Pensions - Articles - Towers Watson Global Pension Assets Study 2013

 This is a study of the 13 largest pension markets in the world and accounts for more than 85% of global pension assets. The countries included are Australia, Canada, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, the UK and the US. The study also analyses seven countries in greater depth by excluding the six smallest markets (Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong and South Africa).

 The analysis is organised in four sections:

 ♦ Asset size, including growth statistics, comparison of asset size with GDP and liabilities (P13)

 ♦ Asset allocation (P7)

 ♦ DB and DC share of pension assets (P7)

 ♦ Public and Private sector share of pension assets (P7)

 Key Findings

 At the end of 2012 pension assets for the 13 markets in the study were estimated at USD 29,754 bn, representing an 8.9% rise compared to the 2011 year-end value. 

 Pension assets relative to GDP reached 78.3% in 2012, still below the 2007 level of 78.8%, but above the 2011 ratio of 72.2%.

 The largest pension markets are the US, Japan and the UK with 56.6%, 12.5% and 9.2% of total pension assets in the study, respectively.

 In USD terms, the pension assets growth rate of these three largest markets in 2012 was 10%, 0.5% and 9.9% respectively.

 It is important to caveat the impact of the currency exchange rates when measuring the growth of pension assets in USD, as in many cases the results vary significantly with those in local currency terms. For example, in local currency terms, the pension assets growth rate of Japan in 2012 was 11.5%.

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