And key messages -- Key principles of governance and investment management -- Governance of public pension assets -- Governance structures and accountabilities -- Qualification, selection, and operation of governing bodies -- Operational policies and procedures -- Managing fiscal pressures in defined-benefit schemes -- Policy responses to turbulent financial markets -- Investment of public pension assets -- Defining the investment policy framework for public pension funds -- Managing risk for different cohorts in defined-contribution schemes -- An asset-liability approach to strategic asset allocation for pension funds -- In-house investment versus outsourcing to external investment managers -- International investments and managing the resulting currency risk -- Alternative asset classes and new investment themes.

Written from a governance perspective, this book brings together pension fund management and operation.

An understanding of corporate governance theory can promote the adoption of appropriate governance tools to limit agency problems in public pension fund management. The absence of a market for corporate control hinders the translation of lessons from the private sector corporate world to public pension governance. The establishment of a fit, and proper governing body for public pension funds, thus may be even more important than the maintenance of a comparable body for private sector corporations. In particular, behavioral controls should be carefully designed.

The academic literature on pension governance is sparse and this book will fill some important gaps by bringing together original contributions from around the world on subjects related to the area. The book initially lays out the main frameworks for pension fund governance and then goes on to examine global governance practice and experience and country studies on pension funds in the United States and Australia. The final section of this in-depth study discusses the role of government guarantees. The editors and contributors to this book have struck a balance between the various dimensions of the governance problem. Whilst ensuring that the theoretical frameworks are represented, at the same time, they have also recognized that it is vital to report on empirical work. Private pensions are examined closely, while also acknowledging that public pension funds are extremely important actors. Pension Fund Governance will appeal to academics and researchers of financial economics and financial management, as well as those in the fields of public finance and public sector economics. Furthermore the book will also find an audience among those in commercial and policy roles which involve pensions, including pension actuaries.

'This collection of essays on a rapidly developing topic is a valuable addition to the field and the editors must be congratulated on beginning to bring the area to the attention of thinkers and government (not necessarily the same thing), who are charged with dealing with the challenge of controlling private pension provision.' - Robin Ellison, Pensions

This book will spark a debate concerning the need for democracy and accountability in the governance of trillions of dollars of plan members' pension plan assets and the legitimacy of the present, mostly unaccountable, corporate governance decisions made by these plans. The author analyzes the reasons for this passivity, pointing to conflicts of interest with respect to corporate governance activity in pension plans and also to limitations in corporate, securities, and pension law. He argues that plan members should be given a voice in pension plan governance and the plans made accountable, and he outlines the legal reforms necessary.

The author surveys the empirical literature on the relationship between governance of public pension fund management and investment performance. He makes a preliminary attempt to identify good governance practices and distill governance guidelines aimed at reducing the political risk that is associated with central, public pension fund management. The author highlights the need for further work to support the development of a satisfactory set of governance guidelines.