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Netspar Annual Report 2007 Visiting address Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Tilburg University Warandelaan 2 5037 AB Tilburg Postal address P.O. Box 90153 5000 LE Tilburg The Netherlands Phone +31 13 466 2109 E-mail: [email protected] www.netspar.nl Annual Report 2007 Annual Report 2007 Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement Partners of Netspar Pension funds and Universities Public sector assett liability companies Insurance companies and banks Other organizations Contents Preface 5 State of affairs 6 Research 9 Themes 12 Education 22 Knowledge exchange 26 Supplements 51 List of abbreviations 51 Colophon 76 Preface 5 The annual report for 2007 surveys the many activities a macroeconomic area within the European perspec- Netspar is very pleased that all that Netspar– now three years old– has developed in tive. As more countries in the expanded European partners have pledged to con- the year under review. The abundance of these activi- Union place greater emphasis on developing fully tinue their commitment, and ties is due not only to the increasing importance that is funded pension systems, the desire to reduce the vul- is particularly grateful for the being attached internationally to building up pensions nerability of funded systems to macroeconomic shocks strong support from the Dutch and providing social security, but also to the enthusi- will be shared by other countries. For this reason, it is government. Altogether, this asm and energy that characterizes the young Netspar gratifying that Netspar has been chosen by the Euro- support through April 2011 makes organization. pean Science Foundation to map the European research it possible for Netspar to not only priorities relating to ‘pensions, aging and retirement continue existing programs but As agreed, an intensive evaluation was held in 2007 in Europe’. This will provide a good opportunity for also devote more attention to of the first Netspar years. Both the Scientific Council, Netspar to assume an important place in the European international issues and interna- comprised of leading international scientists, and the networks in this field. tional networking. evaluation commission, comprised of representatives of Netspar partners and the Dutch National Science The commitment shown by the partners of Netspar Foundation (NWO), reached very positive conclusions. also implies an important responsibility for Netspar to Most remarkable was the compliment for the speed at address the improvements that were suggested in the which Netspar has got underway. That could happen evaluation. Netspar is implementing various initia- only through a unique combination of high-quality tives for strengthening contacts with partners, such as knowledge and strong organizational talent aimed at clearly indicating what the objectives and the target practical results. groups are for conferences and workshops, form- ing Netspar teams for each partner and improving Netspar is very pleased that all partners have pledged the alignment of research with policy issues that are to continue their commitment, and is particularly important to the sector. grateful for the strong support from the Dutch gov- ernment. Altogether, this support through April 2011 Extending the network also certainly includes connec- makes it possible for Netspar to not only continue tions with Holland Financial Centre. This collaboration existing programs but also devote more attention to offers a unique opportunity for the Netherlands to international issues and international networking. strengthen its position in the financial area. This is an This is in line with the increasing desire of the Dutch opportunity we mustn’t miss. pension and insurance sector to put the challenges it faces in an international perspective. Within the Dick de Beus general issue of developing diversity in Europe, the Netspar Fellow and Chairman of Netspar Evaluation Dutch system, because of its strong accent on fully Commission 2007 funded capital, is vulnerable to what can happen in 6 State of affairs Successful evaluation and In 2007, Netspar followed up on its commitment to prolonged partner commitment promote strong pension systems in Europe by further Netspar was successfully evaluated in 2007. Following this intensifying international contacts. Stronger capital- result, we could proudly announce that the Dutch gov- funded occupational pension systems in other European ernment and the partners from the pension and insur- countries strengthen the political support for European ance sector jointly raised €14 million to finance Netspar’s regulations that better suit the Dutch pension system plans for the period until April 2011. These plans aim at and lead to important business and investment oppor- developing Netspar as a knowledge network by spread- tunities for Dutch insurers and pension administration ing out its international wings in order to promote strong companies. Netspar aims to export and import knowl- pension systems in Europe. Furthermore, we want to edge on aging and pensions by cooperating with inter- strengthen our partner contacts. The first steps to meet national researchers, by acquiring EU research funding, these goals have already been made this year. and by organizing international conferences. A special evaluation committee, consisting of repre- The European Science Foundation selected Ageing, sentatives of Netspar partners and the Dutch National Health and Pensions in Europe in 2007 as one of two new Science Foundation (NWO), assessed Netspar’s first three topics in the Forward Looks research program. Netspar years, based on the input provided by the partners and will be actively involved– together with other European the Scientific Council. Another relevant source of infor- research institutes– in defining the European research mation was Netspar’s own self-evaluation report. In May agenda on pensions, ageing and health for the next 2007 the evaluation committee presented its findings. five- to ten years. This agenda will enable funding agen- The overall judgement was very positive. The following cies to plan their resources to meet future needs. The main scores are based on NWO criteria: research topics that will be studied in the Forward Looks Scientific significance: Very good program fall under three broad themes: Societal significance: Good • Labour market issues National significance: Very good • Income security of an aging population Extent of knowledge transfer: Good • Well-being of the elderly The two main recommendations of the committee were Several initiatives were launched in 2007 in order to to focus on internationalisation and to intensify the expand Netspar’s network on an international level. partner contacts. Following this positive result, all pri- A visitors’ program invites top researchers to apply for vate partners pledged to continue their commitment to a visit ranging from one week up to three months. This Netspar: 5 million Euros in total. The Dutch government program allows international researchers to join forces then funded the development of the research network with the Netspar research group and present their work with a total of 9 million Euros. at one of the pension days or workshops. Furthermore, Netspar invites proposals for research papers that con- tain new and original work. These papers are submitted The new financial injection enables Expanding social innovation on to the Netspar discussion paper series and are presented Netspar to focus on internationali- an international level at Netspar workshops. Finally, more activities have been sation of its research activities and The new financial injection enables Netspar to focus and will continue to be organized in cooperation with on expanding and exporting Dutch on internationalisation of its research activities and on foreign partners. pension knowledge. expanding and exporting Dutch pension knowledge. State of affairs 7 Intensifying the knowledge institutions aimed at making the Netherlands a Netspar intends to enhance links transfer more attractive location for the financial industry. with the Dutch financial sector Another key priority in 2007, in line with the recom- The intended cooperation between Netspar and HFC also by cooperating with Holland mendation of the evaluation committee, was to will focus on building, exporting and importing pen- Financial Centre (HFC), a joint intensify dealings with the non-academic partners. sion expertise. initiative of several Dutch finan- Initiatives were launched to reach more partner cial institutions aimed at making employees, and to intensify the existing contacts. For The sum of all of the above-mentioned initiatives the Netherlands a more attrac- example, Netspar partners discussed NEA (Netspar Eco- contributes to Netspar becoming the intellectual tive location for the financial nomic Advisors) papers and Panel papers on a variety conscience of the pension and insurance sector and industry. of topics during debates and panel meetings. They a preferred supplier at the beginning of the sector’s also provided valuable feedback on the most relevant innovation chain. research questions in the sounding boards, which are linked with the six Netspar themes. Each of these boards is comprised of both partner employees and Netspar researchers. Netspar teams were also formed to promote and discuss Netspar issues in the inter- nal partner organizations. Furthermore, small-scale thematic meetings with specialists were organized, including a pension day on professional