Pension Research Council: Conferences

Conferences

The Pension Research Council sponsors research conferences on topics of timely interest to members. Topics span the range of private and public retirement programs around the world. Themes are suggested by the Advisory Board, and members have the opportunity to explore the social, economic, legal, actuarial, and financial implications of research developments for retirement security.

2013 Symposium

2013 Symposium: Recreating Sustainable Retirement: Resilience, Solvency, and Tail Risk
April 25-26, 2013
The 2013 Pension Research Council Symposium at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania explores critical problems raised by the “known unknowns” as well as the “unknown unknowns” confronting retirement systems seeking to deliver old-age security to growing numbers of older persons. The research presented is intended to inform policymakers, academics, actuaries, plan sponsors, and benefits specialists, about longevity risk, capital market risk, model risk, regulator risk, and products and policies needed to manage these more effectively around the world. This analysis has important implications for the ways in which pension designers, fiduciaries, and policymakers should develop the future framework for addressing risk and sustainability within retirement models.

Past Conferences and Symposia

2012 Symposium: The Market for Retirement Financial Advice
May 3-4, 2012
Though many people use financial advisers, and many more would probably benefit from financial advice, relatively little is known about the marketplace for such advice. The 2012 Pension Research Council conference at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania offers cutting-edge research and commentary on key aspects of the advice marketplace, types of advice provided, fees and commissions, market and regulatory considerations, and how to evaluate advisers' performance and impact. Also included is a roundtable discussion on fiduciary challenges for financial advisors. Conference attendees will include consultants and advisers, academics, actuaries, plan sponsors, benefits specialists, and policymakers. Co-hosted by Olivia S. Mitchell and Kent Smetters at the Wharton School.
2011 Symposium: Reshaping Retirement Security: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis
May 5-6, 2011
The global financial crisis has prompted policymakers, plan sponsors, benefits specialists, academics, and actuaries to rethink retirement security for the 21st century. Our 2011 Pension Research Council conference at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania explored the impact of the crisis and its fallout on retirement systems, as well as ideas for new, more resilient, models in the United States and abroad. Discussion covered how the crisis has shaped retirement patterns and future retirement income flows, capital market opportunities, plan sponsor decisions, and regulator reactions to the crisis. This event provoked energetic discussion on what the crisis implies for retirement security, the pension marketplace, and the future of retirement system regulation.
2010 Symposium: Financial Literacy: Implications for Retirement Security and the Financial Marketplace
April 29-30, 2010
This event provoked an energetic discussion between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners on enhanced financial literacy and its relationship to retirement security, the financial marketplace, and how it relates to financial market regulation. The goal of the conference is to inform policymakers, academics, actuaries, plan sponsors, and benefits specialists about what has been learned, and what remains to be done, to take advantage of the 'teachable moment' resulting from the financial crisis. Conference attendees will include academics, actuaries, plan sponsors, benefits specialists, and policymakers, as well as others. The proposed research will be of substantial interest to the Wharton School, inasmuch as this analysis has important implications for the ways in which pension designers, fiduciaries, and policymakers should develop the future framework for financial education and retirement preparedness in public and private pension systems.
2009 Symposium: Reorienting Retirement Risk Management
April 30-May 1, 2009
This event provoked an energetic discussion between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners on ways to restructure pension accumulation and decumulation plans, so that they can incorporate the best elements central to the old defined benefit model while taking advantage of the best of the defined contribution world. These include the opportunity for mobile workers to have portable plans, for participants to access sophisticated money managers instead of relying on investment impulses, and for retirees to protect against longevity risk. These issues are of particular importance in the context of the global financial meltdown, where new pension models are much on the minds of policymakers.
2008 Symposium: The Future of Public Employee Retirement Systems
May 1-2, 2008
This event examined the challenges facing public retirement systems in the US and around the world. After tracing the evolution of public sector pensions and retiree health programs, the discussion compared public with private sector pay and benefits. Next the speakers took up public policy concerns regarding accounting and management in public employee plans in the United States, focusing on ways to properly measure liabilities and how to make the plans more cost effective. The discussion also included analysis of defined contribution versus defined benefit plans for the public sector, and funding of federal retirement systems, both civilian and military. International lessons were brought to bear with a dsicussion of reforms in the German, the Japanese, and the Canadian public employee plans. This conference was a Wharton Impact Conference sponsored by the Wharton School's Pension Research Council and Boettner Center for Pensions and Retirement Research.
2007 Symposium: Managing Retirement Payouts: Positioning, Investing, and Spending Assets
April 23-24, 2007
This event highlighted emerging issues regarding assets and expectations on the verge of retirement, including uncertainty regarding life expectancy and morbidity. Analysts explored retirement asset positioning and location, phasing of spending patterns, and debt as well as housing consumption in later life. Financial advisers and academics debated ways to effectively manage assets in retirement, including the role of advice engines and tax challenges. Lawyers and policy experts evaluated regulation for the retirement payout marketplace, along with long-term care insurance. The conference was co-hosted by John Ameriks and Olivia Mitchell at The Wharton School.
2006 Symposium: Transitioning to Retirement: How Will Boomers Fare?
April 24-25, 2006
Presenters at this conference drew on new microeconomic panel datasets including the Health and Retirement Study to evaluate how well Baby Boomers compare with prior cohorts, in terms of their preparedness for retirement. Papers examined financial, health, and social capital of Boomers on the verge of retirement, with similar measures of wellbeing or shortfalls for previous cohorts.
View agenda.
2005 Symposium: The Evolution of Risk and Reward Sharing in Retirement
Retirement systems unavoidably balance a variety of economic and political risks, including capital market and mortality shocks, firm bankruptcy risks, funding changes, and policy shifts. These are in turn reapportioned among various stakeholders. This conference analyzed how recent changes in risk and reward patterns are being shared among the parties to private and public retirement systems. Discussion assessed how these risk sharing arrangements are evolving and should continue to change in the future.
View agenda and download presentations.
2004 Symposium: Reinventing the Retirement Paradigm
This symposium focused on pension policy and changes needed to support development of pensions in the coming years as we move toward the retirement of the baby boom cohort. Participants examined recent trends in retirement patterns and draw implications for the future of retirement. This symposium marked both the 30th Anniversary of ERISA and the 50th Anniversary of the Pension Research Council.
View agenda and download presentations.
Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas
March 2-3, 2006