doing any effective investment. This makes us start wondering if we can get our pension on time or the insufficient part of labor pension will become a heavy burden of the next generation. It can be a big issue for government in the future. In this research we will discuss the general situation of the pension scheme and the operation of the fund of pension to analyze the legal problems of draft plan in setting up the supervisory committee of the Fund of the Labor Pension. The results show that the main drawbacks of the draft plan right now are: the problems of adopting the system of Incorporated Administration, lacking the supervisory committee of labor organization and undefined responsibility of the supervisory committee. Also, the injustice of the modern pension plan is discovered in our research. We hope that this study can provide an excellent direction to improve the system.

The dissertation deals with four issues affecting Employer Sponsored Pension Plans: (a) the rationale for their existence and growth, (b) the impact of taxation on funding decisions, (c) the development of an investment model for such funds, and (d) the evaluation of the historical investment performance of 83 Canadian pension funds. The proposed investment model integrates the fund's assets with the firm's assets. It is operationalized for four Canadian firms, using a universe of 192 common stocks and eleven bond portfolios. The results indicate that the optimal pension fund is firm-specific, in terms of both asset mix and security selection. The evaluation of investment performance emphasizes the equity portfolios of the 83 Canadian funds. The results show non-superior performance by these funds; the conclusions are robust across holding periods, benchmarks, performance measures and time periods. The study has major implications for the funding and investment policies of the pension funds and their investment performance.

Lietuvos pensijų fondų formavimo bei jų veiklos vertinimas užsienio šalių kontekste yra svarbus analizuojant Lietuvos pensijų sistemos reformą. Darbo objektu buvo pasirinktas – pensijų fondas, kuris sklandžiai įgyvendinant pensijų reformą turi tapti svarbiu socialinio draudimo elementu. Magistrinio darbo tikslas buvo vertinti pensijų fondų formavimą ir pensijų fondų veiklą Lietuvoje ir užsienio šalyse. Nors daugiausia dėmesio buvo skirta Lietuvai, bet Lietuvos pensijų fondų formavimas bei veikimas visame darbe buvo siejamas ir lyginamas su užsienio šalių patirtimi. Magistrinis darbas patvirtina, kad pensijų fondai yra galimybė gauti didesnes pensijines pajamas. Svarbus žodis prieš tai buvusiame sakinyje yra „galimybė“, nes nei vienas pensijų fondas negarantuoja sėkmingos investicijos. Tačiau žinant demografines tendencijas (senstanti visuomenė) ir pasaulio šalių pensijų fondų veiklos rezultatus, pensijų fondai yra optimalus problemos sprendimas. Magistrinio darbo rezultatai rodo, kad pensijų fondų formavimą gali skatinti skirtingos priežastys, bet jų finansavimas yra panašus – pensijų fondai gauna fiksuotą darbuotojo pajamų dalį. Gerai diversifikuotas pensijų fondų portfelis ir investavimo išmanymas sudaro prielaidas gauti norimą investicinį prieaugį, kuris suteikia galimybę gauti didesnes pajamas senatvėje. / Evaluation of Lithuanian pension funds‘ formation and operating in context of foreign countries is important for analysing reform of Lithuanian pension system. Chosen object of the paper is pension fund, which will become important part of social insurance, if pension reform is fulfilled smoothly. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate formation and operating of pension funds in Lithuania and foreign countries. Though biggest attention was brought to Lithuania, but formation and operating of Lithuanian pension funds was associated and compared with experience of foreign countries. Master paper confirmed that pension funds are possibility to get bigger pension incomes. Important word in previous sentence is ’possibility’, as no pension fund guaranties successful investment. However demographical tendencies and operating results of other countries, pension funds are optimal solution to mentioned problems. Results of master paper show that formation of pension funs may be influenced by different causes, but financing of them is similar – pension funds get fixed portion from employees’ salary. Well-diversified pension fund portfolio and good investment skills is strong background to get desirable investment return, which will give opportunity to get bigger incomes after retirement.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Faculty of Economics and Commerce, 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 310-326)