Mortality assumptions

Today, the 7th Annual Conference of the IEBA has been brought to my attention because of its several presentations about pan-European pension funds (scroll down to Past Events).

While the presentations themselves did not strike me as out of the ordinary, I noticed the slides of an earlier event about mortality assumptions used in the EU. The slides present a good overview of this important paper. Most notable is the slide shown on the side. It displays the difference between observed and assumed future life expectancy of pension scheme members across a number of countries. The difference varies widely with Denmark, Switzerland & Germany showing the slightest differences whereas France, Spain and Ireland have the most "longevity reserves" built into their mortality assumptions: a plan using French mortality assumptions will show considerably higher liabilities than the same population of beneficiaries subjected to Danish assumptions.