Funding requirements across EU15

IPE refers us to a new comparative study of the minimum technical provisions for DB pensions in the EU by GCactuaries. The paper's title is somewhat misleading as it only covers the EU15 at this point, even though it purports to be up to date, in fact looking into the future (31 December 2006 according to section 2). More likely though is that the results rely entirely on the pre-Directive transposition scenario of 31 December 2005. The study does explicitly not cover demographic assumptions.

It finds a very wide variation between countries in the methods and assumptions for assessing minimum technical provisions, and it expects that subsequent to the transposition in particular of Art. 15 of the Directive, there will be significant changes in the way discount rates and other assumptions are determined, especially where discount rates are not set with consideration to market rates, as is the case in the majority of countries.