Pension funds tend to have regular outflows and are often underfunded. As a result, the tools the industry has developed tend to be based on these assumptions. Philippe Desfosses, CEO of ERAFP, France’s public service pension scheme, discusses the unique situation ERAFP is in—including regular inflows and a funding ratio of 105%—and the resulting challenges they face in applying the traditional framework. To further complicate things, some sovereign bonds have been producing negative returns. He suggests a number of changes that need to be made by the industry so pension fund managers can properly deal with the challenges presented by these unique situations.
The Take 15 Series is a series of short interviews with leading practitioners on timely topics focused on the investment profession.
