Paying for Minimum Interest Rate Guarantees: Who Should Compensate Who?
36 Pages Posted: 3 Nov 2000
Date Written: undated
Abstract
Defined contribution pension schemes often have a mandatory minimum interest rate guarantee as an integrated part of the contract. The guarantee is an embedded put option issued by the institution to the individual who is forced to invest in the option. As argued in this paper, the individual may in this way face a constraint on the feasible set of portfolio choices. We quantify the effect of the minimum interest rate guarantee constraint and demonstrate that guarantees may induce a significant utility loss. We also consider the effects of the interest rate guarantee in the case of heterogenous investors sharing a common portfolio on a pro rata basis.
Keywords: Minimum interest rate guarantee, asset allocation restrictions, utility loss
JEL Classification: G11, G13
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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