Hedging Longevity Risk in Defined Contribution Pension Schemes
31 Pages Posted: 10 Mar 2020 Last revised: 21 May 2020
Date Written: April 15, 2019
Abstract
Pension schemes all over the world are under increasing pressure to efficiently hedge the longevity risk posed by ageing populations. In this work, we study an optimal investment problem for a defined contribution pension scheme which decides to hedge the longevity risk using a mortality-linked security, typically a longevity bond. The pension scheme invests in the risky assets available in the market, including the longevity bond, by using the contributions from a representative scheme member to ensure a minimum guarantee such that the member is able to purchase a lifetime annuity upon retirement. We transform this constrained optimal investment problem into an unconstrained problem by replicating a self-financing portfolio of future contributions from the member and the minimum guarantee provided by the scheme. We solve the resulting optimisation problem using the dynamic programming principle and through a series of numerical studies reveal that the longevity risk has an important impact on the performance of investment strategies. Our results provide mathematical evidence supporting the use of mortality-linked securities for efficient hedging of the longevity risk.
Keywords: defined contribution pension scheme, longevity bond, stochastic control, dynamic programming principle
JEL Classification: G10, G11, G12, G22
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