Over the coming decades, as the “first pillar” of old-age provision will increasingly need to be complemented by a strong “second pillar” of occupational pension funds, a significant increase in the value of assets managed by the retirement savings industry can be expected.
This will particularly need to be the case in countries where this industry is less developed and in countries with underfunded public pension systems with defined benefits. At present the share of total wealth invested by euro area households with insurance corporations and pension funds is much smaller than is the case for US households.