Work Programme

Programme of Work

The Programme of Work for 2011-2012 was approved by the Governing Membership at the Annual General Meeting held in Sydney, Australia in November 2010. In addition to the completion and continuation of guidelines and projects already launched, the Techncial Committee agreed to start work on 2-3 new projects. Detailed project updates are available on the members' area of the website. Project leaders are designated by an asterisk *.

Programme of Work 2011-2012

New IOPS Projects for 2011

Role of supervisors in financial education related to plan members: Chile was assigned as project leader for this work, to be supported by Kenya, Poland, South Africa and Panama.

Supervisory oversight of pension intermediaries: South Africa volunteered to be project leader for this work, supported by Chile, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Hong Kong, India and Spain

Structure and Organisation of Pension Supervisory Authorities: the issue of how pension supervisory authorities should be structured in order to execute their functions most efficiently and effectively has often raised at discussions surrounding the IOPS Toolkit for Risk-based Supervision and at various IOPS workshops. The topic of how to organise financial supervision in general is also high on the agenda of policy makers in several countries, following the financial and economic crisis of recent years and the perceived failings in the oversight of financial systems. This paper will gather and summarize the information touching on this subject which has already been produced by the Organisation in relation to various project and working papers and the Toolkit. IOPS members will provide case studies explaining how their organisations are structured, as well as how these structures have altered in recent years and why.  As well as being of practical use to IOPS members, this paper may prove useful to the wider financial community and could be used to promote the work of the IOPS within other international forum.  Project team: IOPS Secretariat, UK

On-going Projects

The Technical Committee previously agreed to undertake the following work in 2011:

Revised Good Practices for the Oversight of Alternative Investments: following the 2010 “stock take” on regulations, market practice and risk-management of alternative investments by pension funds in IOPS and OECD countries, IOPS and OECD members agreed to jointly revise the Good Practices in the Risk Management of Alternative Investments by Pension Funds (which were approved by the IOPS in 2007), drawing on lessons from the stock taking exercise and subsequent IOPS and OECD work on risk-management and asset management. Project team: IOPS Secretariat, OECD Secretariat

Investment Implementation: also following on from the alternatives stock taking exercise, the central focus of this project will be on issues in the implementation of investment policies of pension funds, such as liquidity risks, unforeseen risk exposures, the importance of adequate investment mandates and valuation issues. Case studies will be drafted by the Netherlands and other IOPS members.The final report will be targeted for release as a Working Paper during 2011: Project team: Netherlands, IAA, Germany, Namibia

Information for DC Scheme Members: Part II of the DC information project will examine how supervisory authorities themselves can act as a source of comparative, objective information for pension fund members. It is also proposed that the project looks at the information provided by pension supervisory authorities during the recent financial and economic crisis. Further work may be coordinated with the OECD (e.g. on pension projections, focus groups, and possibly conducts of business): Project team: Italy, Chile, Austria, Spain, Korea

IOPS Toolkit: it is also envisaged that further work will be undertaken on the IOPS Toolkit. This would include updating and adding case study material to illustrate practical challenges which were encountered by IOPS members when moving to RBS and how these were overcome. Project team: IOPS Secretariat

ISSA/ IOPS / OECD database: the International Social Security Association (ISSA), IOPS and OECD have previously coordinated to produce a comprehensive data source on the regulation of private pension systems worldwide. The latest version of this database was published in 2009. Building on this database, pension system overviews and detailed regulatory and supervisory information for the majority of IOPS members are available on the IOPS website. The statistical information is updated annually (in time for the Annual General Meeting). Due to changes in funding, the role undertaken by the partners of this project will be adapted and the resources need to continue with the database will be reviewed. Project team: IOPS Secretariat, OECD Secretariat

Technical Assistance - outreach meetings: in 2011 a regional workshop is planned for the MENA region, a supervisory reform support workshop will be held with the Pension Commission in Nigeria and a further workshop will be held in Peru. Other events could be organized if demand arises and resources allow.