Individuals encounter various risks throughout their lives for which they may not be adequately protected. Two significant risks that can impact an individual’s financial well-being relate to natural hazards and the transition from working life to retirement. Insurance and asset-backed pensions offer protection against these risks. However, individuals may sometimes be unable or unwilling to utilise these protections, either due to personal choice or a lack of available vehicles and options. This situation may result in financial protection gaps, leaving individuals vulnerable and potentially jeopardising their financial well-being.
This report identifies and addresses financial protection gaps in insurance for natural hazards and retirement savings in Asia. It provides an overview of these gaps in Asia, assesses the drivers and provides approaches to addressing these gaps based on international good practices. The analysis focuses on the experiences of Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka (insurance and retirement savings), as well as Thailand and Viet Nam (retirement savings only). The report also draws from the work of the OECD Working Party on Insurance and Pensions, contributing to the dissemination of OECD standards and recommendations relating to insurance and asset-backed pensions.
This report was prepared by the Capital Markets and Financial Institutions Division of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs under the supervision of Pablo Antolín, Head of the Insurance and Pensions Unit, and Serdar Çelik, Head of Division. Chapter 1 was prepared by Leigh Wolfrom, with support from Timothy Bishop, and Chapter 2 was prepared by Stéphanie Payet and Jessica Mosher. The information gathered in this report was collected through desk research, questionnaires and discussions with relevant stakeholders in the participating countries.
The OECD gratefully acknowledges financial support from the Government of Japan. The report also benefitted from valuable exchanges and collaboration with the Financial Services Authority (Indonesia); Bank Negara Malaysia and the Employee Provident Fund (Malaysia); the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (Pakistan); the Insurance Commission and the Social Security System (the Philippines); the Insurance Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka and the Employees’ Provident Fund (Sri Lanka); the Fiscal Policy Office and the Government Pension Fund (Thailand); the Ministry of Home Affairs (Viet Nam); and representatives from the private (re)insurance and pensions sector in all these countries.