Governance of Public Pension Funds: New Zealand Superannuation Fund

48 Pages Posted: 19 Dec 2003

Date Written: May 2003

Abstract

Over the next fifty years or so, a permanently higher proportion of New Zealanders will become eligible to receive payments of New Zealand Superannuation. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has been established to smooth the impact this will have on the rest of the Crown's finances. After briefly reviewing the context behind the policy and the policy objective, this paper examines the resulting key design elements of the governance framework for the New Zealand Superannuation Fund that attend to each element of that objective: clearly defining the Fund, placing an appropriate level of independence around the governing body, providing explicit legislated commercial investment objectives, and establishing a robust accountability framework. Finally, the paper briefly reviews the experience of implementation to date, and also summarises the arrangements surrounding the governance of other portfolios of financial assets owned by the Crown in New Zealand.

Keywords: public pension fund governance

JEL Classification: E62, G23, H55, J26

Suggested Citation

McCulloch, Brian W. and Frances, Jane, Governance of Public Pension Funds: New Zealand Superannuation Fund (May 2003). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=478102 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.478102

Brian W. McCulloch (Contact Author)

New Zealand Treasury ( email )

1 The Terrace
P.O. Box 3724
Wellington, 6011
New Zealand
+64 4 9176077 (Phone)
+64 4 4990437 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.mcculloch.org.nz

Jane Frances

New Zealand Treasury

1 The Terrace
P.O. Box 3724
Wellington, 6011
New Zealand